A perfect day reliving old memories and making new ones
This year, we celebrated Mike’s birthday in the Napa Valley. It was his idea. As we talked about possibilities, he mentioned he’d like to get a mud bath. And that, of course, meant going to Calistoga – the closest place for such experiences. Once that was decided it was a matter of choosing what to do for the rest of the day.
I knew, almost immediately, that we’d start by having sandwiches at Guigni Deli in St. Helena. We’ve been going there for decades and they make the absolute best sandwiches in the world. I can’t imagine visiting the Napa Valley and not hitting Guigni’s. The sandwiches were as good as ever.
I looked and looked and looked for activities to do between St. Helena and Calistoga that didn’t include wine tasting, but it was pretty much impossible. There are a few art galleries in both towns, but wine tasting is otherwise it. So I just went with the flow and decided our next stop would be Mumm, the maker of sparkling wines. It was a perfect way to continue our day. The champagnes were delicious and the whole experience very relaxed.
We had some time to kill before our next wine tasting experience, so we headed back to St. Helena to grab some ice cream at A Roman Holiday Gelato. I was luckier than Mike with my ice cream choice, but I was nice and shared with the birthday boy.
We then headed to our second wine tasting experience at Tank Garage Winery. Here, we tasted the worst wines ever – and we have tasted wines in some very iffy places. They just sucked, but the experience was cool.
It was then time for our mud baths at Golden Have Hot Spring Spa & Resort. I’d chosen this place as they had couples mud baths and it was a great experience. While we waited, we had water infused with different fruits that was quite tasty – so even this ended up having a culinary aspect to it.
The mud baths are in a private room which also includes a shower. The bathtubs are laid out in an L configuration with your feet towards the middle – so that you can see each other. The mud was very, very hot, and while you get used to it, it can be a pretty intense experience. It was very relaxing, however.
Showering off the mud, on the other hand, took far longer than we thought. It was our fault – we should have put our hair in a bun and kept if away from the mud. As we didn’t, we spent forever removing it from our heads.
It was then time for a cooler dip in a jacuzzi tub. Mike enjoyed it a lot, but I was still overheated and couldn’t deal with even warm water.
We were then taken to a relaxation room, where we laid on beds with cucumbers over our eyes while soft music played. It was very nice and helped us cool down.
Finally, we got to hang out in the pool, filled with mineral water from the area. It wasn’t at all crowded, the water wasn’t too hot, and it was a very fun experience. They had showers with shampoo and conditioner, so we could get our hair back to normal before we headed for dinner.
Dinner, at the Mustard Grill, was also great. Not my entree, mind you, but the place is a lot of fun and Mike loved his food – and it was his birthday.
In all, it was a perfect day that brought together. I’ll just have to plan more like this one.
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