When: March 7 // Weather: 50s & cloudy // Real life: more adventures in Napa Valley
Wrap (on sale) // similar Hat // Leggings (on sale and I highly recommend!) // Sneakers
Not to play favorites, but Thursday was my favorite day of our Napa Valley vacation. We got up before 6am (not usually how I start a great vacation day, but stay with me) and headed just up the road to Yountville. That’s where we met up with Napa Valley Aloft for a hot air balloon ride! I was kind of nervous (even though the excursion was my idea) but I was pleasantly surprised at how peaceful it was. As long as you don’t think too hard about the fact that you’re dangling precariously a couple hundred feet above the ground in a tiny basket, one faulty cable away from certain death, it’s really quite enjoyable.
Here’s proof of my adventurous spirit:
If you want to see more photos and videos I took on the balloon ride, check the “Napa Valley” stories highlight on my Instagram profile (@sarahsreallife)! Truly spectacular views.
Afterwards, they fed us brunch, and the pilot taught us about the history of hot air ballooning. Apparently, champagne plays an important role (I’ll let you Wikipedia that if you want to know why), so it only seemed appropriate to visit Domaine Chandon just across the street (where these outfit photos were taken). The sun was finally starting to peek out, we had bubbles, and we were still on a high (pun intended) from our early morning adventure, so it was pretty fantastic. In fact, we even joined Club Chandon and bought ridiculous swag to prove it. So yeah, that happened. We be fancy, y’all!
We had lunch back in Napa at Compline, which I would give 5 stars for the most creative veggie sandwich I’ve ever had (broccolini – whaaat?!). We had just enough time to make it to one more tasting (most places do their last tastings around 4:30), and we picked Jamieson Ranch. Since I was feeling like a baller after joining Club Chandon, I splurged for a bottle of 91-point 2016 Petite Sirah to bring home. We enjoyed our last sips out on the heated patio, which was pretty much empty because Californians apparently don’t go outside when it’s below 60 degrees. Whatever, more room for us!
Who’s hungry again? Yeah, me too. We wandered around doing a little shopping, then stumbled upon an Italian place, Ca’ Momi. It didn’t look super stuffy or fancy, but holy crap was it delicious. I also had a pretty tasty gin cocktail (with all that wine, it’s important to keep variety in one’s diet, obviously).
That was our last full day in the Napa Valley, and it was a pretty damn good one. I’ll have one more vacation-centric post, and then we’ll return to the old limestone backdrops and short, snarky commentary you’ve come to love (I hope).
Cheers!
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