Travel in the time of COVID

Location: Napa Valley, CA

Visit: June 2020

It’s been a while since we last posted, in part because – like the rest of the world – we didn’t travel anywhere for the first half of the year. And while many countries have flattened the curve and are back to some semblence of reality (at least from the instragram feeds of our British friends vacationing in Spain right now), the US has lagged behind in fighting and containing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Patrons, staff (and even the piggy) are wearing masks in the Napa Valley during COVID

We’ve been very cautious about travel this year, for obvious reasons, but with construction happening at our house, our anniversary pending and a baby on the way, we decided we needed a long weekend away from the chaos.

Getting there:

Airports and airlines are making strides toward making air travel safer, including moving toward touchless check-in and better cleanliness and air quality. That being said, the drive from Los Angeles to Napa (especially with minimal traffic) is only about 6 hours, so worth it to (1) have a car while you are there, (2) only lose a couple of hours to excess travel and (3) have the safety and security of your own vehicle enroute.

Hotels:

We interacted with staff at several hotels, either because we were staying or dinning there. Safety protocols are very tightly enforced and the only time we had someone try to interact with us without a mask was another patron. Staff always wore masks and housekeeping staff also wore gloves, as needed. We stayed at high-end places, which gave us an extra layer of confidence that they were staffing appropriately to keep everyone safe. Our recommendation is to either stay somewhere slightly nicer than you normally would (a place that can afford to ensure that they won’t have an outbreak and affect their brand) or a hotel that is part of a larger chain (Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, etc.) who will be beholden to strict standards by their corporate parents.

Dining:

“Al fresco” is the dining trend of the year. Napa County has avoided major spikes in COVID, including cases, hospitalizations and deaths, so most businesses and restaurants were open. There have been pockets of outbreaks, but those have been specifically linked to large family gatherings and not community spread. A few of our favorites had closed down, but that seemed more to do with the choice of the chef/owner, than any mandates. Most restaurants have expanded their existing outdoor seating, increased the distance between tables or added outdoor space (parking lots, sidewalks, etc.) if they were 100% indoors prior to the pandemic.

Wineries:

Visiting wineries was probably the biggest change, when comparing the “pre-COVID” experience to now. At one point, the County was only allowing tastings if food was also provided. The rule changed recently, but several places who had added food to their normal offering, had continued the trend while we were there. Again, all staff wore masks and interactions were minimal with anyone outside of our party. The biggest change was the pre-order process. For those of you who have been to wineries before, the normal process is to show up, walk up to the bar in the tasting room, squeeze next to your neighbors and start tasting some wines. Sometimes the service is at a table, but even then there is some give and take with the server, in terms of what you want to try.

Not anymore. Every place we went we needed to (1) make a reservation (2) choose from a variety of wine flights (no changes allowed), (3) order food ahead of time as required and (4) pre-pay for the experience. Once we arrived at a winery, a host would guide us to a table and then a server would come out with multiple glasses for each member of the group and the food that was ordered. Total time spent with a server over the course of an hour or tasting was probably 5 minutes. It definitely didn’t feel like a typical Napa Valley winetasting experience, but it did give us a little sense of a “normal” life during these crazy times.