visiting in-laws Archives - until suburbia!

Experience Arts of Fire in Benicia, NY2CA Gallery

September 5, 2025Silvia

Every city in the Bay Area has a vibe. For Benicia, the art galleries on First Street communicate a welcoming vibe for art lovers to browse and discover new artists.

The most recent addition to the First Street art scene is the NY2CA Gallery.

With changing exhibits every seven weeks, this place will truly entice you to come visit often!

Currently, they show Arts of Fire – Clay. Glass. Transformation. This juried show featuring 36 artists is all about working with clay and glass in a contemporary and fantastic way. I found the Drops of Lights by Jenn Shiflett inspiring. A glass plate that looks like it captures raindrops, but also reflects everything. I have two photos, both somehow showed up as distorted selfies.

Arts and Fire will be open until September 21st, 2025. The NY2CA Gallery is on 617 First St in downtown Benicia. Opening hours are Thursday to Sunday from noon to 5 pm.

A door painted in brown with Kollar Chocolate written on it

Indulge in Chocolate, Kollar Chocolates, Yountville

August 29, 2025Silvia

The smell of rich chocolate greets you at Kollar Chocolates, a small artisan chocolatier in the heart of Yountville. Located at the V Marketplace, a historic winery, now an upscale place for fine dining and wine. The award-winning pralines are works of art crafted with ethically sourced ingredients. Kollar dove into the chocolatier artistry in Europe, and his research paid off. He was named one of the Top Ten Chocolatiers in North America by Dessert Professional Magazine.

On our visit, we were given a red wine truffle to sample and enjoyed an affogato. Both were excellent!

Given the current temperatures, chocolate seems a hard sell. But the descriptions from Chocolate By the Bay made my mouth water and I definitely regret not trying more of these artful bonbons – especially the chopped truffle, a concoction created after winning the 2020 Food Network’s Chopped: “It’s a white chocolate ganache flavored with miso paste and cayenne in a dark chocolate shell.” Sounds salty, lightly spicy, surrounded by chocolate. What could go wrong?

Kollar Chocolates is located in Yountville’s V Marketplace on 6525 Washington Street in Yountville. It is open every day from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm.

Where do you indulge in chocolates?

Produce offered at the FarmStand in Yountville

Shop at the FarmStand, Yountville

August 22, 2025August 22, 2025Silvia

Last week, I was talking about the Yountville Art Walk. While we checked out the art, we also wanted to stop by the FarmStand. The FarmStand Garden is advertised on the town of Yountville’s website as a “thriving, community-powered space growing fresh, seasonal produce in the heart of town.” What we didn’t realize was that this was so much more than a place to buy fresh produce.

In the back of the Yountville Commons, a former Elementary school that now awaits a community space overhaul, we found the Coop. The Coop is a café with inviting yellow and green seats in the shade. Additionally, it serves as a collaboration of the 4G gardening club’s FarmStand and the Hoopes Winery owner’s cafe. The 4G gardening club stands for Grow, Garden, Glean, and Give. You can find the FarmStand next to the Coop. Shop for locally grown produce, support sustainability, and find community.

The Coop offers a changing menu, drinks, and a welcoming space to hang out. This is a fantastic place to meet old and new friends! And if you are a Yountville resident or worker, you’ll receive a discount! They are a flagship for sustainability and community building. A definite stop if you are in Yountville!

The Coop and the FarmStand are located at 6554 Yount Street. Opening hours for the Coop are Tuesdays to Thursdays 10 am to 5 pm, Fridays to Sundays 9 am to 6 pm.

Follow the Art, Yountville Art Walk

August 16, 2025Silvia

Yountville combines food and wine culture with an advocacy for the arts. The Yountville Art Walk displays more than 30 outdoor sculptures. Many of these artworks are for sale.

We picked up a brochure at the community center. The community center is a great starting point for the art walk as a lot of sculptures are nearby. But you can really start this art exploration anywhere. Most of them are on a 1 mile stretch of Washington Street. At Van De Leur Park is another cluster of sculptures. The park is not very extensive but it offers shade and the possibility to sit and rest. It also has a little rose garden.

The Steve Rogers Gallery at the community center hosts six free exhibits a year. Currently, they are displaying painted trays, Midnight Snack Trays – A Feast for the Eyes by Seward Johnson. These trays can be viewed through September 12, 2025.

My favorite sculpture was this Yellow Sphere by Ivan McLean – a large yellow ball made out of woven metal.

We enjoyed our stroll while we discovered Yountville. What an excellent way to promote both the walkability of Yountville and the arts!

The Steve Rogers Gallery is located at 6516 Washington Street. Opening hours are Mondays through Fridays from 9 am to 4 pm. You can also listen to descriptions about the sculptures in an audio tour: https://youraudiotour.com/tours/yountville-art-walk/

Information about the art walk can be found on their website: https://ca-yountville.civicplus.com/238/Art-Walk

Jonah and the Whale mechanical bank at the Napa Toy Museum

Adore Vintage Toys at the Napa Toy Museum, Napa

August 9, 2025Silvia

They name themselves the collectors of collections. The owners of the Napa Toy Museum proudly display their collections of wind-up toys, mechanical and still banks, patent models, and salesman samples from 1890’s to the 1960’s. It’s as fascinating as it is whimsical.

We were offered a tour that was included in the admission, and we gladly accepted. Our guide, one of the owners of the museum, opened cases and demonstrated how a mechanical bank works, and showed us vintage wind-up toys.

The Barbie collection is on loan from the collector Myk Ciapusci. Ninety-eight Barbies with accessories prompted us to share memories and stories about miniature outfit creations.

But there is also a lot of history in those pieces. Like the patent models that inventors had to submit to the patent office with their inventions. Or the Ark toys that were popular in Germany around the late 19th century. These toys were also called Sunday toys because they were the only toys kids were allowed to play with on the Sabbath. Although only a fraction of the 150 ark animals are displayed in the case, we still appreciated the love that went into carving the animals.

Thank you to the Halls for sharing and explaining your collection.

The Napa Toy Museum is located at 964 Pearl Street in downtown Napa and is open Wednesday to Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is $8 for adults with discounts for seniors, locals, first responders, and kids. The museum is free for under-8-year-olds. If you bring an unwrapped, new toy for Toys for Tots through December 17th, 2025, you will receive one free admission.

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.

Taste Point Reyes Cheese, Point Reyes Station

June 27, 2025Silvia

Point Reyes blue cheese is my go-to blue cheese. It was a real treat to see where the cheese comes from – the pastures and the cows.

The road towards the market is winding and narrow. You may need to pull over to let the ongoing traffic pass. On our way back, a cow was blocking traffic. But after we took her picture, she gracefully moved away.

The cheese tasting was in the little market. Note: The signage was a bit confusing – all we saw was a ‘No Access’ sign. We wandered around a bit before finding the stairs to the entrance. But the gift shop was lovely. With a warm welcome, we were educated about the cheeses and enjoyed all of them! The fennel blue cheese was my favorite!

For our picnic, we picked out a soft, ripe cheese and a passion fruit jam.

Make sure to check out the patio and the garden. All comes with a healthy portion of country air!

Point Reyes Cheese marketplace is open for free cheese tastings Mondays through Saturdays from 11 am – 3:30 pm. It is located at 14700 Highway 1, Point Reyes Station.

They celebrate their 25th year anniversary this year with a special tasting ($55 per person ) on June 13th, July 18th, August 15th, September 26th, 2025.

What is your favorite cheese?

I did not receive any compensation for this post.

If you are more into goat cheese I highly recommend Hartley’s Farm in Pescadero.

Learn to Shuck Oysters, Hog Island Oyster Company

June 6, 2025Silvia

I usually recommend some frugal adventures. But as a special treat, we visited the Hog Island Oyster Company in Marshall, CA, near Tomales Bay, and learned everything about how to farm oysters.

This is a true gem if you like oysters. They taught us about different oysters and how they manage them. One fun or rather interesting experience was holding a sea cucumber. Not as firm as a cucumber and it moves like a snail!

The grand finale is a lesson in how to shuck oysters. You take the oyster, hold it in a towel, and pry the shucking knife into the end of the oyster. With not too much force, you twist and turn as if you are holding a key and the oyster is your lock.

The other two couples in our group were celebrating birthdays. With a price tag of $48 per person, it is truly a special occasion activity.

Hog Island Oyster Company is located 20215 Shoreline Highway in Marshall, CA. The Classic Farm Tours are offered on Fridays through Sundays at 9:30 a.m. Online registrations are required.

To round out your experience, you can have lunch at Tony’s Seafood restaurant and enjoy fresh seafood. We tried the fried oyster lettuce wrap and it was delish!

Hog Island Oyster Company, in the SF Ferry Building Marketplace, is the San Francisco oyster bar, full-service bar, restaurant, and retail outlet for this Tomales Bay oyster farm.

I am not affiliated with the Hog Island Oyster Company or Tony’s Seafood restaurant.

Entrance of Sonoma Harvest in Fairfield, CA

Taste Test Sonoma Harvest Products, Fairfield

April 25, 2025Silvia

We received a warm welcome at the Sonoma Harvest tasting room in Fairfield. Since it was our first time, we were cleverly guided to the olive oils through a lot of really cute kitchen items.

There are a lot of flavored olive oils to try. You can cleanse your palate with some croutons. Next are the vinegars. Again, there are many interesting flavors to elevate your salads. Have you ever had balsamic vinegar so good that you might want to use it as an ice cream topping? Yes, that’s here for you to taste (you have to imagine the ice cream right now – but the richness is mind-blowing!). From sour to sweet, the next station was their creative jams. The strawberry chocolate and spicy peach are delish! We skipped the spicy section, with a BBQ sauce and chili oil, but returned to the kitchen gifts. This is the place if you like to buy local products.

The Sonoma Harvest tasting room is located at 770 Chadbourne Road in Fairfield. It’s close to the Jelly Belly factory. Free tastings are Wednesdays to Sundays from noon to 4 pm.

I am not affiliated with Sonoma Harvest.

A bench overlooking the Bay at Point Pinole park

Visit Point Pinole Regional Shoreline Park

March 7, 2025Silvia

The first thing I noticed while hiking the Point Pinole Regional Shoreline Park was the typical Bay smell. Thankfully, it wasn’t persistent, and for me, it was an occasional whiff of offense. The smell is due to the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter in the sediment. I guess one can call it the smell of the low tide.

What struck me next were the many eucalyptus trees. Usually, you’ll find native oaks in parks, and eucalyptus is considered an invasive species. As the Oakland Side warned in an article in October of 2024, “Eucalyptus trees are simultaneously dry and filled with flammable oil. They shed long, shaggy debris, covering the ground with dry fuel for wildfires, and when they catch fire, the oil in them burns hot and fast. Their seed pods can explode in a wildfire, shooting embers across the landscape.” (https://oaklandside.org/2024/10/29/oakland-eucalyptus-trees-wildfires-history/).

But here in the park, the eucalyptus has an interesting history. They were planted as a buffer for explosions. From 1881 to 1960, this site was used as a dynamite manufacturing company, the Giant Powder Company. Dynamite, the invention of Alfred Nobel, was essential in the development of California, blowing through mountains and building roads. Nowadays, the eucalyptus are home to many wildlife species, like deer, hawks, owls, and Monarch butterflies.

The park was well attended on a weekday. Lots of people were exercising and enjoying the view of the Bay.

Point Pinole has two entrances. One is on 5551 Giant Highway, Richmond, and the other parking lot is on 3000 Atlas Road, Richmond. Parking is $5 between April and October.