This doesn't happen very often - I am taking the week off. This is my summer vacation. My last summer vacation was in October 2009. Yeah, I've taken a few days off here and there, a long weekend now and then, or a quick getaway to BC, but not a real vacation. The current summer vacation started yesterday and it was very confusing. Since I am a workaholic, I wasn't sure where to start. It is a real syndrome that is only exacerbated by the mandatory technology like the "crackberry," the iPad, and gmail. Not to mention tweeting, which has got to stop.
But one thing I was not confused about was that I would have a beverage, and by beverage I mean wine, duh. Since one of my missions while on vacation is to be able to be unplanned and spontaneous as much as possible, I tooled around Ballard and found Skillet Diner for a late lunch. I learned that they prefer to serve Washington wines, which I was pleased to hear. I had a Washington sauvignon blanc with a very tasty Cobb salad, which I highly recommend (if you haven't noticed already, I am a proud day-drinker). It was a nice place to drop into in the middle of the afternoon, as they have an open-air dining room, at least during the warm weather, a mandatory long diner counter that doubles as a bar, and a partial view of the kitchen. Late afternoon was a good time to banter with the staff as it wasn't super busy and they were happy to shoot the breeze with me. This is a good thing. I don't know if most of my bartenders know this, but I view them as my therapists most of the time. Say what you want.
In the next day or two, I am going to Woodinville for my next episode of slithering around the wine bars and tasting rooms. Since it has been dark and stormy lately, I am anticipating less slithering and more planting my drinking elbow in only a couple of lounges. I am tardy in picking up my wine club shipment from William Church Winery, another of my favorites and a winery with a very pleasant tasting room. They focus mostly on reds, but they do a beautiful Viognier. This shipment includes the 2010 2 Spires, a Syrah/Cabernet blend, and the 2010 Sur La Mer, their flagship, Merlot-dominant Bordeaux blend, perfect for fall sipping or pairing. I'm already warming up my culinary thought process so I can determine which tasty slab of protein I want to prepare to go with these beauties. Now I have enough time to do that.
But one thing I was not confused about was that I would have a beverage, and by beverage I mean wine, duh. Since one of my missions while on vacation is to be able to be unplanned and spontaneous as much as possible, I tooled around Ballard and found Skillet Diner for a late lunch. I learned that they prefer to serve Washington wines, which I was pleased to hear. I had a Washington sauvignon blanc with a very tasty Cobb salad, which I highly recommend (if you haven't noticed already, I am a proud day-drinker). It was a nice place to drop into in the middle of the afternoon, as they have an open-air dining room, at least during the warm weather, a mandatory long diner counter that doubles as a bar, and a partial view of the kitchen. Late afternoon was a good time to banter with the staff as it wasn't super busy and they were happy to shoot the breeze with me. This is a good thing. I don't know if most of my bartenders know this, but I view them as my therapists most of the time. Say what you want.
In the next day or two, I am going to Woodinville for my next episode of slithering around the wine bars and tasting rooms. Since it has been dark and stormy lately, I am anticipating less slithering and more planting my drinking elbow in only a couple of lounges. I am tardy in picking up my wine club shipment from William Church Winery, another of my favorites and a winery with a very pleasant tasting room. They focus mostly on reds, but they do a beautiful Viognier. This shipment includes the 2010 2 Spires, a Syrah/Cabernet blend, and the 2010 Sur La Mer, their flagship, Merlot-dominant Bordeaux blend, perfect for fall sipping or pairing. I'm already warming up my culinary thought process so I can determine which tasty slab of protein I want to prepare to go with these beauties. Now I have enough time to do that.
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