It's a dazzling display of towering redwoods and sequoias, every bit as impressive as the Statue of Liberty or the Washington Monument. Magnificent coastlines get washed by large, roaring Pacific waves that crest, crash, and roll onto shore with the speed and fury of a Neptunian NASCAR race, then gently and quietly recede to the same ocean that just gave it birth, leaving in their wake a pristine beach awash with curious flotsam and jetsam that will include sand dollars, seaweed and seashells.

It's also a region of quaint seaside communities like Steinbeck's beloved Monterey and bustling burgs like Jack Kerouac's San Francisco and Jack London's Oakland.

One region, Napa Valley or Wine Country, is nestled in a valley approximately 50 miles north of San Francisco, and has been enticing a breed of tourist known as The Vino Visitor to this land of the vintner's art. It is a veritable Garden of Eden of varietals and vino.

The Corkscrew Tour and History
The Napa Valley is a paradise for lovers of the vine with winery tours and tastings aplenty all through the Valley. And there's fine dining to accompany the fine wining. Shopping, of course, is an offbeat treat with merchants offering up for sale everything from wicker picnic baskets, complete with fine china and stemware, to an assortment of Hawaiian shirts and custom Jerry Garcia neckware.

Touring the valley is varied and exciting no matter which mode you choose. You can drive yourself, or luxuriate in a limo or you can even take a balloon tour and pretend you're Steve Fossett trying to circumnavigate the globe and enjoy the sunrise with a spectacular view of the rolling valley below while sipping on a glass of early morning champagne.

To end your day, you can ride the rails in luxury with haute cuisine and fine wines on The Wine Train as you roll gently through the valley with a backdrop of mountains kissed by a sunset. So grab your corkscrew and get ready to Uncork The Wine Country.

The Napa Valley has a long history as a vintners' enclave. In 1831 George Yount, the first American settler in the Napa Valley, arrived and planted the first grapevines. These original plantings were from Mexico and it wasn't until 1860 that the higher grade European grapes were introduced.

The Gold Rush came and went and in its wake left a demand for the Valley's wine. The demand was greater than a Pacific tsunami and by 1891 there were over 600 vineyards in the valley serving the needs of a thirsty population. Today, there are more than 200 wineries in the area, turning out marvelous Merlots, Zinfandels, and Rieslings and other faves of the wine crowd. All this has also produced a harvest of tourist green with over 5 million Vino Visitors a year. Most of the vineyards offer tours, and most also charge for the tastings.

Uncorking the Valley
Highway 29 is the main vino vein that passes through wine country like an asphalt artery. Napa, Yountville, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and Calistoga each have something different and unique to offer the visitor. Napa at the southern terminus of wine country is the Gateway to the Grape. One of the highlights of the town are hand painted murals that adorn the downtown buildings depicting the regions history and the growth of the wine industry. More than just informative they are truly a visual folk art feast for the eyes.

While you're in the area visit COPIA -- the American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts. A bit of wine, a bit of food what could be more delicious to learn about?

Traveling north on 29, you'll come to the community of Yountville, yes, it is named after George Yount, the Johnny Appleseed of Viticulture. After paying your respects at his grave in Pioneer Cemetery, you may want to visit Vintage 1870, 6525 Washington Street, a three-story brick building with over 40 eclectic emporiums that will cater to every shopping whimsy.

Quaint, best describes Oakville, the next stop on your journey of wine discovery. Famed for its historic grocery which is more like a food bazaar, it is a definite must stop and see. Continue north and you come to the town of Rutherford, home of the Niebaum-Coppola Winery and a wine country stop you can't refuse. Sure, it's a winery, and yes, you can get a tour and a glass of wine, but the main feature is showing in the upstairs Francis Ford Coppola Movie Museum. Props and artifacts from many of this famed directors films are here on display, but for my money, the hands on fave rave is the chair and desk from The Godfather where Brando and Pacino, as the Corleones, ruled their celluloid criminal empire.

St. Helena is your next stop and it's a stylish boutique boomtown with enough cappuccino to float the Queen Mary. It's Bar Harbor without the harbor, and design and flair ooze from every shop.

As you journey ever northward on Highway 29, just north of St. Helena, on your left you'll see the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone , serving up some the finest cuisine in America west of NYC. Call in advance to find out their hours and make a reservation.

Prepare now to enter the spa and mud bath kingdom of Calistoga. Rumor has it that the original name was to be Saratoga of California, after the fabled resort in New York State, however, alcohol got the better of town founder Sam Brannon's tongue and he proclaimed loudly to all...This will be the Calistoga of Sarafornia. Calistoga it is then. Bubbling mineral waters, massage and mud baths create a mellow air in this renowned realm of relaxation. Pampering has been elevated to a high art form and smiling faces are the rule. All that's missing is a group hug.

The Alterna-Tour
If fine wines and tastings aren't your idea of a vacation and you could not care less if your wine requires a corkscrew or has a screw top, there are a host of other activities and attractions.

Mount St. Helena stands guard at the north end of the valley. Stately and Sphinx-like, she guards the geyser realm that bubbles below her in Calistoga, spawning spas like a fertile rabbit on overdrive. The mountain was also home to fabled Silverado silver mine made popular in Robert Louis Stevenson's The Silverado Squatters. Robert Louis also spent his honeymoon on Mount St. Helena in 1880 and you can hike the five miles to Consummation Summit to view the marker that indicates the cabin's location.

Robert Louis Stevenson State Park is named in honor of the author best known for Treasure Island and is located 7 miles north of Calistoga on Highway 29.

Many hot springs and geysers dot the valley but one ranks as the Ethel Merman of heat and steam, the Old Faithful Geyser of California. The old girl belts out a plume of steam 60 feet into the air every 30 minutes or so and is every bit as stirring as a full chorus singing a Broadway show tune.

If it's a touch of natural history and Humphrey Bogart your looking for, look no further than California's Petrified Forest, also located near Calistoga. Before Walt Disney figured out that tourists would shell out cold hard cash to see pirates and Mad Hatters, Petrified Forest Charlie beat him to it in the mid 1800s by charging folks to look at a petrified tree he had dug up. In 1914 Ollie Bockee (pronounced "bouquet") and her husband began serious development of the area and today is a primo attraction for the petri-curious from around the world.

The Roadhead chrome-magnon love of Detroit's metal and muscle auto industry will do well to visit Litto's Hubcap Ranch on Pope Valley Road just 2 miles northwest of Pope Valley. No Cabernets here, but you will find over 2,000 hubcaps collected by Emanuele Litto Damonte. Born in 1892, Litto created arrangements and art forms over a 30 year period comprised of hubcaps, bottles and pull tops. Litto passed away to that Great Auto Scrap Yard in the sky in 1985, but left behind one of California's pre-eminent 20th Century folk art environments and is California Registered Landmark #939. Litto's Hubcap Ranch Kicks Asphalt.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Touring the green, rolling hills of Napa Valley is one of life's indescribable journeys. Lush fields seem to undulate suggestively with row after row of well manicured fruit of the vine. Majestic mountains frame this verdant panorama straight out of Monet or Gaugin, and travel options are as plentiful as the award-winning varieties of wines produced in the region.

The do-it-yourselfer will find the absolute joy of asphalt discovery by renting a car to explore this Wine Wonderland. For the more luxury minded, you can book a limo tour from any number of companies that specialize in Wine Country so you can luxuriate with an informed designated driver while you imbibe and sample the finished product of the harvest.

But, if you have some Boxcar Willie DNA lurking in your genetic code, you can ride the rails on The Napa Valley Wine Train, enjoying champagne brunches or dinners in a restored Pullman car as you sniff and sip your favorite varietal concoctions. The Pullmans harken back to a time of railroad style and grace and are completely refinished in rich, imported Mahogany, with brass fixtures and grape motif etched glass to surround you with quiet elegance as your Wine and Dine Magical Mystery Tour rolls gently up valley for a culinary experience. The Wine Train station is located in downtown Napa, and while you're waiting to board the Vino Version of the Orient Express, you can avail yourself of the many gift stores to shop for that perfect Wine Country gift or souvenir. Don't forget to stop at the Wine Emporium that is filled to the cork with over 200 varieties of wine and wine related items. All Aboard!!

The Wright Brothers and Charles Lindberg certainly made aviation history, and you take advantage of their innovations in flight and take to the skies for a Birds Eye Tour of Wine Country by booking a flight on a wine plane. Charter a wine tasting flight over the Valley and enjoy the view while sampling Mother Grape. In addition to flights over Napa Valley, many of the charter companies offer combo tours of the Valley and San Francisco.

And Don't Forget Balloons
Ever since the Montgolfier Brothers soared the big blue in their big balloon, the race was on. Everyone from Jules Verne to Steve Fossett had been bitten by the gas bag bug. In Napa Valley, champagne balloon flights of fancy are not only a reality, but plentiful, and you have your choice of flight specialists to take you soaring into the early dew laden morning sunrise. The balloons themselves are works of aeronautical art, stretched like an artist's canvas as they expand and fill to reveal brilliant, colorful designs that float above the valley floor as though on display at a flying museum of modern art. It is one of the definitive Wine Country pleasures that is not to be missed.

The Napa Valley is a wine lover's parade. It doesn't matter if you enjoy your vino in a glass of crystal or a paper cup, wine country only gets better with age, like the fine wines this award winning region produces year and after year. Once you visit Wine Country, you'll come back time and time again, if for no other reason than to keep the grapes happy, after all, nobody wants to feel...The Grapes of Wrath.