Napa doesn’t offer much in the way of public transportation, or of inter-winery transportation for that matter (even the “Wine Train” cruises past the wineries, not to them), so limos are the most logical choice for a special day of all out wine drinking. Some friends came in from out of town this weekend, so we decided to go for the limo experience for a couple days to spare all of us from driving (or one from of us from abstaining).

Of course, it’s fun and luxurious, but there are a few pitfalls. First of all, some people are very susceptible to motion sickness in limos, especially if you’re in a seat that faces the side windows. I found that out during my first ride, which was only about 20 minutes. By the end, I felt like I’d been on a mild rollercoaster. After that, I rode in the back seat facing front and I had no problems, but even that can still affect people. If you’re at risk for motion sickness, sit in the back seat and/or take some Dramamine. Also, I consistently drank way too much wine on both days just because I could. For the sake of your head and stomach, try to moderate your consumption anyway. Also, our friends had rented a gorgeous house in Calistoga that happened to be at the end of a hilly, curvy, narrow 1/2 mile driveway through a forest with ravines, and since we didn’t think that a limo could make it through, we had to coordinate meeting the limo at the gate with a car that we then parked elsewhere in Calistoga. That was probably a rare situation, but it’s something to consider and possibly deal with.

I was especially happy with our limo driver named Steve from 3B Limousine Service at (707) 321-7386. We were probably a pretty low maintenance group, but he was willing to be helpful any way he could, without being intrusive. For instance, we had scattered showers that day, and he was always ready with umbrellas — even catching us as we were just leaving a winery building to make sure that we’d be protected by the rain. He was also very good with figuring out logistics for a smooth day.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 23rd, 2006 at 6:48 pm and is filed under Napa Valley, Random Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.