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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Tour De Napa

Because of all this Napa stuff, I completely forgot to mention that my Grandma is finally out of the hospital after 3 and a half months!! Due to her medical condition, she's now living with Domeek and me, so it's a bit of a learning curve and adjustment period right now (especially with all these new medical machines and schedules)...but I'm glad to have her back! 

Happy Friday Everyone...woohoo, TGIF!! :-D

Welcome to part two of my Napa excursion...

Luckily there are quite a few hotels and Bed & Breakfasts in the Napa Valley that cater to humans traveling with their canine pals, but after much debate, we decided to stay at the Napa River Inn!

Freckles the Dog
Care of Napa River Inn

The Napa River Inn is located right on the waterfront in the historic Napa Mill and is an absolutely gorgeous, boutique hotel! It is within walking distance (aka, a few hundred steps) to tons of restaurants, cafes, and bars and just a couple of blocks away from the shopping district. :-D

Freckles the Dog

It only cost $25 for me to stay the night and join their VIP Program (Very Important Pet Program), which included a bag full of delicious heart shaped cookies, a doggie blanket, bowls, and a placemat!

Freckles the Dog

Our hotel room was quite spacious and had a seriously, comfortable bed!! ;-) As breakfast was included with the hotel room, we had it delivered to the room, and then took it out to the patio area to watch the waterfront and trains go by! :-D

Freckles the Dog

Everyone that worked at the hotel was incredibly nice and very happy to meet me (they even took my photo to put on the website!)...the only problem we encountered was that our room was at the far back and so had a lot of noise from trucks and people! :-/ But, besides that...we thoroughly enjoyed our time there!

Freckles the Dog

For dinner we went to The Pear, who serve absolutely delicious Southern Fair, because it was only a short walk from our room and they happily accept pups on their lovely outdoor patio!

Freckles the Dog

Just check out the fondu appetizer that we ordered...um, yeah, I know you are totally drooling right now! And "yes" it was as delicious as it looks! ;-) Gouda and french bread...yes please! 

Freckles the Dog

The waiter not only delivered water to Domeek...he also gave me a tickle and dropped off a bowl of still water for me too! :-D

Freckles the Dog

We highly recommend them and will definitely be going back next time we're in town! 

After breakfast and before we hit even more wineries, we took a little tour of Napa...this little park was just up the road from the hotel.

Freckles the Dog

It was a great place to have a tinkle and a sniff! ;-)

Freckles the Dog

Then it was off to Napa's only dog park, but have no fear, they might only have one park...but boy-oh-boy is it awesome!!! :-D The fenced in park is called Canine Commons and it is inside of a 150-acre dog friendly open space called Alston Park

Freckles the Dog

They had two different sections: 1 for small and/or shy dogs and 1 for everyone else...hehehe! :-D Since I was feeling a bit tired, we decided to go into the small dog area where I met a super excited (and gigantic) Yorkie  an Airedale, and another Yorkie! We ran around, chased one another, and did a whole lot of sniffing!

Freckles the Dog

The park was incredibly large and had quite a bit of vegetation, so a whole bunch to see, pee on, and sniff!

Freckles the Dog

They even had a couple of wadding pools in case you got hot! ;-)

Our final stop on the Napa Valley trail was at the Clos Du Val winery in Napa! 

Freckles the Dog

Clos Du Val was started 40 years ago and is proud to claim that they are a winery that marches to the beat of their own drummer! They do not follow wine making trends or influences, instead they hold on tight to what they love and believe in and therefore create incredible wines!!

Freckles the Dog

We thoroughly enjoyed tasting their wine and talking to them, especially after learning about their pups too! :-D Domeek walked away with a lovely bottle of their classic Cabernet, while I trotted away with a Clos Du Val tennis ball (that I have subsequently destroyed...muahahaha!)!

Freckles the Dog

I also enjoyed sampling some of their fabulous pet inspired furniture!! Oh yeah, I happily jumped into this wine barrel bed and took a snooze while the tasting was going on! Rough life, huh?! ;-D

Freckles the Dog

I am happy to report that Clos Du Val is dog friendly all year long, so make sure to add it to that growing winery list!!

Well, there you have it...my mini-vacation to Napa! I hope that I have inspired you to do a little research and find the fantastic dog-friendly businesses in your vacation area!! :-D

Have a great day everyone!


13 comments:

  1. Glad to hear that your Grandma is home! Tell her that we hope she is feeling better and getting settled.

    I am very impressed with your vacation. Wow, looks like you had a great time. I enjoy reading about dog friendly places and seeing how others vacation. (We're the type to hike into the woods and pitch a tent in the middle of nowhere)

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  2. Very good to hear that Grandma is home and with you. Your mini vacation looked so wonderful. I hear hotel beds are very nice, and yours looked super comfy. But I have to say that wine barrel bed, oh I LIKE that.
    Blessings,
    Goose

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  3. I am very jealous of you and your mom - that looks like a fantastic little trip! Glad your grandma is out of the hospital now. Woohoo! My mom also started living here awhile back, but I don't need to take care of her as it sounds like you have to take care of your grandma.

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  4. PS - I love the way your blog looks!

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  5. Firstly glad that grandma is home and we really hope you all manage to cope OK. This looked like such a great trip and we love the way you are all so dog friendly across the pond. Love the wine barrel bed. Super cool!
    Have a fabulous Furday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  6. We are glad Grandma is feeling better.

    Your trip to Napa looked awesome. We are trying to plan our trip this year and are trying to decide if we should rough it (which Monty despises) or do another cabin, or try something entirely different.

    Sam

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  7. Woof! Woof! PAWsome trip. Very pet friendly. Golden Thanks for sharing. Glad you grandma is home. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

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  8. Glad grandma is at home with you! Hope she is feeling better! What a great tour you went on! Lovely trip!!

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  9. Wow oh wow - you had the most magical weekend what a fantastic time to share together. Glad Grandma is home - it will no doubt be an adjustment and it is wonderful that you are caring for her

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  10. Wow, looks like a fun trip that me and Max would enjoy too! Glad to here Grandma is home and bless you for
    taking care of her. I know it isn't the easiest thing especially when there are more "bells and whistles"
    involved (my sis and I take care of our Dad too). You ever need to "vent", I'm your girl, I get it, just
    shoot me an email at dogloverofmax@gmail.com I really loved all the pixs-makes me feel like I was there!
    Thanks!

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  11. Hope your Grandma continues to improve.
    Love all the pics of this wonderful trip!

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  12. You always have the most fun! We already knew you were a VIP!! Glad your g'ma is with you now instead of the hospital. BTW, did you know the words are going off your blog onto the background?

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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    1. Hehe, thanks! Hm, it look fine in Chrome...can I ask what browser you are using?!

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