Tuesday, November 8, 2022
Staycation day 11 of 16 and vacation day 2 of 5. Illy espresso for Patrick from a machine in our room. Complimentary breakfast in the room: three kinds of quick breads (sunflower-seed- encrusted pumpkin; banana; lemon), decaf, coffee, Mandarin oranges. Patrick and I walked in cold and rainy downtown Calistoga. Our visits included the Contemporary Arts Gallery, Copperfield Books, the Napa River, Holy Assumption Monastery, and Sharpsteen Museum. We walked to lunch at Buster's Southern Barbecue: pulled pork sandwich and baked beans and large hot chocolate for Patrick, tri-tip sandwich and mac salad and large chai latte for me. Counter service, then tables indoors with ceiling fans. There was a very long wait—about 15 minutes—for our hot drinks partly due to a large order of four hot chocolates just before us. So when we finally ate, our food was not very hot. Food and drink were delicious. I could not finish my sandwich. On the walk back to Mount View Hotel we stopped briefly to look in the windows at Ca'Toga Gallery, which was closed. Back at the hotel, Patrick and I relaxed in the hot tub for 15 minutes. Showers in the room afterwards. We napped. We canceled a reservation for dinner at Sam's Social Club because I wanted lighter fare since we had been having many meat-heavy meals lately. Dinner at Calistoga Thai Kitchen: fresh rolls with peanut sauce to share, panang curry chicken with rice and hot jasmine tea for Patrick, garlic pepper tofu with rice and hot decaf earl grey tea for me. Food and drink was delicious. My food was not very hot, but I did not complain. Walked back to Mount View Hotel. We rewatched and re-enjoyed Jurassic Park III almost from the beginning on HBO. Patrick went to bed. I troubleshot problems with an old brew installation on my account on Patrick's laptop. I quit troubleshooting after a while when I realized it would be easier to compare with my work laptop side by side, so it would be easier to wait to do when I returned home.