Close your eyes for a second and picture yourself wandering around in a cute wine country town known for natural geysers, when you find yourself at the very end of town with nowhere to go but back where you came from.  But suddenly you realize there indeed is something up ahead and you start walking up a long palm tree lined gravely driveway as if being pulled by a force.  You smile cuz your favorite noise in the world is the sound of gravel beneath your shoes.  You see on your right amongst acres of land a bocce ball course, and to your left, you see a croquet and shuffle board setup.  You think this must be paradise so you pinch yourself to make sure you are alive.

Then you see It and you know this is a dream.  “The Pool”.  Yes, that indeed was a complete sentence if you were curious, because “The Pool” is that magical.  You sneak into The Pool because it is a huge inviting white 19th century building with steam rising up behind it.  Your eyes get glossed over and there is only one thing on your mind…”I must get in there NOW” .  Don’t worry, you do get in, pretending to be with a group of 5 that you snuck in behind only to discover something that seems so breathtaking, you know it must be for a secret society that will soon discover  you and throw you in paradise jail for discovering it.  This is where the descriptions stop…because there are no words to describe the feeling you get stepping foot into the countries largest natural hot springs pool and surrounding Buddha garden area.  I’d tell you to go see for yourself…but I really don’t want to promote this place 😉  Ok twist my arm!  Here is the link, but I better not see your face there.

Ok, you can open your eyes now.  I should have mentioned earlier to close your eyes and picture Heather and Matt wandering around a cute wine country town because that happened 4 years ago…not the jail part though.   To this day it is the weekend that we look forward to THE most every year. Our Favorite place on Earth.  How could any place only an hour and a half car ride away that time warps you into the 1900’s not be?  Built in 1861 the Indian Springs in Calistoga is truly a gem…so much so that I feel like I am committing a HUGE crime for even blogging about it as many of the guests wish to keep this place under the wraps.  Since I have about 5 readers, all related to me, I think the secret will remain safe :).  It doesn’t stop there, you stay in cottages sprinkled around the grounds and can treat yourself to one or several of the numerous spa treatments they offer.   They have a ton of natural volcanic ash on the property from volcanic activity from way back in the day and offer mud baths using this ash…IT IS AWESOME!  There is nothing more relaxing than covering yourself in volcanic mud ash right?  Don’t worry there are no photos of that 😉  Here is the proof that this place does not exist.

At Old Faithful, Calistoga’s natural geyser that erupts every 30-60 minutes.  We were gonna go watch it, but decided we’d rather spend the $20 on wine tasting…but I can imagine how cool it was.  What I don’t have to imagine is how good that wine tasted when it hit my lips.

B Cellars...drink on a river anyone?

A Castle…literally this dude built a castle to replicate the Italian architecture and grows grapes on the numerous acres. It is like an amusement park for wine drinkers complete with sheep and wild chickens running around.  Check it out here

Who doesn’t like posing in a field of Brix when you have a little vino running through your veins?

California Institute of America…Students cooking for no pay, but for a grade…I told the waiter I wanted to high five the student chef who made the butternut squash soup with pomegranate seeds…AH-Mazing!  I think a high five will hold more weight than a lousy “A”