Rivereast

This southeastern area of Napa is all about three things: the college, the golf course, and the industrial area.

Although you may think of Napa as being wine growing 24/7, the 75,000 residents of Napa do have lives that are occasionally independent of the whole grape culture thing. One such sign of this is Napa Valley College. Napa Valley College is the local community college; it offers a variety of preparatory classes and two year programs for students.

Just south of the campus is one of the many Napa golf courses. There are so many golf courses in the area that this one is noteworthy only for being named after the city itself, although it is a perfectly passable golf course as far as I can tell.

To the south of the golf course is an industrial area filled with warehouses and non-touristy sorts of businesses like a granite supplier and a dental equipment supplier for the local area. There is also a large lot where refuse is piled, the local DMV, and even some non-descript wineries.

On the far southern end of the “neighborhood” (if we can even call this grab bag a “neighborhood”) is the Meritage Resort and Spa and another smaller college—Boston Reed College a career training institution.

Put simply, this is one of those areas that no one comes to visit on a wine tour (for the most part anyway) but that is necessary to keep the city going. It is the unseen gears of the machine which is Napa.