Family Outings

Wine Country isn't just about the grown-up pleasures of gourmet food and drink. With rugged nature all around, numerous public spaces for playing, and small-town charm in abundance, there's a lot to do for kids of all ages. Grab a quick bite at a family restaurant, explore educational exhibits, shop for frilly frocks or just enjoy a stroll through town, reveling in the exuberance of the young ones while sightseeing. It's a family-friendly experience through and through – and if there's a nice glass of wine waiting for Mom and Dad at day's end, well, this is Wine Country after all.

>>2007 Winners in the Family Outings Category

Best Family Outing

Salt and pepper. Ketchup and French fries. Few things go together so well as kids and trains – a fact much in evidence at Sonoma’s Traintown, where a fully-functioning narrow-gauge locomotive tugs its giggling and shrieking freight around a one-and-a-quarter-mile track. Travel amidst shrubbery, over trestle bridges and through tunnels to the Lilliputian village of Lakeview, where buildings are scaled precisely three inches to the foot. After sampling the petting zoo or riding on a vintage carousel, it’s all aboard for the return trip to the Sonoma depot, behind the chugging steam engine. Three full-sized cabooses round out the offerings – giving everyone plenty of opportunity to play engineer.

For a stationary, but no less mechanically fascinating, excursion, head to the Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park north of St. Helena. A towering 36-foot-tall water wheel still churns, fed nowadays by piped water but no less impressive today, with its creaking and splashing, than when it was built in 1846. Inside the adjoining mill building, massive grindstones are occasionally set in motion to grind corn into meal; permanent exhibits and artifacts illustrate the life of early settlers in the Napa Valley, when good bread meant more labor than a trip to Bouchon Bakery. Outside, the Pioneer Cemetery’s headstones tilt amidst a jumble of undergrowth, making for spooky exploring.

If the kids want food, folks and fun, show them the Wine Country’s version at the Napa Downtown Chefs’ Market, where free live music, local community group displays, art exhibits and, of course, gourmet takeaway nibbles make for a perfect Friday night family stroll – May through September. The kids can boogie to the music while Dad takes in the cooking demonstration and Mom sips a Syrah; there’s something for every member of the family.