Adult Beverages

Adult Beverages

Road Trip: Wine Country

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Randy

We had a leisurely start to the day in Pismo beach. We slept in until almost 6:30! Claire did a power walk. I did a 3 mile run along the waterfront. We continued down the coast and headed to our favorite winery, the Fess Parker Winery in Santa Barbara County. Claire and I first discovered this place about 5 years ago when we were in Santa Barbara for Thanksgiving. We were out touring the wine country when we fell in love with Fess Parker’s. The reason we pulled in the first time is because I was a HUGE Fess Parker fan as a kid. Because I was born in the sixties and not the fifties, I first got to know him as Daniel Boone, and then later learned that he was Davey Crockett before he was Daniel Boone!

The winery is rustic and elegant at the same time. It actually has the feel we are hoping to capture in the house we are building in Michigan. Claire was just here with her sister last November and joined the Fess Parker Wine Club. However, it was a pain accepting deliveries because UPS would not leave it without us being home to sign for the package. So Claire cancelled the membership. But now that we are retired, we should be home most of the time to accept the shipment, and Claire re-joined while we were there.

We of course did a wine tasting, and bought a few bottles to take to the Alexes. From there we drove to the small town of Los Olivos and had lunch at Sides Hardware and Shoes. We had their famous fried brussel sprouts, pork belly tacos, and ceviche. The sprouts were exceptional, the ceviche was extraordinary, and the tacos were just too weird.

We ended the day in Ojai where we check into the Su Nado Inn; a very cool little place that is walking distance from everything. We had tapas at the Azu that were awesome! Our final dish was a baked honey and Brie dish, covered in pecans that you spread over crusty bread. Out of this world! Good thing I got a bit of exercise today, because I am eating way too much on this trip!

Rustic elegance…

Daniel or Davey … love them both!

Re-living my childhood …

California wine country

Wine tasting on an empty stomach …

A beautiful spot

Categories: Adult Beverages | Tags: California, Fess Parker, Fess Parker Winery, Ojai, Santa Barbara County, Wine, wine tasting | Leave a comment

Roslyn: The Real Northern Exposure

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Randy

Remember the 90’s TV show, Northern Exposure? Young Jewish doctor fresh out of med school sent to a small town in Alaska for two years of service, quirky locals including a potential love interest for the young doctor; I loved that show! Even though the show was set in Cicely, Alaska, the town was actually shot in Roslyn, Washington.

On our first “official” day of retirement, we fired up the Harley and rode over the Cascades to visit Roslyn. We are having an atypically great weather week here in Seattle. Sunny with temperatures in the 70’s is pretty unusual for June so we are taking maximum advantage of it as we ease into retirement.

Roslyn is about 90 miles from Seattle. Heading east on I-90, we rode over the still chilly Snoqualmie pass. The further you get away from Seattle, the less weird the traffic patterns are. By the time you get to the other side of the Cascades, people drive down right normal! The weather is always different on the other side of the mountain. Temperatures were in the 80’s as we rolled into the sleepy little town of Roslyn. If you remember the opening sequence of the TV show, you have pretty much seen all of Roslyn.

We parked the bike in front of the Roslyn History Museum where we were immediately engaged by one of the local residents. An older gentlemen (I wish I would have gotten his name) complimented us on the bike and invited us into the museum. The “museum” is actually a small storefront filled with antiques, old photographs, old mining gear, and odds-and-ends from times gone by.

Now, I am still getting used to this retirement thing. I generally have a difficult time strolling, chit-chatting, lingering, etc; think Chevy Chase viewing the Grand Canyon in the Vacation movie. But I did my best to S-L-O-W down as this gentleman, who is a life long resident of Roslyn told us stories of his family, stories of World War II, and stories of the mining history of the town.

After our time in the museum, we strolled the town, visited The Brick, the bar where much of the Northern Exposure plots unfolded, and finally had lunch at the Roslyn Café. Claire had a cob salad that included a breaded and deep-fried hard-boiled egg. I had the turkey club sandwich, which was much more than I could eat.

With temperatures in the mid eighties, we stowed the leathers and enjoyed the sunny ride back over the pass. All-in-all it was a great first day of retirement!