2 Best Sights in Napa and Sonoma, California

The boundless wit, whimsy, and creativity of the Venetian-born Carlo Marchiori, this gallery's owner-artist, finds expression in paintings, watercolors, ceramics, sculptures, and other artworks. Marchiori often draws on mythology and folktales for his inspiration. A stop at this magical gallery might inspire you to tour Villa Ca' Toga, the artist's Palladian home, a tromp-l'oeil tour de force open for tours from May through October on Saturday morning only, by appointment.

Local multimedia artist Gordon Huether has made a name for himself at home and internationally with his large-scale sculptures and installations. His Napa 9/11 Memorial anchors a section of Main Street downtown, across the street his music-inspired wall installations pep up the Blue Note Napa jazz club, and his sculpture of the late vintner Robert Mondavi and his wife, Margrit, sits atop the CIA at Copia building in the Oxbow District. To view scale models of his latest projects and glimpse his staff (and sometimes the artist himself) at work, make a weekday appointment to visit his studio, 3 miles north of downtown.