After our day of wining and dining, Maggie and I needed some spa time. Calistoga is known for the mineral waters and the opportunity to take a mud bath. Dr. Wilkinson's is one of the long established bath houses in the area. In my single days, my good friend Christina and I used to make the trip to have mud baths and lunch at Domaine Chandon. Now it has been since my honeymoon nearly 25 years ago since I was back. Maggie's reaction was that the mud smelled weird, she liked her masseuse and that there was a whole lotta naked time involved. True. Not for the shy, but extremely relaxing.
After lunch, we ventured up to Sterling Vineyards, which is reached by taking a tram up to the top of a very high hill. We lucked out - as seen in the photos - with an exceptionally beautiful day. We lounged about on the sundeck and sipped some wine and I would have stayed all afternoon except that Maggie had to have:
Pastries from the Bouchon Bakery, the rather famous bakery and restaurant run by the same folks as the famous French Laundry restaurant.
We also bought cookies for the family at home and some lovely bread for dinner.
We finished out day (and Tom's charge card) at the amazing Darioush Winery. The site is very Persian inspired, the wines were wonderful, the most gorgeous purple red color and they place a nice dish of pistachio nuts in front of you at the tasting bar. Very nice.
