Wine Time

The Washington state "wine country" is located at approximately 46ºN, which is, to our viticultural pleasure, the same latitude as some of the great wine regions in France. These wonderful french-like grapes are then sent to many local wineries for production , the majority of which are located in Woodinville, WA, just 10minutes from Kirkland. In order to become true connoisseurs of Washington wines, Dan and I spent the weekend in Woodinville broadening our wine horizons.

We stayed at this wonderful lodge-like hotel/spa called Willows Lodge. Our room was adorable with a huge tub and fireplace, (and of course, a very large TV). The hotel was pet friendly, so we brought Bradley along and he had his very own bed and blanket. There is a dog on-site named Ruthie who is supposed to be the greeting committee, but really she just sleeps all day with her beanie baby squirrel, which I don't think she even likes, by the way. She was a mix, but she looked mostly like a basset hound, with smaller ears and Bradley's coloring. Whenever we brought Bradley through the lobby we tried to point her out to him, but he never noticed her in coma-like state. The staff was excellent and extremely friendly.

We first went to explore the local brewery, Redhook. For $1, they took you on a tour and gave you a bunch of beer. Well, actually, maybe not a bunch, but really 5 different 3oz "tastes". It felt like a bunch to me because every few minutes, our tour guide was filling us up, so really the tour was a game of power-hour. I am not the biggest fan of beer, but it was fun to learn about the beer-making process and to try some different things.

The next day we made it to only two of the wineries, Chateau St. Michelle and Columbia Wineries. They were conveniently located next door to our hotel, so we chose to be responsible pedestrians. We spent a lot of time at each of them and tried lots of different wines. At the Chateau St. Michelle, they give you a tour with a tasting, so that is where we learned about how to make wine and about the region. Our tour guide also showed us how to "taste" our wines, which is very involved, but truly does make a difference in the wine experience. We took our knew knowledge and tasting know-how across the street to the Columbia winery and put our skills to the test. Our barman, (I do not know his official title,) was so nice and kind of nerdy, so we had a fun time with him and our wine. We tried so hard to smell and taste what the descriptions told us we would, but I think if we did claim to identify any smells or tastes, it was only because we were desperate to think of our noses and palates as sophisticated and refined. In reality, i was only getting tipsy. After we had our fill of wine, we ate a late lunch at a cute little cafe. I had the lobster mac and cheese, which was excellent.

Being up here, I have discovered a new way to enjoy eggs; eggs benedict! What a delightful dish! I couldn't have imagined them to be able to be any better, but this weekend I was enlightened. The hotel restaurant makes a dungeoness crab cake benedict. OMG! I can't not even describe the delectable treat that awakened my taste buds! It is definitely a rival to the cinnamon roll french toast that I hold so dear to my heart!

The most important discovery of the weekend was that we found out Bradley can see ghosts. Either that or he is crazy. He would spend the day staring at the ceiling with his tale between his legs and he really did not like being left alone in the room. Every once in awhile, he would shake uncontrollably and try to hide. He was so silly!

Tomorrow we leave for Fort Myers! We will spend Dan's grandmother's birthday with her and some family and then we head for Tallahassee! Yea! We are so excited and homesick, we can barely stand it!