One of the great benefits of living in the Bay Area is that people usually want to visit you! We live near Napa Valley and about 50 minutes outside of San Francisco. After living here for 14 years I can honestly say we live in the perfect location at this point in our lives. The added benefit of living in a tourist destination with fabulous weather (for the most part) makes it even better because friends and family like to visit!

Sam is the youngest of five. Last year we traveled to Thailand and Cambodia with his oldest sister Shannon who loves travel every bit as much as we do. Earlier this year we convinced her to come out to visit us for a week and last week that’s what we did. Simon happened to be out of town (Scout Camp) for the exact duration of Shannons visit so we were down a kid but had an open bedroom for Shannon. Win Win! I decided to call the week our family Bay Area Staycation, since we ended up doing and seeing a lot of fun stuff we normally forget to do. Here are a few things we did during the week including some tips for the optimal Bay Area Staycation!

Shannon wanted to see and do as much as possible while she was here with us. We began with a short trip to Berkeley’s 4th Street after I picked her up at the Oakland Airport. I have been visiting 4th Street since we moved to California and I love the eclectic vibe and dose of inspiration each time I come. If you are in the 4th Street area, a trip to Spengers Fish Grotto for fish and chips is a must. It did not disappoint and provided us with enough fuel for an afternoon of shopping. I also got my hair done by my amazing stylist Jaime at The Gallery in Suisun. Isn’t fresh hair the best? If everything else in my life is going south but my hair looks good, I feel like I’m going to make it!

The next day we introduced Shannon to our valley with a long walk past the vineyards while the kids ran and we walked the dog. Later, Sam and the kids with Shannon stopped by our favorite area farmers market, Larry’s Produce followed by lunch at our Green Valley sandwich standby Napa Deli. Shannon introduced Sophie to lychee which freaked Sophie out to no end; it was hysterical to watch her navigate a lychee.

We rounded out the day with an evening in Napa where we walked around Oxbow Public Market (one of my favorite places to go in Napa) and I got this gorgeous Rifle Paper pin to go on my backpack:

Later we hit dinner at Mango on Main, our favorite area Thai restaurant and strolled along the Napa riverfront area to walk off our giant meal.

Years ago when we moved to this area, the riverfront was just a series of sketches and today it is a thriving, beautiful addition to Napa. The landscaping around the restaurants and bars is SO beautiful and with the breeze coming off the water and the sun setting it was a gorgeous, relaxing evening.

One thing Shannon really wanted to see out here were the redwoods. Naturally, Muir Woods seemed like the right place to take her but the night before we were planning to go we found out that parking at Muir Woods must now be reserved in advance or a shuttle reservation needs to be made. I didn’t want to deal with the hassle so I decided to take up a friends recommendation and instead had us visit Redwood Regional Park in Oakland. It was a bit closer than us driving the longer and curvier road to Muir Woods plus we wouldn’t have to worry about parking. Sadly, it was a bit of a bust. For one thing, the redwoods at RRP are not nearly as tall or plentiful as what you see in Muir. You don’t get that misty, cool and lush experience that you have in Muir Woods. We walked about 15 minutes before I declared “Nope! Tomorrow we are going to Muir Woods!” I have been to Muir many times and knew how much more Shannon would enjoy it. SO. If you are short on time and don’t want to deal with parking reservations or the curvy drive, maybe go to Redwood Regional Park. My younger two had a good time because they could run ahead and it wasn’t crowded. As you can see from the photos below it is a lovely park…just not as majestic as Muir.

We finished up our afternoon with a much needed stop at Gotts in Walnut Creek. Gotts is a Bay Area institution and makes everything better. It isn’t cheap; my meal always ends up costing so much more than I think it will but I am rarely disappointed.

This time I got Ahi Poke crispy tacos and OH MY GOSH. These are heaven in a taco shell. Plus I had a chocolate milkshake and I never get ice cream or milkshakes anymore but I made a necessary exception for this. WORTH IT.

Back at home Shannon treated us to some cooking and baking. Shannon taught culinary arts for 30+ years in high school and girl friend knows her stuff. We had all kinds of good food when she was with us. That in addition to all of the eating out and, well, this was quite the gastronomy staycation.

I promptly made reservations for the next day for parking at Muir Woods. I grumbled and groaned the whole time I was doing it because it seemed so darn stupid. I have been going to Muir Woods for YEARS and there have never been parking restrictions or reservations. The time slot I got for us the next day was early (8:30 AM) which meant we would be leaving early to combat commuter traffic. More internal grumbling. But I KNEW Shannon was going to lose her mind and it needed to happen. Well. Color me wrong about the new parking situation! IT IS THE BEST THING EVER! Now instead of being crazy busy in the park (which it usually is no matter the time of year) crowds are controlled by parking and shuttle reservation slots, leaving necessary breathing room for really enjoying the beauty of the redwoods! And the 8:30 AM slot? PERFECTION! We literally had the park to ourselves because the shuttles hadn’t even started arriving yet! It was as magical and beautiful as I could have ever hoped for. And yes, Shannon lost her mind.

See what I mean? Also, if you are looking for an escape from summer heat you will always be cool at Muir Woods. As you can see, I had on long pants and a shirt plus a jacket AND a scarf. I left them on the whole time even throughout our hike! The cool, damp weather is the perfect way to take a long walk in nature. We spent just under two hours in the park and my soul felt completely restored as we walked out. Muir Woods never gets old and is always worth the trip. I learned my lesson this time; pay for the parking (which was $8 and was good for ALL DAY) and make the trip – you’ll always be glad that you did.

We finished up our redwood experience with a three mile drive down the road to Muir Beach so that Shannon could soak her feet in the Pacific.

It was an overcast, breezy day and I could have sat there for hours except I was starting to get hungry and we needed to head back home. Once back in Suisun Valley we paid pilgramage to local favorite Valley Cafe (I always get an omlette and gobbled up every bit of it). I felt that Shannon needed to see one more treasure in our beloved Suisun Valley; I took her out to Glasshoff Sculpture Ranch.

There is nothing quite like this place and I always bring visitors here. We are lucky enough to own a Glasshoff scupture so this place is really special to us. I love good, crazy art! Glasshoff Sculpture Ranch is always worth a visit; it is best to call ahead to make sure they are open and you can walk around the premise.

We rounded out the evening by heading back to Napa Valley, this time for dinner at another one of our all time favorites, Rutherford Grill with our dear friends the Redferns.

It had been ages since we saw Toni and Poncho together so we really soaked up some time with them, plotting trips together and laughing until all other restaurant guests went home. Sadly, I ended my night with a monster migraine. It was super crummy. I am realizing now that whenever I have too much rich food I pay for it with a migraine. I think my days of eating without abandon at many of my favorite restaurants is over. Oh well; that’s being in your 40’s for you.

On Friday Sam took Sophie and Shannon for a day in San Francisco. I had a bunch of work and errands to take care of and our nine year olds needed a day at home so I sat out on this adventure. They had the best time taking the ferry from Vallejo to the Ferry Building in San Francisco (one of my very favorite places to adventure in San Francisco!). Then they hit Pier 39 (I recommend the bucket of hot donuts with cinnamon and sugar) and Fishermans Wharf for lunch at Scoma’s, ice cream sundaes at Ghiradelli Square and shopping in Chinatown. Here are a few pics from their SF adventures:

All three agreed that the ferry experience from Vallejo to the city and back was the way to go. It was Sam’s first time using the ferry and he LOVED it and can’t wait to do it again. It takes roughly the same amount of time as driving from our area to downtown SF but the ferry is way more relaxing. Plus you can read or work or sleep (as he did!) instead of focusing on the road. I think the next time I head in it will be via ferry. The drive in and out of San Francisco deters me 99.9% of the time from wanting to be in the city; maybe the ferry will help me with that.

We finished up the day by taking Shannon to our all time favorite restaurant, Bull Valley Roadhouse in Port Costa. I’ve written about Port Costa before but there is truly nothing like this funky little town. It is like a movie set; time stands still but there is a vibrant energy still pouring out of the place. And Bull Valley is legendary. It is the peak of gastronomy and as we predicted, Shannon loved the heck out of it.

After dinner we wandered across the street to the always fascinating Port Costa Mercantile and we each bought something. Lately I am really into collecting interesting souvenir pins and I found a super random Wizard of Oz one that is fairly epic.

We had to finish up our time in Port Costa by showing Shannon the Warehouse Cafe. It’s pretty hard to top a giant stuffed polar bear in one corner and the original League of Nations table in the other. Right?

And then suddenly the Staycation was over, Shannon had to fly home and Simon came back from Scout Camp and busy family life resumed. But what a week! It was gloriously full and fun and I’m so glad that we sucked the marrow out of our surroundings. Last night Sam and I were on a walk and we kept saying how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful place. The longer we stay the more convinced I am that we will probably always maintain a home here. How could we not?

And everyone should have a sister-in-law as awesome as Shannon. I love her to bits and pieces. She has always been incredibly supportive of me and Sam and our family. She loves to travel and eat and shop and talk; how great is that?! We are SO glad that she came out to spend time with us and see our favorite parts of living in the Bay Area.

I hope that you enjoyed our Staycation! Feel free to steal away and ask me any questions you have!