Calistoga Grapes, Guns and Geysers

After a cold spring, it looks like summer is finally here.
Today we expect a high of 94 in Napa. That's nothing compared to how hot it got in Calistoga - around 105! You can always catch a cool breeze on a segway!

This is Jan, or Young - not sure. I use to see him riding his bike up and down Hwy 29 - he'd sit on someone's stone fence with his shirt off, getting a nice tan. He no longer does that - he now keeps his shirt on, says he needs protection from the sun. You can see him often in the mornings on Lincoln Ave in Calistoga. If you see him, be sure to say "hi" to this delightful Dutchman!
We are very excited to introduce our newest tour - Grapes, Guns and Geysers. It's a 3 hour tour and includes a very tiny "cult" winery where one can relax for a few minutes before getting back on the segways.

The grapes in the valley are growing fast! Here are some pictures of Spring and Summer grapes.

Hope to see you all soon!

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Spring Break= Bud break – how’s that for a segue !

Breaking it! Spring or Bud? This time of the year in Napa Valley is known as Bud Break. Tiny little florets of green, red and yellow spring up all over on the once dormant vines. The contrast of 50 year old wood and newborn leaves are a sight to see. Blue skies, puffy clouds, rainbows, as many different colors of green as the eyes can see- all of this is what you get in April.

We’re had a great time showing visiting families the town of Historic Napa; and the vineyard lined streets of Yountville with Spring taking a prominent place as buds break on the gnarly vineyards- getting ready for vintage 2010. Soon we’ll see tiny grapes forming with the promise of new beginnings.

Speaking of new beginnings- a very romantic way to stay in Napa is to be at one of our many historic Bed & Breakfast’s. This is a photo of McClelland Priest B&B – a Queen Anne style Victorian with beautiful rooms.

Stay there and visit Uncorked!@ the Oxbow to taste the wines Celeste and her husband Bruce make for Ahnfeldt and Cartucci. Where else can you get a really good Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for only $22? Definitely worth a visit.

Tired of paying those high taxes? Every little bit helps, this month we are running a tax break special, because we think you deserve it! Take 10% off all tours for the month of April, and, like Sam and Jessica, you'll be happy you did.

Last month we had a guest who wasn’t able to walk long distances- you can see by this smile that Faith has discovered that, on a Segway, she can easily get around and attend a comprehensive tour about Napa. That’s what I love about these personal mobility devises, it helps those who cannot easily get around to feel liberated and free. We cover a lot of ground on our tours. A normal walking tour might get to 3 major stories in about 1 mile distance. On a segway, you’ll cover around 4-6 miles and learn a lot more – almost like being on a bus tour. Except – on a segway you see more, feel more, and just plain ol’ smile more!

We hope to see you soon!
Cheers!

Segway Napa

Contact: 707-254-9773

http://www.segwaynapa.com/

segwaynapa@aol.com

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No Blarney - Napa does have it's own stone!

Wee Bit O’History

When you think “Irish”, certain images are bound to come to mind. We see a tall glass of whiskey laced coffee topped with cream, emerald hills, pots of gold, leprechauns, four leaf clovers, Lucky Charms, pink stars, yellow moons….. wine?

Sure – Napa is rich in wine history and Irish immigrants. Think Fitzpatrick, O’Brien, Brown, Dillon, Sullivan, Taylor Family, Twomey – that’s just a wee sampling of the Irish owned wineries in Napa Valley.But I sort of wanted to get away from wine this time. I wanted to cut through the blarney. How’s that for a segue?

There is a lot of history about this Stone, which is part of the Blarney Castle in Ireland. Biblical characters used the stone- Moses, Jacob, David, maybe it was even the stone that was rolled away on the third day! It eventually made its way back to Ireland. My favorite story was that Elizabeth I was also queen over Ireland- Queen Bess wanted all the land owners to sign their land over to her, but she’d let them continue to act as landlord. The Lord of Blarney, with wit and good humor, would send notes to her pledging his support, but never really signing over his land. It finally dawned on her that he was flattering her, she threw down his last letter and in frustration claimed “Oh! He’s just giving me a lot more blarney!!!” If you’re lucky enough to find yourself in Ireland – kiss the Stone and you too will be imparted with eloquent speech and the ability to sling the bull.

Napa too has a stone – thousands of folks visit it every year. Oh, that’s just blarney- more like hundreds, from our tour! It’s the amazing communal grinding stone that the Wappo Indians used. You can see where the village squaws sat or stood for hours grinding acorns to make the meal that would sustain their families through the cold and wet winter months. Tiny starter mortars crown the top of the stone, probably from some little kid sitting on top of the stone helping her mom out. And wow – look at Spike – he uses the mortars for fresh rain water when he needs a drink! The deep holes are shaped like porous cones where the pestle ground the meal for thousands of years. Come on the Segway Napa Beyond Wine Tour and I’ll take you there! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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March Mustard Madness, and Segway Napa Fun!

March is always a fun month in the Napa Valley. The mustard is in full bloom, the lupin are starting to bud all over the valley. The annual Mustard Festival will soon have their marketplace- this year at the River Walk in Downtown Napa. (March 13/14)
Green emerald hills, rainbows arched over the vineyards, bright yellow patches please your eyes as you drive down the country roads. St. Patrick Day celebrations are in full swing. Check out our fun history article at http://www.smalllotsbigwine.com/virtual-tours, then click on Napa History.

The downtown merchants are getting ready for the season. Lots of sales to move merchandise as new arrivals get stacked in the back rooms. The downtown tasting rooms are gearing up as more and more tourist realize how much Napa has to offer in the way of history and wine tasting. Stop by Mason Cellars at the Oxbow for a complimentary tasting. Get a Napa Valley wine for the $20 range you won’t find that often. Unbelievable that this tasting room hasn’t truly been discovered – but now you know!

Another fun tasting room is Gustavo-Thrace. Stop by and maybe Gustavo- of Bottle Shock fame – will be in the tasting room pouring his wines. Or you can get lucky and the ever so charming Thrace will share her vast knowledge of wine and the best places in town to visit. Or - - set up a private tasting tour with Segway Napa and we’ll take you there, and throw in a little history.


Our regular Napa History tour does not include the tasting rooms, but we will show you where many of them are. What you get on our Beyond Wine Tour is a few treats that are exclusive to Napa, quirky facts about Napa that will surprise and delight you, and a fun ride as we glide through redwood lined streets of painted ladies. Oh, yes, we did have a red light district, but painted ladies refers to the glorious Victorian Mansions, many of which are now Bed and Breakfasts! You can stay in the spring for a pretty good discount and get the best breakfast Napa has to offer!

Spike is our promotional mascot. Those of you who follow me on Facebook know that Spike likes really expensive cheese that is accidentally left in the grocery bag - so now he has to work for his room and board! Here he is making sure gliders stay safe on the trails!

Below is a very short video of segwaying in Yountville - this is a family shot, our family-we don't normally allow little kids to ride with their moms - but it's cute so we thought we'd share it :)


We hope to see you soon!
Happy St. Patricks Day!
Segway Napa
http://www.segwaynapa.com/
segwaynapa@aol.com



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February - A Sweetheart of a Deal!

A Sweetheart of a Deal! and a Contest to boot (scroll to the end for details)
February is upon us. For Valentine’s Day and Presidents Weekend only – have we got a deal for you! Book a tour with us, and bring your sweetheart for ½ off. That’s Feb 12th -15th (If you book that weekend and we have to cancel due to rain, we will reschedule at the discounted price) For some reason, gliding on a segway is romantic. Really! Here are some pictures to prove it :

The Vineyards
It’s a new year, and another season has stated here in the Napa Valley. If you visit now, or in the next month or so, you will notice that some vines have lots of “wood” and some have been pruned to the base. The pruning needs to be completed before bud-break. The vines are dormant right now, so the rain we are currently getting will not do any harm. You will see some vineyard workers in the fields, pruning the vines. These are 92-yr old Zinfandel vines! Ever seen a grapevine wreath? This is the time to harvest that portion of the vine.
It is also Mustard Festival Time! You will see vineyards with brilliant yellow flowers. I took this picture during a storm, in a moving car, when the sun all of the sudden broke through – so it’s a little fuzzy – but gorgeous!
The mustard plant adds nutrients to the vineyard land during the dormant season. Napa Valley has a Mustard Festival – amateur and professional photographers are all over the valley trying to get that winning shot! You might see some segway photos too!
The Segways
Lots of rain in January meant few tours for Segway Napa. Spike kept a watch over the Napa River to make sure there were no floods.

In addition to rain, we even had some snow! Check out this picture – mustard blooming on the valley floor and snow on the top of Mount St. Helena!

We take this opportunity to do maintenance, take mini vacations and time to enjoy the sunsets!

We added two more segways to our fleet – yeah!! 2009 was a good year for us, 2010- should be great! Even in this rain, every week we’ve had gliders don the ponchos and head to the streets. Luckily, no one got too wet! I love this adventurous side of segway riders- why let a little rain stop you? Especially if you’re on vacation.

New Tour Coming Soon! Calistoga is jam packed with interesting history! This year we will be adding a Calistoga Historical Tour. We’re working out the kinks right now. It promises to be a fun and entertaining tour.

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A Contest!! Be sure to check out our history article at http://napa.smalllotsbigwines.com/napa-history/the-zin-trial email us the correct answer and your name will be submitted into a drawing for a segway ride for two! Winner will be announced on Valentines Day!

Segway into the Season of Giving!

November left Napa with a wind storm which resulted in downed trees, power outages - and shops losing out on the big weekend after Thanksgiving spending spree. Luckily it only lasted until 4 pm. Good thing too, since the parade started at 5!

Segway Napa participated again in the Light Parade - handing out awesome savings coupons. Did you get one? It expires on December 31, 2009. We do this once a year, during the parade. If you missed out - don't worry - we have various specials going through April.

December has been chilly, getting as low as 21 degrees! Even so, we've had a lot of segway riders braving the cold to see Napa in this unique, fun way. We love our customers - you are truly adventerous!

Something that surprised me - mustard blooming in Carneros! This is the earliest I can remember it blooming! I've seen it often in late December, but not during the first week.

Are you looking for that special unique gift? Consider a Segway Napa Gift Certificate. With our 25% Christmas special (and Hanukkah :) it's a win/win.

December is a time for giving - this year we have received many requests for gift certificates for Christmas presents. Assuming the last order was also a Christmas Gift, I offered cute Christmas stickers to make it festive. The lady laughed and said that would be great, except this was a Hanukkah gift! I couldn't find any Hanukkah stickers :( but hopefully the present will be well received.

Speaking of giving- Small Lots Big Wines is holding their monthly tasting this Sunday (Dec. 13th) at the Rutherford Grange, featuring "Wines That Give Back" - it's a very cool event with some very amazing wines being poured. (like Cloud's Rest) Wineries will be taking wine orders, a portion of profits go to the charity of their choice. There will also be baked goods, art, jewelry and wine swag. And - weather permitting, free segway lessons. So, if you're in the valley and still need some gifts, stop by! 2pm - 6 pm. $15 at the door.

Contact: www.segwaynapa.com, segwaynapa@aol.com, 707-254-9773

3 blokes on Segways; Team Building

Crush Update: Today is probably the wettest days ever in recent memory during crush, we may get as much as 4 inches of rain! Lots of vineyard managers and winemakers hurried to get the fruit off the vine this past weekend - the brix was not yet what they were hoping for. The aftermath of Typhoon Melor that hit Japan last week is wreaking havoc!

3 Blokes on Segways
I was getting ready for one tour when I received a call from someone wanting a Yountville tour the next morning. He wanted to come by the shop to check things out. Well, we don’t have a shop. Like many Segway businesses – we are mobile and bring the Segways to where you want to go!
What I liked was how he phrased this – we’re just three blokes who want to ride Segways – can you give us a private tour, we shouldn’t be around other people– we want to taste wine! After some discussion I decided to take them to the Verismo tasting room to start.

Austin was great – he poured 4 delicious wines, told how the Stella label was named after the family dog, and was willing to pour other wines upon request. After a great stop - we were on our way. We rode through some vineyards – my blokes were definitely on the wild side! I felt like a mom telling them to be careful, don’t scare the cars, go slow around people. Like many boys, they didn’t listen. So I took them on some roads less traveled. One bloke – he was late 40’s I think, just went crazy – even on turtle mode he was zipping around – he laughed almost the entire time!
Our next stop was at a boutique winery that allows you to do hand punch downs. Hopper Creek is just the most unique experience. They got to chat with Winemaker Joseph inside the winery.

I know, I sound like a broken record – but if you want to get up close and personal to the grapes during crush – the Segway Yountville Tour is a MUST DO! They have two nice patios where you can enjoy watching the grapes ripen, our Dan’s vegetable garden grow. The dogs that hang there are in the Vineyard Dog books. The blokes really loved getting their hands stained, and winemaker Barry hung around to answer a lot of technical questions. All in all, I’d say it was a great tour!

Glide Your Way to Team Building!
So many companies are doing Team Building to get their employees to bond, to hone leadership skills, and to make, well, a team.

Segway Napa has jumped on that band wagon! At first we tried “leading your partner by blindfold” - that was disastrous! Then we tried an obstacle course. That was ok, but hey, who wants to waste time on a Segway going back and forth at the park. We finally realized that segwaying together through the beautiful countryside, visiting a winery – relaxing with wine and cheese – was really enough for the team building experience. Some from our recent team told us it was the best team building they’d ever done! And they do it often! Put a feather in my cap “)

Do you belong to a company or organization that does team building?

Suggest Segway Napa for your next adventure!

Small Lots Big Wines - Segway Napa Historty Article

Segway Napa does the history article for Small Lots Big Wines.

These two photos are teasers - to learn more, click on this link

http://napa.smalllotsbigwines.com/napa-history/urban-legends

Our Beyond Wine Tour of Historic Downtown Napa is jam packed with quirky, fun, facts!

Visit our website at www.segwaynapa.com