Wow! Hired Miss Heidi for my son's 7th birthday party and she was fantastic. The kids ranged in age…read morefrom 15 months to 12 years old and they all were into her entire performance. She engaged each of them in story telling as well as games. The adults were into her story just as much as the kids. This was a fantastic and affordable find for our party. Intelligent play that kept the kids busy and well behaved, who could ask for anything more?

Cool museum... but honestly, we were there for the wine and just took a quick look... we'll have to…read morego back

This is a cool annual weekend-long festival taking place at Westside Regional Park. Plenty to see…read moreand do, including an art show, Sheriff's helicopter demonstrations, wooden boat building challenge and race on Saturday, which was hilarious and entertaining (especially rooting for the sunken ships and riders, and amused by the quirky boat names, like Deep Ship and Ship Happens), boat parade on Sunday, awesome live music with 3 different bands each day (performing mostly rock tunes), numerous craft booths and merchandise vendors, various food/drink trucks and stands (had some giant gourmet corn dogs from Aunt Betty's, yummy bbq ribs and mac n cheese from Fire Bros BBQ, and an iced mocha from Sunshine Coffee Roasters), as well as ample covered seating with tables, hay bales in front of the stage, free wifi, and multiple restroom areas with minimal waits at the porta potties. Parking and traffic was easy, and the crowds were much larger in the afternoon (after the rain subsided on Saturday and the sun came out), but it never felt overcrowded or uncomfortable. Lots of adorable well-behaved dogs too. Overall it was a well-organized and thoughtfully planned family-friendly (and pet-friendly) event, at a lovely location along the water, and we had a lot of fun.

My husband our daughter & I drove 3 hours to attend, and are so disappointed with this event. We…read morepurchased our tickets early and were so excited, even counting down the days until the fesrival... but there were only 2 booths selling seafood. The venue is nice and there was plenty of space, but not nearly enough food booths. I was hoping for shrimp skewers, shrimp pasta, lobster rolls, clams, different types of chowder, crab, crawfish, poke bowls, i dont know... just more seafood options at a fisherman's festival. There were more booths selling candles, handbags, crafts and other trinkets than seafood. Also, there were very few garbage cans, and limited places to sit. Organizers or Planners need to STEP IT UP!

First me say this is not for the piner location…read more. this is for the murder mystery that was at Charlies Restaurant in Windsor. my fiance took me to the murder mystery theater done by get a clue productions on Nov 11th for my birthday. I have been to things like this before but it hasn't been since 2004 and it was in San Diego. I enjoyed it so much I was hoping to find one local. My guy had never been to one, so I told him for my birthday I wanted him to buy us tickets for this. It was the "Gumshoe Murders" 1940's theme. Me and him dressed the closest we could to the era. When we got in there was a table for two for us, I liked how they set the tables for the amount in the group so we were not put at a table with strangers. Before the show started the actors came out and were in character right away, introducing themselves so you could get a feel for them, if you pay close enough attention you can see how they characters act with each other so you can have an idea of the connection they had. They served shrimp cocktail, not a big fan of seafood but I tried. My fiance loved it,, we figured drinks were not included since when we bought the tickets it didn't mention drinks. We just ordered soda for when the main meal came out. the actors spoke loud, and clear, and made us feel like we were part of the play. Between food and the play the actors would come to tables and chat with us and see if we had any clues to give them,, the main meal was really good, I got the steak, with the mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables, my fiance got chicken, it was so much chicken!! We both loved the food. The servers were so fast and did a great job. At the end when we had to guess who killed who, we did a pretty good job and got 3rd place and was given a dollar tree police badge, maybe stupid or dorky to others but I love having mementos of events and fun times I've had, so I was happy enough. In all we had a great time, yes it was expensive but you have to remember the $68 dollars is for a three course meal and for the play, and the tip is (I am guessing) split between the servers and actors. Or at least that's how they did it in San Diego. It's not something that can be easily afforded all the time but for special occasions it was worth it.

Interesting evening. We went with a group of two other couples and laughed and overall had a good…read moreevening, but wanted to explain a few things to know before hand so you aren't caught off guard like we were. We all made reservations ahead of time for a set price menu with 4 options for the main course including the dinner show. $68 felt a little steep, but it was a special occasion and a good group of people so we went for it. It is located at a golf course and the room we were welcomed into looked more like a community center/retirement home room rather than a theater. There are no menus or drink lists with prices. In case you assume drinks are included, they are NOT. Our table all had non alcoholic drinks ranging from 1.75 to $5 each and the wait staff keep asking if you'd like a refill. Somehow my two virgin drinks cost over $10 which if I knew ahead of time I wouldn't mind, but didn't find out until the very end when the bill came. The food was just ok, dry roll, good beet salad (if you like beets), cold meat (cooked med rare), pretty good mashed potatoes, basic steamed veg, dry crusty brownie with half scoop of generic ice cream and hersheys syrup. About half the acting was similar to what you would expect at a community center with one or two highlight roles, the other half couldn't remember which accent they were supposed to stay in. I was looking forward to some kind of plot twist, but when we discovered the killer and the clues, it still didn't quite line up of make sense. I still enjoyed my night and had a good time and some laughs with friends, but for the $190 bill we left with for 2 people (drinks, tax, included gratuity), we won't be going back any time soon.

Now I know there was a failed museum in Napa that focused on wine and food called COPIA. However, I…read morewasn't aware that there's been a local art museum next to Chandon in Yountville since 1972 until Jamie read about the special tiki bar exhibition running until the end of this month, "Tiki Dreams: From Far Away Fantasy to Pop Culture Phenomenon". Definitely up our alley. Well, given our recent run on patronizing tiki bars here and abroad, we just had to go. We went up on a recent Saturday, and the museum was crowded with tiki aficionados. It turned out Bank of America was sponsoring an admission-free day, so we took advantage and became engulfed in what felt like a claustrophobic space that was equal parts arts & crafts fair and vintage memorabilia. There was definite entertainment value if you miss this mid-century phenomenon. There were other exhibition rooms, but we weren't made aware of them by the staff. Perusing the website, I noticed some interesting past exhibitions like "The Great California Road Trip 1962", something that appeals to my baby boomer sensibilities. Next to Chandon and close to other attractions, this might be worthy of a return visit. RELATED - Exploring north of San Francisco? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://bit.ly/2tIHlkV

Visited the Napa Valley Museum during the Tiki Dreams, Mini Masterpieces, and the Great California…read moreRoad Trip exhibits. I went for the Tiki Dreams exhibit in particular. The largest exhibit is in the main building on the ground floor with the admissions desk and gift shop. The tiki exhibit itself was quaint and small. Mugs, old menus, photos and history of tiki bars, one set of Witco chairs and table, plus a hand built bar by local artist Woody Miller. Interesting to see but ultimately a quick walk through maybe intended more for those looking for nostalgia. They were selling tiki merchandise and mugs at inflated prices at the gift shop. Mugs that were $150 at the original events are being marked up and sold for $230. Almost all of the gift shop merch was overpriced. The other two exhibits downstairs were small and it smelled of sulfur or sewage since they are located below the bathrooms.. Really off putting. We looked through mini masterpieces and Great California Road Trip exhibits in at most 15 minutes and left. Entry to the museum is $15 per person... We went during Bank Of America's Museum on Us which takes place every first full weekend of the month. Bring your Bank of America credit or debit card and entry is free. Luckily one of us got in for free with this promo.

Unfortunately, I couldn't drink because I was the DD (by default because my medicine affects my…read moreliver).. But I had such a great time! Seeing all the animals were fun, especially the llamas! And I loved all the food booths. There was regular fair food like corn dogs, but there was also an Indian food booth and a Greek food booth. The grape stomp was hilarious to watch! And the cooking demonstrations were great too (I went to one where you could make pizza.. and well.. being at the end of the line sucks because all the toppings were gone). But the creme de la creme of course was the massive amount of vineyards representing! I wish there were as many restaurants/caterers representing. The food tasting were scarce, but that just meant seconds for me. http://sexydishes.blogspot.com/2011/10/its-okay-to-wine.html

Attention people with big feet, this is the event for you. They have a Wine Stomp contest. Kick off…read moreyour shoes and dance in the ooze. Yee Haw. Nothing like wine just made by someone stomping on the grapes with their bare feet, especially with a hint of fresh toe jam. And they got Honey tasting. No, not what you are thinking. Honey from Bee's. Good event for a Foodie. Winos will love it too. If you decide to compete in the Wine Stomp, please wash your feet first. Unfortunately a lot of the fun stuff they used to have here they no longer do. Beware, the good wines go fast. Some people come here and really belt the booze down. Parking costs $8.00 Gate Admission: $5.00 or FREE w/ 4 non-perishable food items for the Redwood Empire Food Bank. Runs from Oct 3-5

It's back after 3 painful years. The North Bay's largest food and wine event brings together the…read moreregion's top producers for an incredible day of culinary and oenological adventures.

Thanks to Yelp, my hubby scored tickets to this year's 6th annual BBQ competition & festival. I…read moreheard from other attendees, this is the first year it was held at the Sonoma-Marin fairgrounds to accommodate the crowd and vendors. Apparently, it was held at a smaller venue previous years. There's a VIP hour at noon, and many parking spaces were taken by the time general admission arrived at 1pm; others had to find parking on the street. The new spacious venue is a good fit for this festival; however, there's always room for improvement. It was a bit disorganized once you walked onto this open field of confusion, not sure which vendors were serving what. I'd like to suggest a map showing the layout of food, restrooms, alcohol, beverages, etc. Many food vendors ran out of food i.e., ribs, sliders, etc. We were walking around lost and some vendors only took purchased tickets from the event (different color from grey ones)...hmmm? There was a tent selling purple tickets for those wanting more wine, beers, non-alcoholic beverages, food, etc. - bizarre. For my friends who spent over $50 pp for admission & several food tickets, they weren't going to buy more tickets. We did enjoy some mouthwatering BBQ from those who still had food left for us to try. There was no shade, so we sat underneath the cooking demonstration tent for the remainder of the event. The VIP Bull Pen area was also confusing, as many thought it was also for festival goers. It was great to see familiar faces from the wineries we've visited and learn about new ones (Comstock, Flora Springs, Kokomo, Shone Farm, Overland, Korbel, and many more). The weather was amazing...the sun was out, and there was a breeze the entire time! Pros: - new spacious fairgrounds to hold such an event - free parking - unlimited pours of wine & some beers Cons: - no map listing vendors, entertainment, restrooms, etc. - not many shaded areas - nowhere to sit & enjoy the day - no watering station - no recycle or compost bins - certain foods ran out quickly - no big signs http://winecountrybigq.com

Come hungry! I'm still in a BBQ food coma; when I first checked in and saw I was only given 8 food…read moretickets I instantly thought, where do I buy more? Boy was I ever wrong; as I was heading out to the exit gates, I gifted my last 2 tickets. The samples were generous. This event brought some of the best pit masters in the country for a day of indulgence for meat lovers. In addition to the wide variety of barbecue sampling, there was also plenty of beer, wine and cider to help wash down the spicy sauces. A meat lover's festival would not be complete without a little bacon right?! So, to add to the experience, your admission also includes bacon desserts! And if you're anything like me, your tastebuds are not satisfied until you've had a sweet treat, so why not go for it! In addition, the venue provides live entertainment to add to the fun atmosphere of the event. My only complaints were that the seating was only available in front of the entertainment stage so tall pub tables would have been nice as it was sometimes difficult to balance trying to eat the sample and not spill your beverage; I heard multiple people say they wish they had another hand but in reality if you could just stand at a table top it would have made holding a plate and eating ribs a lot easier. Also, BBQ is messy, a hand washing station would have been a nice touch or even some wet wipes. Ha ha ha, so bring your own and be ready for a finger lickin' good time :)