After a quick breakfast, we said goodbye to Glenn and acquainted ourselves with the rental car that would be getting us to the other side of the United States. First stop: San Francisco. Although—we were rather time poor. A tour bus would be the best solution.
 |
| Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco |
We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and soon after found a popular tourist spot... and somehow we scored a parking spot. After a few photos we picked a bus company and the exploring began! I have to say, these hop-on/hop-off tourist buses are such a great way to see a city—and with good audio, you find out so much information. We hopped off to see the Painted Ladies and Alamo Square—it was so surreal seeing them in real life after seeing this picturesque row of Victorian townhouses on so many sitcoms!
 |
| Painted Ladies, San Francisco |
In San Francisco we learnt the value of picking a tour bus company that goes past frequently... After being unable to figure out when or where to get the next bus from, we ended up doing a lot of walking. We had hoped to get on one of the famous San Fran cables cars but the queues were just ridiculously long so we kept walking. Finally we found our bus, so jumped on board and stayed put until we got back to the car.
 |
| Alcatraz (viewed from the bus), San Francisco |
Our destination for the evening was Napa Valley. We weren't sure what to expect as some major fires had swept through the region only the week before, creating enough devastation to hit our news headlines back in Australia. The outskirts were charred and you could still see pockets of smoke, however thankfully the area we had booked into was fine.
 |
| There were thankful signs for the first responders to the Napa fires everywhere |
 |
| Our accommodation—Napa Farmhouse Inn |
We had dinner at the Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch and I couldn't recommend it enough. The service was fantastic and the food amazing—so fresh, with so much flavour, and good local wine. It was a nice romantic evening with my man, and a great introduction to the region.
 |
| Castello di Amarosa, Napa Valley |
The next day we drove from our accommodation in St Helena to past Calistoga to see the area. On the way back we stopped at a couple of wineries—Castello di Amarosa and Salvestrin Winery.
 |
| Taking in the scenery at Castello di Amarosa |
Both wineries offered were very different, much more personable experiences to wine tasting in Australia. However they were also much more expensive! I'm not sure our wallets would have allowed us to visit many more places even if time had permitted as we were looking around around $20–30 per person or more just to do a tasting.
For the experience alone though, I'm so glad we did stop at the two wineries we did. Napa was another beautiful region to stop at and explore, even for a day.
More on the trip next time x
