A Visit to the Treanor Vineyard
Leaving San Francisco we visited Bodega Bay before turning inland towards the famous winery area of Napa Valley and where we had been invited by James and Alison to stay at their vineyard, near Calistoga, for a few days. James is a cousin of our long time friend Mary (she has a multitude!). One stop of note was at Bodega, where much of Alfred Hitchock’s “The Birds” was filmed.
James, very kindly, drove up to Calistoga to be there for our arrival (James and Alison live in their house in San Francisco) and to make sure we were all settled in, before bidding us goodbye the next day and heading back into town. He took us out in his truck to show us around St Helena and treated us to a lovely Indian meal. The next morning he prepared breakfast before leaving – a consummate host! And, James gifted us two bottles or his red wine and a jar of equally fine red fruit jam.
The vineyard itself is an amazing property with two beautiful houses, a ‘party barn’ and workshop. We should really have stayed longer to properly enjoy it, but Alaska calls.
James let us use one of his cars to visit the environs. Dave cycled around a bit on James’s electric bike, we drove to Lake Hennessey and hiked around the lake, and explored Calistoga. There we found some very nice lamb chops, which we cooked on the BBQ that night. Lamb is something we miss and is a rarity in the USA.
Bodega Bay
With James
Around the Vineyard
Hennessey Lake
Calistoga
And here is a brief video of a fly through the vineyard with our drone.
And some Big Bertha footage driving towards Bodega Bay and then on to Calistoga.
