Frommer's San Francisco 2012 - Matthew Poole [217]
St. Helena’s Main Street ★ is the best place to go if you’re suffering from serious retail withdrawal. Here you’ll find trendy fashions at Pearl, 1219 Main St. ( 707/963-3236), Jimmy Choo shoes at Footcandy, 1239 Main St. ( 707/963-2040), chic pet gifts at Fideaux, 1312 Main St. ( 707/967-9935), custom-embroidered French linens at Jan de Luz, 1219 A Main St. ( 707/963-1550), estate jewelry at Patina, 1342 Main St. ( 707/963-5445), and European home accessories, sample holiday table settings, and free gift-wrapping at Vanderbilt and Company, 1429 Main St. ( 707/963-1010).
Most stores are open 10am to 5pm daily; the mall is on Main Street, between Pope and Pine streets, St. Helena.
Shopaholics should also take the sharp turn off Hwy. 29 2 miles north of downtown St. Helena to the St. Helena Premier Outlets ( 707/963-7282). Featured designers include Escada, Brooks Brothers, and Tumi. The stores are open daily from 10am to 6pm.
One last favorite stop: Napa Valley Olive Oil Manufacturing Company, 835 Charter Oak Ave., at the end of the road behind Tra Vigne restaurant ( 707/963-4173). The tiny market presses and bottles its own oils and sells them at a fraction of the price you’ll pay elsewhere. In addition, it has an extensive selection of Italian cooking ingredients, imported snacks, great deals on dried mushrooms, and a picnic table in the parking lot. You’ll love the age-old method for totaling the bill, which you simply must find out for yourself. Drop by any day between 8am and 5:30pm.
SPA-ING IT If the Wine Country’s slow pace and tranquil vistas aren’t soothing enough for you, the region’s diverse selection of spas can massage, bathe, wrap, and steam you into an overly pampered pulp. Should you choose to indulge, do so toward the end of your stay—when you’ve wined and dined to the point where you have only enough energy left to make it to and from the spa. Good choices include Dr. Wilkinson’s Hot Springs, 1507 Lincoln Ave., Calistoga ( 707/942-4102; www.drwilkinson.com), and Meadowood, 900 Meadowood Lane, St. Helena ( 707/963-3646; www.meadowood.com).
LIVE ENTERTAINMENT Despite the lack of a true nightlife scene (though the bar at Napa’s Morimoto can seriously jump), Napa has two venues that regularly feature surprisingly big acts. The first is the stunning, renovated Art Deco Uptown Theatre, 350 Third St., Napa ( 707/259-0123; www.uptowntheatrenapa.com), which recently hosted comedienne Lisa Lampanelli, Lily Tomlin, Boz Scaggs, Kenny G, and the Psychedelic Furs. The other is the Napa Valley Opera House, 1030 Main St., Napa ( 707/226-7372; www.nvoh.org), which features dance and comedy performances as well as concerts by talents such as Arlo Guthrie and singer/songwriter Randy Newman.
CALISTOGA
BIKING Cycling enthusiasts can rent bikes from Getaway Adventures/Wine Country Adventures ( 800/499-2453 or 707/568-3040; www.getawayadventures.com). Full-day group tours cost $149 per person, including lunch and a visit to four or five wineries, $195 per person for private groups of six or more. Bike rental without a tour costs $30 per day plus a $45 delivery fee to Napa Valley locations. You can also inquire about the company’s kayaking and hiking tours.
MUD BATHS The one thing you should do while you’re in Calistoga is what people have been doing here for the past 150 years: Take a mud bath. The natural baths contain local volcanic ash, imported peat, and naturally boiling mineral hot-springs water, mulled