St Helena Archives - until suburbia!

Hike the Grist Mill Trail, Bothe-Napa Valley State Park, St Helena

August 1, 2025Silvia

Last week I talked about our visit to the Bale Grist Mill in St Helena. An added bonus adventure is to hike the 2.4 mile round trip starting from the Bothe-Napa Valley State Park.

We began this hike by stopping at the visitor center at Bothe Park. The nature exhibit, history, and 3D map of the area are informative. The center has a little shop where they sell ice cream and popsicles. If you need something to fend off ticks, they have that too. They also have a Native American plant garden next to the building. But our agenda was already tight, so we skipped the garden.

We parked the car in a shady spot on a loop near the cemetery. The cemetery is the final resting place for some of the original settlers in Napa Valley. To go on the grist mill loop, start on the right towards the cemetery loop and hang right. A little while in, I wished I had studied the 3-D map. The hike was surprisingly steep and narrow. We came from the direction of Napa and had passed the mill. So walking up when the goal was near the street seemed counterintuitive. Since the mill is water-powered, it needs to have water flow from an elevated reservoir. So once you are near the resevoir, you will hike down towards the mill.

We picked a hot day, but the weather can differ, so be sure to check ahead. But for us, the heat led to another bonus adventure. Once you return to the visitor center at Bothe Park, you can buy tickets to the swimming pool at the visitor center! The $5 per person was a great price for cooling down.

Information

The Bothe-Napa Valley State Park is open daily from 8 am to sunset. The entrance fee to the park is $10 per vehicle. The swimming pool is only open Saturdays and Sundays from 1 pm to 5 pm, during the summer season.

Water wheel for the Bale Grist Mill in St Helena

Grind Corn at the Bale Grist Mill, St Helena

July 25, 2025July 30, 2025Silvia

A grist mill converts grains such as wheat or corn into flour and animal feed. Built in 1846, the Bale Mill in St Helena is one of the oldest structures in Napa County. This marvel of ingenuity still works; you can watch it in action on the weekends.

Tours are offered at 10:30 am, 11:30 am, 1 pm, 2 pm, and 3 pm. We got there a little late, but it was no problem to join a tour midway and then stay a bit longer to catch up on what we missed.

Our guide was very knowledgeable as he presented the history of the mill and its owners. Then he turned on the waterwheel. He set it at the slowest setting so he could demonstrate it and yet still be heard once we moved inside. The mechanics for the mill are efficient. It can be operated with just two people. Cup elevators transport the grain through the system. The pinnacle of the demonstration is to watch the flour come out of the grindstone. There is also a hands-on element where you can grind corn by hand.

You can buy various flours at the historic granary gift shop. These are marked ‘Not for human consumption’, as the mill operators opted for a personal demonstration area that doesn’t meet the high hygienic standards.

The Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park is located at 3315 St Helena. Parking fee is $10 and the entrance fee for adults is $8, children 6-17 pay $3, and children under 6 are free. The mill is open Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am to 4 pm.

A bench that looks like a stick of butter under the MAC sign

Experience the MAC, St Helena

July 17, 2025Silvia

Riding through Napa Valley with my husband we were talking about how much of Napa feels like chasing experiences. For example, the wine train is a luxurious experience on a vintage train ride featuring elegantly curated menus. The price tag starts at $225 and can easily go for $600 a person for an experience.

You may already know that I am trying to find more frugal savoir-faire for you in this blog. But I’m also a foodie; sometimes these worlds collide. No, I did not ride on the wine train. When you rarely drink alcohol, you don’t have a problem skipping offerings centered around wine. However, I learned about an exhibit featuring Julia Child at the MAC (The Napa Valley Museum of Art & Culture) in St Helena. The $25 entrance fee per person made me pause. I paid it, I enjoyed it, but my husband decided to wait outside. If you can’t share your experience with others, is it worth it?

I did not grow up watching Julia Child, but I read her book My Life in France, and I saw the movie Julie & Julia. The exhibit starts by introducing Julia’s upbringing and then her work for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II. While in Kandy, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) she met her husband, Paul Child, who also worked for the OSS.

Although Child was not the first TV cook, she was the first to win an Emmy for an educational program. I really enjoyed seeing a set up of the TV kitchen with an old-style monstrous camera as my highlight. It becomes clear in this exhibit that Child was an icon, beloved and admired by her colleagues. Through the black and white photographs of Paul Child, you can see the love the couple had for each other.

Additional Information

To round off your experience, the café at Under Study, next door to the MAC, offers a three-course prix fixe menu inspired by Julia Child for $38.

On Saturday, 7/20/25 at 11 am, you can meet John Donohue at the MAC. Donohue is a cartoon artist who has famously drawn restaurants in Paris, London, and New York. Some of his drawings can be viewed at the MAC gift shop for free! The event on Saturday is also free.

Julia Child: A Recipe for Life is on display at the MAC until March 8, 2026. The MAC is located at 607 St Helena Hwy, St Helena, CA. It is open seven days a week from 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is $25 for adults, $15 for 5 – 17 year olds, free for children under 5.