Happy Friday.
Alright guys, this is officially the pre-Halloween Friday Game Plan.
And I am sorry, but Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, so both this week and next week are probably going to be pretty heavily focused on it.
I make no apologies.
Luckily, Napa seems very willing to play along. We have witches taking over the river, a cemetery tour, Wine Country’s version of trick-or-treating and plenty more coming as we get closer to the actual day.
So if Halloween is your thing, we have a good couple of weeks ahead of us.
And if it is not, bear with me. November is coming. But first, some appropriately spooky Napa trivia.
Which Napa Valley property has reportedly been, at various points in its history, an inn, restaurant, saloon, speakeasy, brothel and winery?
A. AXR
B. Trefethen
C. Charles Krug
D. Chateau Montelena
The Witches Are Taking Over the River
Okay, we have to start here. Because I am sorry, a bunch of witches paddling down the Napa River is just too good.
The second annual Witches Paddle is happening Sunday morning, and yes, it is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. People dress up as witches and warlocks, then head out on kayaks, canoes and paddleboards for a little Halloween float from downtown to Oxbow and back.
If you have your own gear, you can bring it. If you do not, Main Street Dock has rentals.
But to be honest, I think most of us are probably just going for the spectacle.
There is a costume contest, and from the photos I have seen, people definitely commit. So even if you have absolutely no intention of getting anywhere near a paddleboard on Sunday morning, it still seems worth heading downtown and watching a small army of witches float down the Napa River.
So if you want something this weekend that is festive, local and a little absurd in the best way, this feels like a very good place to start.
Details
Day, Date, Time: Sunday, October 25
Check-in at 9:45 a.m.
Launch at 10:30 a.m.
Location: Main Street Dock, 700 Main St., Napa
The Spooky Side of Napa History
Alright, if floating witches are not enough Halloween for you, let’s make things a little more serious.
Tulocay Cemetery is doing a Heritage Halloween walking tour this Saturday, and honestly, this might be one of the more interesting ways to learn a little Napa history.
The cemetery dates all the way back to 1857, which is pretty much right around when this whole part of California was really starting to take shape, and a lot of the people who helped build early Napa are buried there.
And just to be transparent, this does not look like some over-the-top haunted house thing either.
It is definitely more educational and informational than straight-up scary.
The Napa County Historical Society leads you through some of the older parts of the cemetery, stopping at different graves and telling the stories of the people buried there and what their lives had to do with Napa.
Honestly, that is probably more interesting to me anyway.
I know I have driven past Tulocay a hundred times and never actually gone in, so this seems like a pretty good excuse to finally check it out.
Just maybe do not schedule it immediately before bedtime if you are the kind of person who lets old cemetery stories get to you.
Details
Day, Date, Time: Saturday, October 24, 4 to 5:30 p.m.
Location: Tulocay Cemetery, Napa
Trick-or-Treating, But With Wine
Alright, now for the adult version of Halloween (Maybe the most epic version of a bar crawl I have seen in a while).
Check this out: You check in, grab your tasting cup and map, then make your way through participating tasting rooms, restaurants and businesses around town.
Costumes are encouraged, obviously.
And I really do love how we took a classic holiday tradition and somehow made it extremely Wine Country.
I have not been here long enough to know all of Yountville’s Halloween traditions, so if there are others I should know about, please send them my way.
But this one is brand new.
It is the inaugural Hallowine Walk, so nobody really knows yet whether this turns into a long-running tradition or a one-off experiment.
Either way, if you were already planning to spend part of the weekend up-valley, this gives you a pretty solid excuse.
Details
Day, Date, Time: Saturday, October 24, noon to 4 p.m.
Location: Downtown Yountville / Washington Street
And the answer to today’s trivia:
A. AXR.
That property has apparently lived about nine different lives, including time as an inn, restaurant, saloon, speakeasy, brothel and now winery.
Pretty fitting little Napa fact for Halloween season.
And on a more personal note, it really is so good to be back.
I missed hearing from you all, and I genuinely appreciate everyone who reads, replies, sends tips, corrects me when I miss something, or just drops a note to say hi. So keep them coming.
If you hear about something happening around town, have an idea for the newsletter, know a local story I should look into, or just want to tell me what I am missing, drop me a line.
For now, I’ll just keep digging around and sharing whatever good stuff I can find.
Happy almost-Halloween. Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you Monday for Town Notes.
Callie