Exploring St. Helena

What type of Wine Country traveler are you?

A St. Helena Blog Post

Are you feeling the wanderlust settle in? If 2020 was the year of home sweet home, 2021 is all about leaving on a jet plane! Travel awaits you, but we want to know, what type of St. Helena traveler will you be?

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Trinchero Napa Valley

If you love to take a trip within a trip…

Raise a glass above the clouds, one thousand feet to be exact, at Amizetta Winery where you’ll drink in the panoramic views of Lake Hennessey and the San Pablo Bay. Time travel at El Bonita Motel where their retro aesthetic blends the past with the present in all the best ways. Hike amongst the redwoods at Bothe State Park, cycle along the vineyards with help from St. Helena Cyclery and satisfy your hunger at Press Restaurant with a culinary journey of the best (and some of the most creative) Napa Valley cuisine.

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Glass Fire Incident 2020

Source: Wikipedia
The Glass Fire is an ongoing wildfire in Northern California. It started on September 27, 2020, at 3:48 AM from an undetermined cause.[1] The fire is named due to its proximity to nearby Glass Mountain Road. As of October 7, the fire has destroyed 1,517 structures, including local wineries, and damaged 278, and it has forced the evacuation of several thousand residents.[2][3][4] The fire was 5 percent contained as of October 1.[5] Initially a single 20-acre brush fire, the Glass Fire rapidly grew and merged with two smaller fires during the night of 27 into 28 September.[1][4]As of October 15th, the Glass Fire is 97% contained after burning over 67,000 acres, 1,555 structures destroyed including 650 homes and 31 wineries either destroyed or damaged.

The fire forced the evacuation of 70,000 people in Napa and Sonoma County as of October 1.[6] Numerous structures were destroyed in Deer Park, including much of the Foothills Adventist Elementary School.[7]

Many wineries were destroyed or damaged by the fire, including the famous 41-year-old Chateau Boswell Winery near St. Helena and the Castello di Amorosa Winery near Calistoga. On September 28, The Restaurant at Meadowood was also destroyed.[8] The fire destroyed California’s oldest resort, the White Sulphur Springs Resort.[9]

We are so thankful to our first responders who risked their lives to keep our beautiful community safe. We are now reopened after evacuations and would love to see you stay with us back at the El Bonita.

To learn more, please check out these resources below:

Top 2020 Events & Festivals You Can’t Miss

Bottle Rock 2016 concert with Florence and The Machine

Thank you to our friends at visitnapavalley.com for putting together this amazing list of events and festivals in the beautiful Napa Valley.  From Restaurant Week, to the Lighted Art Festival, to BottleRock, to the Napa Valley Film Festival there is sure to be something for everyone. Luckily for you, the El Bonita Motel is located in the heart of the Napa Valley so we are the best spot to kick your feet up after a long day of wine, food and music!

2020 Must-Attend Events & Festivals

January 6, 2020

Life may be a cabaret (or, as we prefer hereabouts, a Cabernet) but, in the Napa Valley, life is also a year-round festival – or feast, or concert, or art show. Here’s a partial list of all the annual events being held in the valley each month.

January – Napa Valley Restaurant Week, held from January 26 to February 1, allows locals and visitors alike to experience multi-course, prix-fixe lunches and dinners at some of the valley’s finest restaurants. Also, check out the Napa Truffle Festivalthe Lighted Art Festivaland the Napa Valley Resolution Run.

February – Napa’s Culinary Crawl is a walking food and wine tour among downtown Napa’s finest culinary destinations.

March – Yountville Live, from March 19 to 22, is three days featuring rock-star chefs, chart-topping music, and award-winning wines. Or, if you’re more athletic-minded, there’s the 42nd annual Napa Valley Marathon on March 1.

April – The seventh-annual Napa Valley Arts in April event will showcase more than 40 arts and cultural events throughout the valley, from American Canyon to Calistoga. More into cycling? You can also check out CampoVelo and Wine Valley Cycle for Sight.

May – Bottlerock, held this year from May 22 to 24, has quickly become one of the West Coast’s most popular music, food, wine, and brew festivals.

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Winter in St. Helena

Roller skates with pinecones and text "Jingle all the way, St. Helena"

We may not have snow here in St. Helena but we sure do have a lot of holiday spirit. Let’s face it, the last few years have been tough. Let’s put all of that behind us for the next few weeks to get out there and have some fun.

One of our favorite Winter activities is the Jingle All The Way Roller Rink at Lyman Park. It is absolutely a holiday miracle. There are lights, bubble domes with areas for lounging, snowflakes, hot chocolate, special nightly events and lots and lots of local grub. Don’t just take our word for it though. Make sure you go and see for yourself.
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