Always on the Verge

 

Paso Robles, Round 1:  Weather pleasantly mild, accommodations comfortable, diversions aplenty. We started our adventure with a craft beer session at Firestone-Walker Brewery. It was Christmas Eve day and the staff was in a party mood. The pours were generous and when it came time to settle our tab it was clear that the server had either lost count or was literally going with the flow. A gift!  From there it was on to Sculpterra, a winery we had not visited before. It is a just a short drive west of town and the setting is spectacular due to the array of art installations. Take a gander at some of my favorites:

But what about the wine?  I am happy to report that it was excellent; so good, in fact, that we joined one of their wine clubs. The line of wines – Viognier, Pinot Noir, Primitivo, and Cabernet Sauvignon –  is named “Heroe” (Spanish for hero) and is dedicated to the production workers. The labels on the bottles feature pictures of some of the workers themselves, and a portion of the profits are used to fund health clinics in areas of Mexico where many of the workers come from. Win-win-win.

Following our tasting at Sculpterra we were REALLY in need of lunch so we headed up the road to Cass Winery – a destination based on a local recommendation – to try their renowned food. While there I noticed a pole covered with birdhouses. On closer inspection, it turned out the “houses” were actually old shoes. How clever.

One more winery – Tobin James – finished off our day. The wine there was good but not good enough to entice us to do another wine club thing. We did enjoy being served at the 1860’s Brunswick mahogany bar brought in from Missouri to help give the place a “James Gang” feel.

Pismo Beach: Timing was right for a stop at the Monarch Grove (migration is November – February). When we got there it was still a bit cool so our first sightings were of large clusters of butterflies hanging with wings tightly closed. As the sun warmed the area there was a gradual unfolding and lots of soaring. Park rangers had to place warnings on the ground requesting people to be careful where they stepped as many of the monarchs were making rest stops along the paths. It was quite a beautiful sight.

Solvang/Santa Ynez Valley: On a previous excursion to SoCal we intended to visit Solvang, noted for being the Danish capital of the United States. It didn’t happen then, so made a point of taking a day trip to check it out. Whoa – who would have thought the place would be so popular? It was Disneyland-on-a-school-holiday busy. But we did manage a Danish lunch, a short bit of walking, and a visit to a “I want one of everything on the shelves” bakery. Using uncharacteristic self-control I purchased only one small pastry to enjoy while we were traveling and a breakfast treat for the following morning. Both were as delicious as they looked. This doesn’t always happen (think Mexican sweet rolls~).

Leaving Solvang we made our way back north through the valley to stop at a variety of vineyards. We made 5-6 stops. (Funny how that number blurs after a while…) Tasted a number of Pinots but none were intriguing enough for us to purchase. One of the best parts of the day was enjoying the beautiful views.

Paso Robles, Part 2: Since we went east on our first round of tastings we headed west for the second round. We revisited a favorite: Villacana Winery and Re-Fined, their distillery operation. Still (pardon the pun) as good as we remembered. Next up was Halter Ranch, with its historic buildings, and then Whalebone Vineyards, where we HAD to buy a bottle of their “flagship” wine, Bob; we also spotted the vineyard cat nestled in the souvenir sweatshirt display.

Our route then took us to Pasolivo, an olive oil company, where we had tastings of both regular and flavored oils along with seasonings and salts. Wonderful – so wonderful that a tin of basil oil and a container of Dukkah made their way into our shopping basket. Following that stop was Limerock Orchards to taste walnuts and oils. Once again, our palates were smitten and we made purchases of walnut oil and a bottle of Asian-spiced vinegar (a bit hot, and just a tad sweet). Time for lunch, so we settled on Opolo vineyards.

The afternoon was complete with a stop at Turley, another favorite, where Bob treated himself to a couple of bottles of their old vine Zinfandel while I went for the salt cellar made from olive wood; then on to Rotta, the oldest vineyard in the area, established in 1908.

San Rafael: No wineries at this location, but that didn’t stop us from finding something great to drink. We used the Internet to guide us to a Happy Hour location and got lucky.  If you are ever in that area on a Wednesday, head for Brick and Barrel. Happy Hour not only has delicious, reasonably priced, and generously-sized appetizers; but all bottled wine is half price. We were with our friend, Denise, who is a former science teacher; so our choice of wine was spot-on: Consilience (in science, refers to the principle that evidence from unrelated sources can converge to strong conclusions). As evidenced by our empty bottle at the end of the evening, we concluded it was a very good wine.

St. Helena: Joined forever friends, Mark and Trudy, for an afternoon of wine tasting and New Year’s Eve dinner. We met at Hall/Napa, which they had not been to, just so they could see the beautiful grounds. (I wrote about Hall in a post last year…) Then it was into town to taste at Clif, not a vineyard but a tasting room for wines they make elsewhere. Remarkably good. Yup, you guessed it – another wine club.

Next it was up the road to Markham and finally Mumm/Napa. Mumm is our favorite tasting room of all time. It doesn’t hurt that my drink of choice is champagne. The whole place was in a festive mood with party favors being shared (hats and horns) and extra pours with the tastings. It was a perfect way to conclude our journey and the final day of 2015.

An equation for a fabulous celebration: California (CA) on my birthday (Bday) was filled with family (F), friends (F), and food (F).  Actually the formula probably should read CA + Bday = F x 4 as there was so many food opportunities.

On our first evening we headed into San Francisco to meet up with family and especially to get in some cuddle time with my niece’s new babe. Dare I say he is a perfect child?  Yes, he is. Walked from their near The Embarcadero digs to a fabulous restaurant, Fog City.  As my sister had been before she guided us through the menu and made some incredible selections.  I would let her take me anywhere…

On my actual birthday we took in a baseball game.  My sons surprised me with a birthday greeting on the big screen.  Found out that the money from the sign purchase goes to the A’s outreach program for local youth. A’s didn’t win the game (in fact we witnessed some pretty hapless playing), but the kids who benefit from the fund will be winners. Weather was a bit chilly by the latter part of the game so we were happy to retire to the club area for burgers along with a nice view of the game from behind glass.

While in Rockridge we did some window shopping (quirky little retail area within easy walking distance from our VRBO; when is the last time you saw 3 independent book stores in a 5 block area?) and one evening we headed for Tomatina’s in San Mateo for dinner with dear friends from the coastside. Then on to St. Helena to reunite with a former colleague/friend/one of my favorite people.

Following lunch we stopped at Markham Winery, mainly to see the latest art installation: “iPhonic art” – all photographs taken and processed with i Phones; and a retrospective of Rolling Stone covers by Baron Wolman. And you can be sure we did not skip the wine tasting.

 

It was warm and humid, but that did not stop us from getting in some great adventuring in “the District” during our recent visit back East.  But, since time was limited, we decided to go for a robust mix: modern at Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Gallery and ancient (Asian) at Freer and Sackler Galleries.  Here are some highlights:

At this point our visit was abbreviated because there was a security evacuation. It was actually quite interesting and a first-time experience for us. Most visitors to the museum looked around waiting to be told what to do (though, in addition to a piercing siren and flashing lights, the system was sending out a loud message to exit the building), some visitors seemed to be ignoring it and even going about their gift shopping, and the guards were in various states of moving about quickly even if a bit flustered, trying to determine how to put all of those protocols they have been practicing into use.  (In an ironic twist, my Bob has just mentioned that being a guard in a museum had to be on of the most boring jobs in the world…)  We were good citizens and left the building promptly but we did see an opportunity to go across the street to the Sculpture Garden.  That lasted only a short time because the evacuation area was extended and they cleared a full city block.  I read in the WA Post the next day that there was a suspicious power outage in select government buildings and they wanted to be sure there was no outside threat.  Nope – just the usual suspect: PEPCO, the local utility company.

A few of the sculptures I managed to capture before we were asked to move along:

Since our time at the mall was cut short we decided to tuck into a cool spot – an air-conditioned movie – in one of our favorite venues: E Street Theater. To compliment our art-based agenda we saw The Woman in Gold and highly recommend it. I do not, however, recommend using the attached parking garage (though finding street parking is neigh on to impossible; gotta love DC).  We paid $25 for our 2 hour stay; more than we paid for our movie tickets. Yikes. On the other hand, if we had chosen to use the Metro, which I actually prefer and have had great experiences with, we would have spent about that same amount to park and ride. Life in the big city…

Unless it’s Reno: the biggest little city. Glad to be home.

First way: as tourists.

Since this was our first opportunity to check out this much-talked about city, we consulted travel sites, talked to current and former Texans and settled on an itinerary that included their top suggestions and also appealed to us.  We were fortunate to have friends join us for what I believe was one of the best days of sightseeing (because we were with them – thanks, Nick & Robin!).

Our day began at the LBJ Library.  It was very well curated. They did a wonderful job putting events in context and did not shy away from the controversial or unpopular aspects of Johnson’s life and tenure as president.

After time at the museum gift shop we followed a recommendation from a LBJ Library staffer and headed to Hoover’s for barbecue – a natural choice for Texas dining. It is a local spot and quite popular. The creamed spinach with jalapeños was a unique side dish.

After lunch we went over to the University of Texas campus to go through the Blanton Museum of Art.  They had an outstanding exhibit titled “Art and Civil Rights in the Sixties”. It was a perfect companion event to the LBJ.  No photos were allowed in that set of galleries so I have nothing to show in the blog.  You will have to take my word for it: Fabulous!!!

We followed up our museum visits with a walk along South Congress Street, called SoCo by locals. It is a very hip area and the weather was perfect for window shopping, a purchase of locally roasted coffee from Tom’s, and happy hour at “The Snack Bar”.

We ended the day with a late dinner at Stubb’s – another barbecue restaurant.  We got there at 9p and the joint was jumping’. We were lucky to get a table.  I recommend the beef brisket. Servings are generous and I was able to take some home to enjoy with our breakfast eggs.

Second way: a wedding and time with family.

We stayed in a VRBO and had a car, so were happy to provide transportation for arrivals.  Picked up son, Alex, and daughter-in-law, Melissa, from their morning flight and went directly to breakfast at Magnolia Cafe. It was on our list of recommended restaurants, and those folks were spot-on.  Since A & M couldn’t get into their lodgings until later that day we went out to see the Lady Bird Wildflower Center.  (I must say they were troopers – straight from a VERY early flight to sightseeing.) In spite of the intermittent showers we got to see some interesting flora and fauna.

 

That evening, after a Happy Hour at The Four Seasons, we went out to dinner.  Happily, it had stopped raining and we were able to enjoy outdoor seating at a quirky restaurant called Fabi + Rosi.  It bills itself as a neighborhood restaurant offering European dining. We loved it!

And then the wedding itself.  The bride (who was marrying Melissa’s brother) had chosen a unique location – a ranch about 22 miles outside of Austin. How her planners got everything coordinated was nothing short of amazing. They actually created the entire venue in a pasture, even cutting a road for the shuttles that delivered the guests.

And now we are back home thinking about our next outing: Virginia in May.  Another wedding, gatherings with friends, and helping Alex and Melissa move into their new home. The beat goes on…