Life of Wry

Over the mountain and into the adjacent valley we went (yesterday)… for food, verdancy, beauty, art, and a bunch of upscale (sometimes overly precious) charm. Makes for a great day…

It’s kind of amazing to drive a block south of our house to Russell Blvd, turn right, and pretty much follow that one road all the way into the Napa Valley.. 5th/Russell becomes 32, becomes 128, which goes through Winters, past Lake Berryessa, over the mountain, right up to and over the Silverado Trail, and then tee right into 29. Boom, Yountville. One hour, give or take. And it’s so windy and bucolic.

I mean.

An early lunch at Mustards Grill just a wee bit north of Yountville was exceptional in every way. Superb service, lovely setting, and the food… just excellent. The owner was sitting at a table right next to us, hosting a little birthday soiree, ordering many of the same things. We had other table neighbors that were enjoying their selections as well, and we were all just happy to be deeply nestled in the foodie heaven that is Napa.

Here’s a bit of that:

Betsy with a flight of pinot noirs (I was a sauvignon blanc)… wine makes her cheeks rosy.

That was about half of the order of onion rings. We shared crab cakes, and a cod tostada that was so good, as well. But the coup de grace was the lemon-lime meringue dessert with gingered lemon peel, which was about 6 feet high..

After that two-hour meal, the rest of the afternoon was wandering around Yountville and then Napa, including the Oxbow Public Market. Then we sat in a bunch of traffic on the return trip east on 80, before bailing out and taking Pleasants Valley Road back to Winters and home.

Another nice Northern California day. A few more shots (vineyard, art in Yountville, Napa streetscape, antique shop browsing: