Yesterday was a picture perfect day.  My friend Chris came over and we headed off to Sonoma.  The sky was blue; it was chilly in the high 40's but expected to get into the low 60's.  Once we got onto the 29 hwy in Vallejo the scenery was so beautiful.  The hills and vineyards were so green.  The vines are still bare with some possible budding in the warmer climates but the wild mustard was just beautiful.  There is nothing like the fresh color of new grass with the contrast of bright yellow flowers.

We got to Sonoma and drove around the neighborhoods a bit.  There are some wonderful homes just off the square that are just plain huge and awesome!  We parked on the square and walked all around.  There are some very nice unique stores, galleries, and restaurants.
 
                         Mission San Francisco de Solano in Sonoma

We walked by the Mission San Francisco de Solano, which was founded in 1823 and was the last of 21 missions built during a 300-year period.  For lunch we went to The Girl and the Fig restaurant that is a favorite in Sonoma.  I would call the style of food they serve as California cuisine with a French attitude.  Of course they serve figs on most items ordered.  Chris and I shared their goat cheese sampler, which included a semi-hard cheese from Oregon and two semi-soft cheeses one from Italy and the other from Spain.  They were all very good and each was different from each other. 
Chris at the Girl and the Fig

The plate also included a nice selection of nuts, sliced apple and baguette served with fig compote that went really nice with the cheeses.    We each ordered a glass of wine.  Chris ordered a '07 Cline Cellars "Ancient Vines" Mourvedre.  This was very nice.  It had a lot of fruit forward that stays on your tongue, not too much tannin, just a perfect all around wine to go with anything.  I ordered a '07 Hahn Syrah.  This wine had nice balance but I was hoping for more umph.  It had no tannins and just kind of died in the mouth.  But I drank it all down.  We were then stuck deciding what else to share.  Should we have the fig salad, or the quiche of the day or dessert?  Well, I'm sure you can guess which one won.  Their dessert menu was amazing!  We each ordered a dessert to share.  Chris ordered their lemon meringue tartlet with a pine nut crust served with a black pepper red currant sauce.  Very lemony and the crust was incredibly light.  I ordered their flourless bittersweet chocolate cake.  This was served with a house-made marmalade and had a lemon-thyme blood orange caramel sauce.  WOW!  It was all so good!  The richness of the chocolate cake and the lightness of the lemon tartlet made it a wonderful match.  Before you leave the restaurant be sure to check out their store, which sells a lot of their fig products and possibly their artwork.

After our very relaxing 1 1/2 hour lunch we drove to Yountville.  I hadn’t been there for over 6 years.  Yountville is one of Napa's best-kept secrets.  (So don't tell anyone!)  The town, which is mostly centered on Washington Street, is about 6-7 blocks long.  There are at least three hotels to choose from and a few B & B’s as well.  The restaurants are what have put Yountville on the map.  Thomas Keller, of course has the French Laundry.  You have to make your reservation 2 months exactly in advance.  If you can't get a reservation they can put you on a cancellation list.  Keller also has two more restaurants on Washington.  One is Bouchon, which is a mid-range French bistro-style restaurant.  The other is Ad Hoc, which is about two years old and known for its comfort food.  Michael Chirallo, fame from Tra Vigne Restaurant in St. Helena, "Napa Style" store and catalog and cooking show, now has a new Italian restaurant in town, Botegga.
Bardessono Hotel In Yountville, Napa County

We walked around the town in search of hotels.  We found the brand new hotel called Bardessono.  It just opened in February and is designed to be as "green" possible.  The layout is modern with a Zen atmosphere.  There are a few water fountains, four sectioned buildings with the hotel rooms in them.  They have a nice lap pool, lounge chairs and cabana area on the top floor where the views are beautiful.  They have a restaurant and a separate lounge/bar, and a spa, which will be opening within a month.  The prices run about $550/night and up.  After this we went and checked out the Villagio Inn and Spa and the Vintage Inn Hotels.  The same company owns them both.  The hotels share some of the same facilities, especially for business events, exercise facility, and spa but each hotel has is own character and charm.  The Villagio Inn with its Tuscan style has 112 rooms; a very nice spacious full-service pool area and plenty space to have a conference, wedding or event.  They offer a nice breakfast buffet, tea and cookies in the afternoon and a live piano player in the evening.  The spa opened a year ago.  It has some really nice amenities such as a private massage room where the couple can enjoy their own private jacuzzi outside of the room The Vintage Inn which is done in a French Chateau style offers 80 rooms plus a swimming pool, breakfast and tea and cookies in the afternoon.  The Vintage Inn is dog friendly and has a jacuzzi tub in every regular room.  The two hotels are connected by a walkway that goes through the Marketplace, which has nice shops, galleries and restaurants.  Our next stop was the Napa Valley Marriott Hotel and Spa.  This Marriott was one of the nicer ones I've been in a long time.  They have two separate wings, one with regular rooms and the other with "concierge rooms".  The concierge rooms are in general $30 more per night but also include a separate lounge with wireless connection, a few televisions, snack bar with cold drinks, a concierge who can help with dining reservations etc.  This area includes breakfast, afternoon snack and evening dessert.  The hotel has quite a number of banquet rooms that can be converted to different sizes depending on your needs.  They have two restaurants and a bar on the premises.

We finished off our day by having a drink at Starbucks then headed back for home.  It was a very full and productive day.  If I were you, I would head to Yountville as soon as possible; you can get the "off-season" prices, rent bikes and tootle around town.