Travel Edition - Napa & Sonoma

Recently we travelled to Napa and Sonoma for a wedding. It was a great trip with a toddler as there were a great number of child friendly activities and wineries. Here are some of our favorites:

Sonoma

Sonoma TrainTown Railway's main attraction is a twenty minute train ride over bridges, through tunnels and past waterfalls. The train stops at a miniature town with a petting zoo featuring goats, sheep and chickens. The miniature town is adorable with a school, jail, firehouse, and saloon among others. TrainTown also has a number of amusement park rides - a carousel, ferris wheel, small airplanes, a roller coaster and swings. The train costs $5.75 per person and the amusement rides are $2.75 each.

Chateau St. Jean is located in Kenwood. It is a great place to picnic and offers lots of outdoor space for children to play. They offer a wine tasting in their visitor center featuring five wines for $15. There is a counter in the visitor center where wines are also available by the glass as well as sandwiches, cheeses and crackers. These can be enjoyed in their large picnic area. The grounds are quite large with picnic tables, a bocce court and benches.

Napa

Old Faithful Geyser is located in Calistoga. It is one of only three geysers in the world with the designation "old faithful" as it occurs regularly. The geyser erupts about every 15 minutes. There is a petting zoo featuring fainting goats, four-horn sheep and llamas. The geyser also offers picnic tables and a snack bar.

The Petrified Forest is a quarter mile hike through the remains of a redwood forest turned to stone by molten lava three million years ago. It is also located in Calistoga.

Frog's Leap Winery located in Rutherford, offers a tasting of four wines for $20. Wines are also available by the glass and can be enjoyed on their lovely wrap-around porch. Walking around their large grounds and gardens are a great activity. They offer juice boxes and coloring books for children.

Sterling Vineyards is located in Calistoga. An aerial tram providing beautiful views of the valley takes you up to the winery. The tour is self-paced. The $25 entrance fee includes the tram, tour with tasting of five wines and a souvenir wine glass. Juice boxes and coloring pages are provided to children.

Food Recommendations -

Cafe Sarafornia, located in Calistoga offers a delicious breakfast in a casual environment.

Gott's is a roadside food stand located in St. Helena. They have a large area with picnic tables and kids can run around. They have delicious burgers, fries, shakes and an extensive wine list.

Silverado Brewing Company, in St. Helena is family friendly. They have a good sized children's menu as well as offering a coloring page and crayons.

Apple seed's

Apple seed's is an indoor playspace on the Upper West Side. They also have a location in Chelsea. Apple seed's requires an annual membership for the playspace. The playspace features a NYC taxi cab, a pretend food store with play food, an infant soft play area, a Lego table, a NYC building with a slide, a magnet wall, a shape sorter garden and a mat area for climbing and tumbling. Apple seed's also offers a number of interesting classes.

City Treehouse

City Treehouse is an indoor playspace. The main feature is a water table that allows you to build your own dam and offers baskets full of water toys to play with. Nearby, there is a treehouse with a slide and a star cave below. There are also two adjacent rooms - one with toys for infants and younger children to play with and another with mats and balls. In addition, City Treehouse offers a number of unique classes. Although it is a drop-in playspace, it is best to call and reserve a spot.

Food Recommendations -

City Bakery is located on 18th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues. They are family friendly and offer many options such as a salad bar, pizza and mac and cheese. Be sure to grab the best chocolate chip cookie ever while you are there.

Apple Picking in NY - Masker Orchards

We recently went apple picking at Masker Orchards. Masker Orchards is located 55 miles from New York City. This is by far the biggest orchard I had ever been to and offers many fun activities for children. Upon entering, you drive through the main road and can pull over to stop and pick apples along the way. There are also many quieter spots. The views of the valley are phenomenal.

Masker's features pony rides, barnyard animals, wagon rides, a maze, a haunted house, and face painting. They offer a refreshment stand with lunch options and apple cider donuts. Masker's also has a delightful country store with apple pie, apple butter, a variety of jams, honey and kitchenware. It is a flat rate of $25.95 for a pretty big bag of apples.

Union Square Park Playground

The Union Square Park Playground has a lot of features that are not found in other parks. There is an entire section devoted to toddlers with climbing equipment, slides and a sandbox. The park floor is covered with rubber checkerboard tiles, cushioning any falls. The section for older children has a number of spinning rides, a metal dome for climbing; as well as other creative climbing structures, a tunnel slide, and a sprinkler for the summer months.

Food Recommendations -

Heartland Brewery is located on Union Square West and 17th Street. They provide children with a coloring page and crayons. They also have a good sized children's menu.

The most well-known Farmers Market in the city is in Union Square and operates on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It is a great place to pick-up a sweet as they have plenty of delicious baked goods.

Chelsea Piers' Little Athletes Exploration Center

Little Athletes Exploration Center is located at the Field House at Chelsea Piers. This drop-in indoor playspace offers a wide variety of activities such as slides, a tunnel, ramp and stair climbing structure, and a ball pit. Nicely air-conditioned for hot days and also great for cold months!

Food Recommendations-

Chelsea Market is located between 15th and 16th Streets and runs from Ninth Avenue through Tenth Avenue and offers a number of different food options. Don't miss out on Fat Witch brownies or L'Arte del Gelato after your meal!

Battery Park City

The Nelson A Rockefeller Park in Battery Park City is a beautiful oasis in the city as it is adjacent to the water. It is larger than most playgrounds in the city and appeals to children of all ages. There are play areas for older children, toddlers, and infants. The park has a great water area for the summer months with hippo and elephant sprinklers, in addition to a water table behind the sprinklers for more water fun. The jungle gyms feature climbing nets and bridges. Another attraction is the pedal driven carousel.

Teardrop Park is nestled between buildings on Warren Street and Murray Street, east of River Terrace. The park features the most pristine sandbox in the city, a huge slide, a water play area, and many nice grassy areas to lounge.

Food Recommendation -

Le Pain Quotidien is located across the street from the park at 2 River Terrace and has outdoor seating. This chain is very family friendly. This particular location offers free milk for children, as well as the children's menu available throughout the city.