In addition to out-of-towners are those who live here year round, those who have vacation property here, and those who, like my friend Penelope, pop over the hill from her hometown of Healdsburg whenever she is in need of a good long soak in Calistoga's slippery-soft mineral water—which, if you listen intently, you will hear whispering "everything's going to be all right." And the area remains a place where families can vacation comfortably. A judicious selection of accommodations and perhaps some sharing of parental responsibilities is all it takes for the whole clan to have a grand time.
Whatever
language you feel most comfortable with—neuralgia and lumbago
or tension and stress or therapy and healing—it does not
really matter to a body neck deep in hot mineral water or in a
tub of steaming mud. Common sense says to listen to your body,
to be cautious about high heat therapies, to know when it's time
to cool down, and, as the Greeks told us millennia ago, to do all
things in moderation. Calistoga's spas provide a superb balance
of traditional and new, and of do-it-yourself and be-done-to treatments.
Having made clear that Calistoga is a good 'ole country town I now have to confide that you can "do" the town in upscale style. If you want to spend a romantic day or two in this area. I suggest you visit Château Montelena Winery on Tubbs Lane and, after tasting wines, walk with your sweetie down the stone stairs to see Jade Lake and its two charming islands. (I was devastated to learn that they no longer allow visitors to reserve the islands for picnics.)
Next, make a reservation to stay at one of the spas or outside lodgings that appeal to you, or one of many bed and breakfast inns nearby. Then, once in the car and on your way to Calistoga, stop at the (original) Oakville Grocery in Oakville, two miles south of St. Helena, and select cheeses, pâtés, olives, breads, fruits and wine from a grand assortment of fine produce and deli foods and stop off at a local winery for a picnic lunch. Oakville Grocery now has branches in Healdsburg, Los Gatos, Palo Alto and Walnut Creek.
©Courtesy of Laurel Olson Cook, author of Spas of California (2002) and Wine Country Spas of California (2003). Visit www.LaurelCook.com