January Travel, Deals and Steals Without the Crowds

Hopefully everyone has recovered from the holidays physically, emotionally, and financially.  If you can say you are relatively healthy in all three, this is the perfect time to start traveling again as you can get wonderful deals for hotels and restaurants without the crowds and in some instances, the best weather of the year. 

Leavenworth, Washington

Last year, I took advantage of the low rates the weekend after Ice Fest and visited picturesque Leavenworth Washington - http://aroundthebayandaway.blogspot.com/2017/01/leavenworth-washington.html where this Christmas lights loving girl got to still enjoy the beautiful decorations the town is generous to keep up until Valentine’s Day without the wall to wall crowds that flooded the town during the month of December.  At just $500 for a 3 night stay in a deluxe room with fireplace at the Alpen Rose Inn including a daily hearty breakfast, evening dessert and 2 ski lift tickets, it was a steal. 

Carmel, California

I am lucky enough to live about a 2 hour drive away from Carmel for a quick day trip or overnight road trip so I have probably been there every month over the years.  Ironically it is normally foggy and a bit chilly during the summer months, which is great if you are trying to escape a heat wave.  However, if you are looking for warm and sunny, I find you tend to have the best luck in January.  Exploring it at a leisurely pace without the crowds and tour buses enables you to experience it the way it use to be before it became too touristy.  I was able to find that peace and solitude on a rare Sunday evening one May before summer started - http://aroundthebayandaway.blogspot.com/2016/06/day-at-monterey-bay.html but find it most pleasant in January like I did just a couple of weeks ago, enjoying brunch outdoors in a mild 72 degree weather,

 

 

 

 

then a drive with the sun roof open through Carmel Valley before watching the sunset at Carmel Beach.

 

 

Restaurant Week

At least in the San Francisco Bay Area, Restaurant Week has been hitting many cities with culinary gems. 

After the horrific 9/11 attacks, because travel and tourism had been hit hard, the restaurant industry had suffered as a result.  So shortly after the holidays when it is normally the slowest season with everyone still paying off their bills, to encourage local residents to dine out again, San Francisco started Dine About Town where for the last 2 weeks  in January even high end restaurants were offering 3 course prix fixe menus for as low as $30.  Over 16 years later I still remember dining on that crab cake appetizer at the Cliff House overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  Due to the success of it, it had continued since with many cities neighboring and across the country jumping on the bandwagon and rebranded it Restaurant Week.  Although most high end restaurants are no longer participating, it is still a great way to discover some wonderful up and coming gems. 

Although Oakland Restaurant Week had already ended, I did take advantage of two great values, Belly/Sweet Belly,
 

 

 

and Navi’s Kitchen. 

 

 

We are now in the midst of Berkeley’s Restaurant Week like these indulgences from Saha that offered a choice from their full menu,

 

with San Francisco coming right up.  With all these wonderful deals and steals, you may want to make mid-late January Travel a new tradition.      

Napa Valley Strong – Still Beautiful As Ever

Many of us have seen via the media the devastation the Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley fires had caused in October.  Yes, entire neighborhoods were destroyed especially Coffey Park in Santa Rosa.  Yes, a few businesses had burned down including about 3-4 tasting rooms/wineries.  But no, the entire wine country did not burn down.  The 2017 harvest had been more or less completed before the fires erupted so hundreds of wineries are open for business as usual as are downtown businesses.  Unfortunately based on how saturated the media coverage was on solely the fires itself, many have the wrong impression canceling their visits and avoiding wine country altogether even two months later. 

Normally I do not go up during the holiday season since enjoying all the holiday lights and decorations around the immediate Bay Area is enough to fill up all my weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas - https://aroundthebayandaway.blogspot.com/2017/12/may-your-christmas-still-be-merry-and.html.  This year, I made it a point to support wine country as they need us more than ever and spent a day in Napa Valley.  Not surprisingly it was quieter than it should be this time of year but that means not having to fight for parking down at the Oxbow Market area and at V Sattui Winery,

 

 

 

 

you can finally try that restaurant at the spur of the moment that you might not otherwise have gotten into beforehand, like we had at C'a Momi. 

 

 

 

there is a shorter line at Bouchon Bakery for those palm sized macarons

 

 

 

and little buche de noels,

 

 

 

towns like Yountville has special events for the holidays to show visitors that nothing has changed. 

 

 

 

 

 

In fact this is the best time to go to Napa Valley. 

If you are still looking for a last minute Christmas gift or a place to get together with family and/or friends to exchange gifts and enjoy a nice meal or need delicious wines for upcoming holiday dinners and parties and sparkling wines for the upcoming New Year’s Eve, consider Napa or Sonoma Valley. 

The brave firefighters have done their job working tirelessly to save as much as they could, the residents, some who have personally loss everything are picking up the pieces and trying to rebuild, the rest is up to us to help them in their recovery efforts and keep them Napa Valley and Sonoma Strong.  I have seen it firsthand, it is still as beautiful as ever. 

 

 

May Your Christmas STILL Be Merry and Bright

How many of us remember our parents or grandparents starting their stories with when I was young…, right before telling us about some hardships they had to endure growing up to show how easy the newer generations have it or reminisce about the good old days.  I have now reached an age where I find myself reminiscing about those good old days where when the Christmas season rolled around, people were a little nicer as they are filled with the Christmas spirit, a time when Black Friday did not even have a name but was just the Day after Thanksgiving shopping.  It was a time that I loved going to the mall to admire the decorations and people held doors open for you instead of trying to push you through them so they can trample you over like the Running of the Bulls of Pamploma for that cheap TV. 

Times have changed and yes, I admit that in ways I have to change with it but what I refuse to do is lose my Christmas spirit.  My Black Friday shopping these days consist of a visit to Home Depot or Orchards Hardware to pick out my tree to decorate while listening to Christmas music on KOIT. 

I now shop for gifts online and just wait for it to be delivered right to my door where I have placed a goodie box of sweets to hopefully brighten up the day of an overworked and underappreciated delivery person. 

Just like the previous years, instead of joining the hordes of people fighting over the last cheap thing, I spend my weekends with those who take the time to stop, slow down, and enjoy the beautiful holiday decorations and lights Around the Bay and Away for free. 

 

Starting right after Thanksgiving with the Fairmont Gingerbread House and Westin Sugar Castles - http://aroundthebayandaway.blogspot.com/2017/12/christmas-in-san-francisco.html, I have since followed up with what has now become a tradition, Christmas at Apple Farm http://cookwithzee.blogspot.com/2014/12/apple-farm-you-had-me-at-pie.html

 

 

 

with a detour to Christmas in the Park - http://aroundthebayandaway.blogspot.com/2016/12/christmas-in-park.html on the way back

 

 

 

followed by Deacon Dave’s Christmas Lights in Livermore just two days later, both a new discovery just last year. 

 

 

I have already hit up two of my favorite Christmas Tree Lanes - http://aroundthebayandaway.blogspot.com/2016/12/christmas-tree-lanes-bay-area.html, Thompson Street in Alameda

and Chestnut Lit Houses in South San Francisco

and experienced something new with Holidays in Downtown Yountville - https://yountville.com/events/holidays-in-yountville/ complete with free horse carriage rides until tomorrow (12/16) that may hopefully become a new favorite of mine.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surrounding myself with people who at that moment at least embody the Christmas Spirit, I still smile when I think of the little girl that bounded out of her car 2 years ago at the Chestnut Lit Houses and yelled “This is so cute!!  Oh my God, I am so excited!!”  Those are still my thoughts exactly.  Here is wishing that your Christmas Season can still be Merry and Bright!