We Go With Kids!

Category: wine region

  • Things to Do in Napa With Kids

    Things to Do in Napa With Kids

    Napa Valley is definitely not a typical family vacation destination, but my husband and I did not want to pass up the opportunity to enjoy a few wine tastings while in Northern California visiting San Francisco and Yosemite.  We tacked on two nights in Napa and hoped that the wineries would be as much fun for our two and four year old boys as wineries in Ohio’s Grand River Valley.  While we definitely all enjoyed our time in Napa, our experience visiting California wineries with children was not what we expected after our regular trips to Ohio’s wine country.  Here are our recommendations for the best things to do in Napa with kids.

    Visiting Napa Valley With Kids

    We thought our kids would have the chance to drink grape juice served in wine glasses and eat delicious meals at wineries in Napa.  However, we discovered that Napa wineries do not make grape juice because their grapes are too expensive to “waste” on juice.  Only one winery we visited offered my boys juice, and it was served in Capri Sun pouches rather than fancy glasses.  Because it is expensive for wineries in Napa to obtain food permits, most stick to serving wine and the occasional free snack.  While my boys enjoyed frolicking in vineyards, touring wineries and watching some grape stomping, we did not find any vineyard in Napa where we could relax for an entire afternoon or fly a kite like we regularly do in Ohio.

    Where to Stay in Napa Valley With Kids

    We stayed at the Meritage Resort and Spa, a wonderful Napa family resort that offers both rooms and suites.  We booked a one bedroom suite with a full kitchen, living room with a pull-out couch for the boys, a whirlpool tub in the bathroom and a washer and dryer, which was so helpful after a weekend in San Francisco and a few days in Yosemite.

    This 2012 trip was before Airbnb had its reached its current widespread popularity, and we really had not yet stayed in many condo-style accommodations when traveling with kids.  It was so convenient to feed the boys breakfast at a full dining table as we were getting ready for the day and also have the option of watching television in the bedroom after they went to sleep.  When we found the weather a bit too chilly to enjoy the outdoor pool, adding shampoo to the whirlpool tub made a fabulous bubble bath alternative.  Our kids simply loved this hotel.


    We arrived in the late evening and ate dinner at the hotel.  When we decided to venture out the next morning, the concierge was helpful in directing us to more family friendly wineries, even though we honestly felt our kids were tolerated rather than welcomed wherever we went in Napa.  Of the more than 500 vineyards in Napa, the concierge recommended only a handful.

    Napa wineries are each unique but typically open from about 10 am to 5 pm daily.  Some offer simple tastings with some free snacks, others have tours of the facilities and vineyards.  While reservations are required at some wineries, we were able to drop in at each of the wineries we visited during our mid-week visit in October.  Obviously, drinking and driving is a concern in Napa, and so we took turns tasting wines and driving.

    Here are our five favorite Napa Valley kid-friendly wineries:

    #1:  Sterling Vineyard With Kids

    Sterling Vineyard has a beautiful setting.  It was our first stop in Napa, and the tree-lined approach was so spectacular that we stopped to take a picture.

    The main draw for kids at Sterling Vineyards is the aerial tram used to transport guests from the parking area to the hilltop winery located in a stucco building that looks like a monastery.  It is the only aerial tram in Napa and offers amazing views of the surrounding area.  Our family of four fit into one gondola and thoroughly enjoyed the ride up and down.

    Sterling’s aerial tram

    As part of our general admission package, we enjoyed a tasting and a self-guided tour of the lower portion of the winery.  Because we visited during the Fall harvest, humongous containers of grapes were arriving at the winery.  Our boys were at the height of their truck enthusiasm and were thoroughly mesmerized watching the carts move these containers around.

    After our tour, we sat on the terrace to sip some wine and soak in the scenic rolling hills surrounding the valley.  Even a quick call from a colleague couldn’t dampen this gorgeous day.

    We were surprised that bottled grape juice was not available for the kids and honestly a bit taken aback when the boys were offered CapriSun pouches, but it turned out that this was the only winery that had any sort of juice available.  If the aerial tram and grape vats were not enough to keep the boys happy, they created their own excitement by “decorating” their shoes with wine corks.

    #2:  V. Sattui With Kids

    V. Sattui Winery is a family owned winery that dates back to 1885.  It is unique because of its onsite Artisan Deli that offers amazing homemade food that is perfect for picnicking.  Unlike the Ohio wineries we frequent, very few Napa Valley wineries serve food.  We picked up some amazing paninis at the deli and found the perfect picnic spot in the shaded grounds.  The wine barrels were an appropriate choice for garbage cans.

    Outside food and wine are not permitted, but this was definitely our favorite meal in Napa.

    • Kid Facts:  V. Sattui was established by Vittorio Sattui, an Italian immigrant from Genoa in 1885.  The winery closed during Prohibition but was reopened by Sattui’s great-grandson in 1976.

     

    #3:  Andretti Winery With Kids

    Andretti Winery was established in 1996 by retired Kmart CEO Joe Antonini and retired race car driver, Mario Andretti.  The Tuscan architecture and exudes the feeling of Italy.  The grounds were superb, and the boys loved running in the vineyards and playing near the stunning fountain.

    • Kid Facts:  Mario Andretti is Vice Chairman.

     

    #4:  Grgich Hills Estates With Kids

    Grgich Hills Estate is distinctive because it does not use artificial fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides in its vineyards and has relied on solar power since 2006.  Formerly known as Grgich Hills Cellars, the winery changed its name to Grgich Hills Estate in 2007 when it started producing only “estate grown” grapes grown at its own private vineyards.

    One of the draws of visiting Grgich was to witness grape stomping, a seasonal activity offered at the winery. Guests can stand in a barrel of grapes and stomp to make juice.  When completed, they step onto a new white t-shirt to imprint their grape juice footprints onto a very unique souvenir.  We neglected to take any pictures of videos of grape stomping, but this promotional YouTube video provides a great view.

    We did forego grape stomping in favor of a tour and a tasting but thoroughly enjoyed watching stomping in progress.

    • Kid Facts:  Owner Miljenko “Mike” Grgich surprised the wine world in 1976 when his 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay was named as the world’s finest white wine.

     

    #5:  Beaulieu Vineyard With Kids

    Beaulieu Vineyard was our last stop in Napa Valley before heading back to San Francisco.  This winery was established by Georges and Fernande de Latour in 1900.  Fernande named the vineyard “beau lieu” meaning “beautiful place.” The de Latours were French immigrants who sold their crème de tartar business to enter the wine making business.  BV is the oldest continuously producing winery in Napa.

    We did a simple tasting, but our two year old was clearly done with wineries and literally fell asleep in my arms.  My husband couldn’t resist snapping a commemorative photo of the winery nap.  BV turned out to be our favorite wines of the trip and the one we most often purchase at home.

    • Kid Facts:  Prohibition did not wipe out BV’s wine making business; instead, the winery continued making wines to fulfill their contract for sacramental wines for the Catholic Church.

    While we definitely felt that our boys were tolerated rather than welcomed at Napa wineries, they still really enjoyed our two days.  I’ve heard rumors through the grapevine that Napa’s wineries have become more family friendly in recent years but have doubts after finding  that the website, NapaValleyKid.com, The Go-To Guide for Families in Napa Valley, has no posts in its listing of Family Friendly Wineries. Even if it is not a “must do” with kids, there is no reason to skip it during a family vacation to Northern California.  We’d certainly jump at the chance to go back to Napa with kids to check out wineries again to compare experiences.  To find out more about family trips to Northern California, see our posts on San Francisco, Yosemite and Monterey.

  • Fall Getaway: Off-Season Chautauqua With Kids

    Fall Getaway: Off-Season Chautauqua With Kids

    Chautauqua is a small town in western New York best known for the Chautauqua Institution, a lakeside resort that offers weekly educational programing for nine weeks each summer.  Over 100,000 visitors participate in one or more of the Institution’s over 2,000 lectures, art exhibits, outdoor symphonies, theater or dance performances, opera and classes each year.  Additionally, Lake Chautauqua offers opportunities for fishing, swimming, sailing, boating and canoeing.  Chautauqua is an easy two-hour drive from Cleveland, and we have friends who regularly vacation here or own a second home in the area.

    Visiting Chautauqua With Kids

    We ended up making an unplanned stop in Chautauqua while driving back from New England in October 2016.  We typically book hotels in advance but had not because we were not sure how far we would make it after leaving Amherst, Massachusetts in the late afternoon.  None of the larger cities on our route along I-90 were “must-sees”, and the kids ended up holding up on the long drive better than we expected.  At around 10:30 pm, we briefly considered driving straight home.  Luckily, my husband took a look at a map and suggested we spend the night in Mayville, the seat of Chautauqua County and booked us room at Chautauqua Suites.  Chautauqua with kids ended up being a great family destination.

    We arrived at the hotel with three sleeping kids around 11:30 pm and quickly got them changed and into bed.  Our “suite” was roughly the size of a normal hotel but had two small sleeping spaces that were separated by the bathroom at the center of the room.  The setup would have been more useful if we arrived earlier in the evening and wanted a separate space after putting the kids to bed.  Nevertheless, Chautauqua Suites totally met our needs for the eight or nine hours that we were there.  The included breakfast buffet was an added bonus that saved us a morning stop.

    After breakfast, we stopped at a playground right on the shore of Lake Chautauqua.  The playground had all the traditional equipment, but the gorgeous view of the Lake really set it apart from the typical play area.  With the park completely to ourselves, we had one of our most memorable mornings just relaxing and playing on a beautiful and warm fall day.   I knew as soon as we arrived that this was definitely the perfect I-90 pit stop.  Luckily, this was just the beginning of a wonderful unexpected day.

    Monkey bars

    Visiting Panama Rocks With Kids

    After finishing up at the playground, we headed to Panama Rocks, which is about a 15-minute drive from Mayville.  It was listed as #1 on Trip Advisor’s list of Chautauqua County activities.  And, we could see why – Panama Rocks is probably the best privately owned nature park that I have ever visited.  There is a one mile trail that is an easy, Class 1 hike in an ancient forest.  It is not stroller accessible, but my two year old daughter walked a good bit of it herself and enjoyed the view from her carrier or on my husband’s shoulders the rest of the time.

    • Kid Facts:  To be classified as an ancient forest, a forest must be at least 200 years old and have large trees, dense canopies and diverse wildlife.  Panama Rocks has been privately owned and operated since 1885.

    The colored leaves covering the ground added to the beauty, and we saw some of the most brilliant reds of the whole trip on the hike.

    There are towering rocks, deep crevices and caves that guests are welcome to go off trail to explore, and you can be sure that my boys thoroughly investigated the rock formations and caves.  Hiking boots might be helpful, especially if the ground is wet, but we all found our sneakers to be adequate.

    Climbing some rocks

     

    • Kid Caution:  While exploring off trails is permitted, close adult supervision is necessary.  Caution is always needed when climbing rocks.  There is also a short part at the end with cliff edges where we were extra careful and made sure our daughter was safely in her carrier.

    We received an initial treasure hunt clue after paying our admission, and following the clues, which provided facts and history about the park was as fun as exploring the rocks, caves and forest.  We located a locked box near the end of the hike and used the clues to determine the combination and solve the mystery.

    Panama Rocks is definitely a park we would recommend to families and all nature lovers and plan to return ourselves.  It is a perfect place for kids to explore nature and learn about the plant life and geology of the area.  The treasure hunt also helped us to look carefully and take in our surroundings.  Of course, the boys loved the “mission.”  Note that it’s only open seasonally and generally closes at the end of October.

    Visiting Noble Winery With Kids

    After lunch, we decided to stop at a winery before heading home.  We ended up at Noble Winery in Westfield, about 15 minutes from Mayville on the way to I-90.  Noble is one of over 20 wineries in Lake Erie Wine Country.  It is located on a secluded hill with an absolutely spectacular view overlooking the vineyards and Lake Erie.

    Westfield is known for concord grape production, and a Welch’s plant is located here.  So, unlike Napa where grape juice was not produced at any of the vineyards we visited, it wasn’t surprising that grape juice was available by the bottle at Noble Winery.  My husband and I enjoyed sitting on the large porch while the kids ran in the field in front of the winery.  We had a clear view of them playing on the gentle slope, and they came back every few minutes for another sip.

    I even spent some time frolicking in the field with the kids.

    Why We Loved Chautauqua With Kids

    Our visit to Noble Winery capped off our perfect unplanned day.  Even without the Chautauqua Institute and local marinas buzzing with activities, we found Chautauqua to be a lovely place to visit during the off-season.  Our first family visit to the area was so enjoyable that we would love to return to Chautauqua with kids again in the spring or fall and explore some more.

    Fall happens to be our favorite season here at WGWK, so be sure to check out our more expansive Fall Getaway series.  If you enjoy wine, check out other wine regions we have explored with kids.

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  • Ohio Wine Country With Kids

    Ohio Wine Country With Kids

    Are wineries really a place to take kids?  We’ve found that with limited exceptions, a winery can provide fun for all ages, and we are lucky to have the Ohio’s Grand River Valley wine region about 45 minutes away.  We think it is a hidden gem of the area as we find many of our friends and neighbors do not know much about it or have never actually been and definitely recommend a trip to Ohio wine country with kids.

    I grew up in the Cleveland area but never visited the wineries in this region until I was in my 30s.  Our seven month son joined us on our first trip there.  Since then, Ohio wine country has become a favorite family day trip.  We usually go at least once a year to celebrate a special occasion. While it is just a short drive, our favorite wineries have amazing and relaxed settings that make us feel like we have made an excursion.  Sipping wine is just the icing on the cake of a great afternoon.

    Ohio’s Napa

    While the wine produced in Ohio may not be as famous as those made in Napa, Grand River Valley wineries are much more family-friendly than those in Napa, and our kids love winery trips.  Many Ohio wineries produce their own grape juice, and my kids absolutely love drinking red grape juice (a special treat) in wine glasses.  Also, most wineries in Ohio double as restaurants or permit guests to bring their own picnic.  Some wineries have enough green space to relax on a picnic blanket and fly a kite, and the nearby beach in the State Park is an added bonus.

    When we planned a trip to San Francisco and Yosemite a few years ago with our two and four year old boys, we tacked on two nights in Napa. While Napa is definitely not a typical family vacation location, my husband and I were not going to pass up the opportunity to go to Napa just because our kids were with us, and we figured that the wineries would be as much fun for them as Ohio wineries.  While we definitely all enjoyed ourselves, our experience visiting California wineries with kids was not what we expected after our regular trips to Ohio’s wine country.

    We thought our kids would enjoy drinking grape juice and eating good meals at wineries in Napa.  However, we learned that Napa wineries do not make grape juice because their grapes are too expensive to “waste” on juice.  Only one winery we visited offered my kids juice, and it was served in Capri Sun pouches rather than fancy glasses.  Because it is expensive for wineries in Napa to obtain food permits, they stick to serving wine and the occasional free snack.  While my boys enjoyed frolicking in vineyards, touring wineries and watching some grape stomping, we did not find any spot in Napa where kids could relax for an afternoon or fly a kite.

    Lodge at Geneva-on-the-Lake – An Ohio Wine Country Resort

    The Lodge at Geneva-on-the-Lake is a family-friendly hotel complex on Lake Erie that can turn a trip to the Grand River Valley wineries into a weekend getaway.  I enjoyed a few nights there.  The Lodge has expanded in recent years to include indoor and outdoor pools as well as two-bedroom cottages completed in 2016.  The Lodge also offers family rooms with bunk beds and a number of fun activities, including bike rental, zip line tours and snow shoe and ski rental.

    The Lodge at Geneva on the Lake

    Logistics

    Other than designating a driver, there is virtually no preparation needed for planning a trip to the Grand River Valley WIne Region.  If you are planning to picnic at the South River Vineyard or adding on a stop at the beach, make sure to bring a blanket, snacks, juice, a ball and a kite.

    Wineries

    There are a number of wineries in the Grand River Valley Wine Region area. While we occasionally try a new one, we generally stick to our favorites, including:

    • Ferrante Winery and Ristorante: This is our favorite lunch spot in the area.
      • Food:  The food is particularly enjoyable, and the restaurant offers indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the beautiful vineyard.  We particularly enjoy the gnocchi brue, which I order with chicken instead of filet mignon and with lighter sauce.  The kids like the pepperoni pizza.
      • Wine and Juice:  We order the sweet and dry tasting trays to share.  Ferrante’s makes their own white and red grape juice.  If we are headed to South River Vineyard after lunch, we pick up a bottle for the kids on our way out.  Servers will ask you if you would like to add a bottle to your lunch tab, but it’s about half the price if you pick it up at the souvenir shop yourself.
      • Tours:  Ferrante’s offers free winery tours on weekend afternoons from Memorial Day through Labor Day with posted hours.  My boys really enjoy these tours.  We were with a large group of visiting family the last time we had lunch at Ferrante’s, and it was our nine year old who asked if we could take the tour.
      • Location:  Other than the large blue factory building next door that seems completely out of place in the vineyard scene, the setting is truly picturesque.  On weekends in the summer, there is usually live music outside.
      • Notes:  Note that the restaurant is closed on Monday and Tuesday. Ferrante’s offers a lunch menu Wednesday through Saturday, but the dinner menu is used for lunch on Sunday.

    • South River Vineyard is one of our family’s favorites wineries.
      • Food:  The only food sold is a cheese plate, but guests are permitted to bring small picnics.
      • Wine/Juice:  Wine is sold in flights and by the bottle, and the bartender will cork an unfinished bottle so that you can take it home with you.  They do not sell juice, but guests are permitted to bring non-alcoholic beverages.
      • Setting:  We call it the “church winery” because the tasting room is housed in a Victorian Methodist Church originally built in 1892 that was moved from Shalersville, Ohio and reconstructed here in 2000. Outside, there are beautiful terraces and a pavilion with Adirondack chairs and picnic tables.  On colder days, there is an outdoor fireplace.  There is a large grassy area next to the pavilion that is perfect for the kids to play ball or fly a kite.

     

    • Laurello Vineyards is a small, boutique winery that opened in 2002. While it is not set in a vineyard like many of the other wineries, there is a large outdoor patio with live music in the evenings on summer weekends. The flatbread pizzas baked in a wood oven are amazing.
    My friends, Sandy and Barb, at Laurello Vineyards
    • Harpersfield Vineyards is a farm winery housed in a charming French estate. Harpersfield serves soup, sandwiches, flatbreads, cheese plates and desserts. Outdoor seating includes a patio and pavilion. The indoor fireplace is a big draw.

    • Debonne Vineyards is the largest estate winery in Ohio with over 175 acres of vines. It is also the most commercial winery in the area.Weddings occur here most weekends in the summer, and we have seen a few ceremonies. Appetizers, sandwiches and pizza are available inside all year. During the summer months, the outdoor Grille at Debonne is open for outdoor dining.  Debonne was the first Ohio winery to open a micro-brewery and is open daily 12 pm to 6 pm with longer hours on some days and on a seasonal basis.

     

    Visiting wine country in Ohio is one of our family’s favorite summer activities.  Now, we need to check it out during the off season!

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