Quiet day in Napa
Napa, California:
Unfortunately, we woke to cool, cloudy skies. Our friends headed out in a rental
van to see friends in Berkeley, and we decided to stay in Napa. Just as they
left, the skies opened and it continued to rain all afternoon. It was a dark and
dreary day in Napa - the first poor weather of our trip.
We did leave the RV - driving two miles into Napa to the post office and for
lunch at the Oxbow
Public Market. If you are ever in the area, I encourage you to visit the new
public market in Napa and the adjacent
COPIA (NOTE: COPIA is now
mostly closed). After learning about
the local food culture and touring through the gourmet food pavilion, you can
have a gourmet burger at the next-door
Taylor's Automatic
Refresher!
Today, we enjoyed a snack at The Oxbow Wine Merchant/Oxbow Cheese Merchant.
Oxbow Cheese Merchant
House marinated olives: Picholines, Arquebinas, Nicoise, Cerignolas,
Castelvetranos in
Citrus, Herbs and Garlic infused olive oil
(My new favorite thing!) Warm Ricotta: Fresh Bellwether Ricotta, Rosemary, Dried
Fruit,
Clementine Orange Oil with Griddled Toasts
After lunch we did a little shopping inside the public market -
creamy local colle rosso from
Andante Dairy, local
beef sausage from Five
Dot Ranch and just-pressed olive oils from
The Olive Press in
Sonoma. Add a bit of fresh fruit, a few bottles of local wine and we returned to
the campground for a quiet afternoon of listening to rain bounce off the roof of
our motorhome.
We enjoyed a rare afternoon of quiet in our motorhome. Later, DT wanted Italian
food! (Shocking!) We drove over to
Bistro Don Giovanni
and enjoyed a wonderful French/Italian meal. The place was hopping - quite
unusual for a Thursday October evening - so we dined in the bar. Hubby had a
beef Carpaccio appetizer and then a mushroom risotto. I tried the tomato
bruschetta and ordered steak frites for my entree. Our meals were just
outstanding, service was superb and we were seated with entertaining table
mates.
Mushroom Risotto
Steak frites with Blue Cheese Butter
Until my next update, I remain, your steak frites correspondent.
RV Park: Skyline
Wilderness Park - Country camping just outside of Napa. Some full hook-ups;
most sites are water & electric only. Dump station, gravel pull-throughs and
back-ins. Big Rig friendly. Security gate, free wifi, bathhouse, hiking trails.