THE BEST PART OF A FILM NIGHT: If you had to point at ten particular minutes as being the best part of going out to see a movie in a theater, which ten minutes would get your nod? When you first start munching on your popcorn, when it is still hot and salty? The sneak peeky trailers? Or the ride home, when you can dish on the actors and the plot and the cinematography with your pal, picking things apart and celebrating what you loved before reaching your front door? Many of us would choose that last category, and many of us would also agree the after-the-movie conversation is only improved when you don't have to go home but rather are staying in a hotel or inn or someplace that feels a tad vacation-y. Do movies improve, in hindsight, when one is lounging on a huge bed in a hotel robe, eating snacks from the vending machine? Does sitting in a lobby people-watching up a film's coolness? You can find out by making for the Napa Valley Film Festival, which isn't just about the fine flicks of tomorrow but staying overnight -- or overnights -- in the valley, the better to enjoy the scene (and not face a long, loooong drive home after the credits). Want to find your deal?
THERE ARE AREA STAYOVERS... with savings and cool stuff attached. The Meritage Resort & Spa shaves off ten percent on its film fest package (there's a code) and passes to the festival are involved when you book at the Napa Valley Marriott Hotel & Spa. And breakfast is part of the scene at a couple of the destinations, including the Napa River Inn and the Napa River Terrace Inn.
THE FESTIVAL... is on from Nov. 12 through 16, and wine, more wine, some food, and wine are a hallmark of the Hollywood-meets-Highway-29 happenings. Best stay over in the area, the better to lounge on a hotel bed with your pal and engage in talking about the film you just saw. True, that is fun on the drive home -- the best ten minutes of a night at the movies -- but it is even more fun while wearing a soft hotel robe or eating hotel vending machine snacks. Try it.
