San Francisco Day 3

We checked out of the hotel and headed out to Muir Woods with Al and Rachelle. It was quite chilly that morning but Peter wanted to put the top down. We compromised on top down full heat and headed out to pick up the Spainards. Muir Woods is only about 45 minutes from down town and we headed across the bridge in fog and clouds. After about one minute the weather completely changed and we back to August.

I'm not a very spiritual person but there are a few places that strike me as absolutely sacred. The first place I saw was down in the BVI at a place called The Baths. It was a cave structure with slivers of light punching through the rocks. The slave traders took their captives off the boats and bathed them in the caves. Muir Woods had the same feeling about it. We walked around, took a quick tour, and picked our jaws off the floor the whole time.

After a quick lunch in Sausalito, we dropped off Al and Rachelle, and drove up to Calistoga. Despite a very burned scalp, the convertible was a great addition!

We pulled into Calistoga, checked into our little house, and wandered into town to find a hot spring to swim in. We ended up at the Calistoga Inn and Spa where I stayed ten years ago for my cousin Doug's wedding. We lounged around in the pools (I love the hottest one and Peter loves the cold one and we both agreed that the warm one was kind of gross) until it closed. At this point we were pretty relaxed and slithered into town to dinner at the All Seasons Bistro. Our salads were delicious, the wine was a bit rancid, and our dinners were just ok.

I recreated the salad last night: fresh peaches, pistachios (we subbed in toasted pine nuts), goat cheese and a light vinaigrette. The nice thing about eating local in CA is that so much of what I can't buy in NY (because its grown in CA) I can consider local while visiting CA.

I would highly recommend that people visit Calistoga since everything is very compact and beautiful, plus the hot springs, but I wouldn't recommend either the All Seasons Bistro or the Aurora Park Cottages. The Cottages were nice but overpriced with construction that started around 6:30 am. I was a bit surprised to hear from the care taker that the construction had been going on for a while and that she was thinking of asking them to start a bit later. There are few things that I expect on a vacation (especially when we pay that much a night) and the ability to sleep in without being woke up by hammering is one of them.