Napa Valley

Less than two hours north from San Francisco you find yourself in the Napa Valley. The Napa Valley is the second most frequented place in all the US of A, only behind Disneyland. It didn't seem unusually busy while we were there, but it was mid-week.

We didn't visit many wineries but ones we got to were pretty impressive operations. This one was called Jacuzzi. The people that invented the jacuzzi did so in 1956 to assist a family member with arthritis and the rest as they say is history. With a buy out price of $990 million in 2006 the Jacuzzi family had plenty of money to spend. This winery is an 'exact' replica of the family home in Italy, even down to the different types of stones used during the original buildings extention.

 

 They had mulberry bushes out the back, oh yeah, fresh fruit straight off the tree. I don't think anyone was game enough to try and stop us from knocking off a few.

 

'Nicola I don't think the replica historic fountain was designed for you to wash the mulberry stains off of your fingers'

 Across the road was Cline Cellars. Another very classy establishment. The kids ended up on the naughty couch outside the tasting room. We would have had to cut short the holiday if they broke a bottle of wine from this place.

 

 Not that I've been to a whole lot of wineries but they all seemed to cater for much more than wine. We had a great lunch here and kids ran around the grounds; way too much energy these two.

 

 I can't remember the story behind this warthog statue...... Yet another 'something' the kids had to climb on.

 

 Nic on the other hand has been to quite a few wineries before. Watch carefully Indianna, your future is right before your eyes.....

 

A pretty cool family photo to sign off this blog.