Travel Writers to Go: Escape from Calaveras County

   Leaving Murphys about 1:45 pm with stops in Angels Camp picking up our daughter at Bret Harte High and a business stop in San Andreas we headed for Hwy 12 out of Lockeford for our weekend getaway to Napa & Sonoma. Just one more stop in Lodi. I mean who could resist shopping when they see Target, Staples, & Marshalls sitting side by side.

  After buying the necessary travel supplies, chocolate almonds and hydro-cortisone cream (for an earlier and already itchy poison oak episode) and naturally my daughter found a pair of shoes she had to have.

  We arrived in Napa at the Marriott SpringHill Suites off Hwy 12 in the middle of empty fields just before dusk. The hotel is nearly brand new and beautifully designed in a wine country lodge theme. We unloaded our stuff and with a 10% discount coupon in hand went looking for a restaurant. As luck would have it the only restaurant within a short driving distance turned out to be the Italian Restaurant, Ristorante La Strada, located at 6240 Vallejo Hwy, which we had a coupon for. The interior design was elegant and could have passed as a French restaurant.

   Little did we know what drama awaited us back at the hotel, but I digress, first I need to describe our meal. We had Chicken Marsalla &
Eggplant Parmesian which were good but average fare and I had the best which was the Ensalata Gamberi, large chunks of salad mix with smoked flavered scampi and a divine dressing.

  Foregoing desert we were tired and it was about 7:30 pm when we scurried back to the hotel for an evening of rest and relaxation. Well thats what we thought anyway, until I tried my key card in the door and didn't get green light (no open door). Well if you have done any traveling at all you have probably had this experience when the key card becomes demagnetized and it won't work and they either reprogram it or give you a new one. So I offered to go down to the lobby only being on the second floor of a 3 story hotel and get the new card. I know what your thinking two adults two cards, well no I had left mine inside the room, therefore the guilt and the offer to get the new key.

   As I slid the new card into the key slot with a foregone anticipation of opening the door, much to our disappointment we got the same non-response. We then did the obligatory run of each family member trying their luck with the card as if one person had a better technique than the other but no success.
  It was now my wife's turn to go down to the lobby and retrieve another key card. But she did one better and came back with the hotel clerk. The hotel was real slow and I bet she welcomed the relief from behind her counter. We all waited for her authoratative push in and pull out in slow motion with a click of success but this was not to be.

  She was going to have to call in the maintenance man who had a master key card to every room. The four now of us stood waiting and staring at the problem door slot while the maintenance man with an all knowing smile and confidence of a guy who always manages to pull through on just such an occasion was put to utter shame when he failed as well to open the door. "The door supposed to light up green he spoke", and we feeling a little empowered by the continued failure of the lock to be conquered laughed nervously and agreed.

  By now the receptionist could sense the frustration of our dilemma and promptly offered us adults glasses of wine on the house in the lobby while they worked out their next plan of attack. After a glass of wine and mumbling of discontent under our breath I approached the receptionist who by now fallen back into her regular duties behind the counter. The hotel engineer had been summoned to the hotel and he would be actually be breaking into the room so we could re-pack our belongings and be relocated to another guest room. This one was a new one for the books, having to actually pry the lock off the door because the electronics had failed.

  By the time engineer got there and began working on the lock, two hours had passed. It was now about 9:30 pm and when we refused a second glass of wine they knew something more had to be done.

  Thoughtfully the receptionist gave us a new room nearby where we could relax until the door had been broken into and our stuff was retrieved. The hotel more than made up for the truly rare experience by covering lunch the next day. So we all retired to our room with the experience far behind us.

   The next day after a meager hotel breakfast we set off for Sonoma where Kim had to attend a business conference at the MacArthur Place. My daughter and I had to fend for ourselves window shopping and agreeing on a restaurant for lunch. We chose a most unique place "the girl and the fig" (no caps). A French restaurant with a Californian flair; open seating and a most attentive waiter. Voted #1 in 2009 as the most romantic dining experience.

We started with a plate of assorted cheeses, nuts and a fig preserve recommended by Randy a most splendid host. The flavors were all distinct and delicious and followed in a strict order like wine tasting. Our next dish was a house salad with figs and for a change of taste we ordered a large bowl of mussels steamed with savory spices...we did not even need butter to dip into. For a main entry I ordered wild boar shoulder which did not even have a hint of wildness and almost melted in my mouth with a layer of smooth mashed potatoes. We finished with chocolate covered fig kisses for desert. It rained all day so we stretched the lunch out for almost two hours.

That night we had an early dinner planned on the Napa Valley Wine Train. The dinners were 6:30 pm and 8:00 pm and there are 3 levels. We chose the mid level. You can bring your own wine or purchase it on the train. We were seated at a very handsome wood table, with white linens and silver cutlery. The historic train featured 18th Century ornate wood walls and ceilings complimented with red floral carpeting and elegant upholstered seating. We prepared for our many course meal savoring the new atmosphere with zeal.

First they brought us a plate of cheese, meat slices, vegetables, and shrimp. Followed by a baby lettuce salad of candied walnuts, smoked goat cheese in a honey cider vinaigrette.

Our palate was then cleared with 3 kinds of fruit flavored sorbets before our main entry of either grilled sea bass or beef tenderloin.

Following that most delicious meal we were moved to the desert car and treated to either chocolate terramasu or blueberry creme brulee and coffee.

On our final morning we returned to the town of Napa and discovered one of the most popular breakfast places that boasts breakfast all day. One of the most unusual features of Gilwood's Cafe is that they offer free coffee while your waiting and you will likely be waiting before being seated because it is such a local favorite.

So large that Kim actually thought there was a second restaurant but it turned out to be part of Gillwood's as well. The decor featured long booths; almost everything was teal green.

There were many choices beyond the standard fare and very well made with more choices than most breakfast places as to omeletes and pancakes. A little confusing was the ability to switch out toast for a pancake but being charged a substitution fee which the waiter pointed out on the menu but neglected to mention it when she offered it during ordering. We were given credit however when we pointed this out and very satisfied headed home for Calaveras County.

Website References:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sfons-springhill-suites-napa-valley/

http://www.thegirlandthefig.com/html-sonoma/index.html

http://winetrain.com/

http://www.gillwoodscafe.com/