Tag: travel

Five Days on the Road, Day 1

On By Terry ChristophersonIn Been there - places, Food and drink, Happy Hour, On the road, Restaurants, Trips and travelLeave a comment

It’s turbulent at 30,000 feet today, Monday afternoon, on the way to Sacramento. Surrounded by Alaska Air navy blue, with complimentary MVP Gold  white wine in a plastic cup. Seat 6C, the bulkhead, is good, as much leg room as in first class, and you get your wine right away, quick deplaning.

After 22 years on the road, travel for work, any travel is different. My life has three venues, home with Tricia, Travel with Tricia, travel alone. Home and travel with Tricia are the best, travel alone is where I spend too much time.

It is a quick flight, already we are beginning to descend, the turbulence reminds me we are actually up in the air. I use the scuba divers technique to release the pressure on my ears, flight attendants are scurrying to pick up the “remaining service items.”

After 840 steps, one train, and one shuttle-bus I get to the National car rental. A silver Chevy, the exact same one I drove last week. Then 13 miles into town. Staying at the Rodeway Inn just a few blocks from the Sacramento Rivercats baseball stadium, too bad there is no game. No Hilton hotel tonight.

My room is small, but clean and it looks recently remodeled, I have stayed in worse. I stayed here because the management responded to every comment on the website, even though it is not a fancy place they seem to be making an effort to do it as well as they can.

2016-02-29 17.44.02Across the street is a bowling alley and Cap’s Bar & Grill. Its close, and the only thing I see within walking distance except a Subway and some Chinese place. One difference between Tricia Time and my Vagabond Life is that I would not be eating here with her. In my Vagabond world I hit dive bars and drive-ins far too much.

My view is the bowling lanes, only three are being used, one looks like a dad and his little girl, cute. There is a family with a few kids, and a couple that spends more time talking than bowling. I order a Patty Melt, and a Sierra Nevada on Happy Hour. At the bar there are regulars.

Thanks to Wi-fi I watch soccer on my iPad while I eat. The sandwich is fine, it is new to the menu they tell me, it could use more salt or a savory sauce, but its not bad. I pay, then walk back to the hotel. I started to watch a documentary on Winston Churchill, but it was demanding too much thinking, will finish it later. So watched a couple of episodes of MASH, then went to bed, read a bit and lights out by about 8.00PM.

Eyeopening day in Genoa,

On By Terry ChristophersonIn Trips and travelLeave a comment

For some reason, obscure I am sure, when the idea of visiting Italy came up I was always hesitant. As ridiculous as it sounds all I can connect it to was their trains. Someplace, sometime I heard that the trains in Italy were not punctual and they were dirty. Thus my astute conclusion was is that was what the whole country was like.

I have never been on the trains but thankfully in September I had one glorious day in Genoa, it was an eyeopening day. How could you not love this city?IMG_1670

My best guess it that I wandered over 12 miles of the winding streets, sat and sketched in plazas, ate pizza and sipped wine and Italian beer. I even embraced the coffee shops. It was a wonderful day. Now I can’t wait to get back and explore more of the country.

I will let you know about the trains, but my old prejudice toward Italy has been replaced with appreciation.

A lesson in customer service, I hope they learn it

On By Terry ChristophersonIn Food and drinkLeave a comment

IMG_1332Now it is important to know that I was charming and pleasant, I guarantee that. And I must emphasize that the staff at the Farmer’s Market by Laguna Culinary Arts  (link to Yelp) were fine, and as helpful as they could be.

I was on the 5.30pm flight from John Wayne Airport headed back to Seattle, the plethora of Micky-mouse-eared kids made it clear that I was near Disneyland and that it was Spring break. After stopping at Vino Volo for a glass of Oregon Chardonnay I was hungry. Defying logic I thought I would head to Ruby Tuesdays, my first mistake because Vino Volo has good food, what was I thinking. Then I spotted the Farmer’s Market, it was run by a culinary arts school, looked promising. The display was stacked with sandwiches and panini much like you would find in Paris, even Croque-monsieur sandwiches loaded with cheese. They had splits of wine and wine glasses, I was sold.

IMG_1331Careful analysis, including price to value ratios, led me to order the ham and cheese, which he assured me could be heated like a panini. As I moved to the check-out to order a wine to go with it I noticed that he was placing my sandwich in an oven not a panini press, hmmm. It was my first alert that things were not working as they should. When I asked the nice lady if it could be heated in a panini press she said it was not working. I hesitated, and almost said I did not want the sandwich as I was anticipating hot squished bread, but decided to let it go.

I asked about the chardonnay, only to find that they sell small bottles of the wine, but they have no glasses for the wine. Not that they were out of glasses, they don’t ever have glasses. I asked how people drink it, she said “out of the bottle.” Yes, I did express my surprise, but like I said, I remained charming and pleasant as I made some comment about a brown paper bag, but with a smile on my face, she even smiled. I passed on the wine.

The sandwich came in a clear plastic take-away container, the ambience of enjoying a good sandwich with a glass of wine vaporized. I walked out to the main area of the terminal, found a chair and sat down to eat the lukewarm meal, the cheese was not even melted.

VIN_OrangeC_SNA_1Finishing that I went back to Vino Volo and admitted that I should have stayed there and had their basil chicken sandwich. I ended up talking with a guy from England, and to a lady who did quality control for a  cryogenic freight company, both delightful.

As I write this I am seated in an exit row on an Alaska Airlines flight, the flight attendants are wonderful as they usually are, the flight is on time, what a contrast to Farmer’s Market. Lots of airlines fly planes, and offer food beverage, yet Alaska still tries to do some of the little things. Their food is a notch above what the others offer, (their hot sandwiches are actually hot) and us MVP Gold’s get special treatment. They attempt to offer as much as possible within the constraints of a competitive airline market.

The best employee, inhibited by poor products or service offerings, struggles to maintain customer satisfaction. Farmers Market needs to learn this, after all it appears that they are training the next round of chefs; ambience and attention to detail are as important as making the perfect sauce, I hope they learn that along the way. As for me, next time  I am in John Wayne airport I will stick with Vino Volo.

Reflection Vineyards, thanks for a wonderful September afternoon

On By Terry ChristophersonIn WineLeave a comment

One of the great joys of wine is discovery. Today in the Rattlesnake Hills wine region of Washington, the winery I was headed for was closed, so I went exploring. An easel sign near an orchard pointed the way to Reflection Vineyards, up a gravel road through the trees, and it was open. What a find! Holly made the tasting room a pleasant experience, when she is not at Reflection she works with Ron Bunnell, another of my favorite wine makers. I knew I was in for a treat.

2014-09-14 16.47.23My primary goal was a glass of white and a place to sketch, the setting was right for sketching; now all I needed was wine. Their only white is a Viognier, and what a wine. If I could only have one white wine I would be tempted to make it a Viognier, so I was pleased.

Kent and Allison bought the 40 acres now known as Reflection Vineyards in 2007, most of the land was in cherries, but they wanted to grow grapes. Their first planting was 16 rows of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. They did however keep some of the cherries.

They practice what is known as “free run” in the production of their reds. With free run the grapes are crushed but not pressed. Most wineries crush the grapes, which extracts the best of the juice, and then press the remaining skins and pulp to extract more of the juice. While pressing produces a higher yield the juice from free run is the highest quality possible.

Free run wines tend to be fruitier, less acidic, and lower in tannins. Tannins are what give some young wines that “pucker” feeling in the back of the throat. Free run reds are easier to drink young, and the fruit is enhanced; I never forget that wine is liquid fruit first of all. Reflection Vineyards currently produces a Mélange, Cabernet, Syrah, and the Viognier. I love a winery that focuses on what they do well.

The Viognier was just right, it has more body than a Pinot Gris, which of late I have been finding too thin for my taste. I have overcome my bias, illogical of course, of Chardonnay, but these days find the Viognier more enjoyable. Viognier is less buttery than a California Chardonnay, none of the citrus of a New Zealand, yet not as heavy as some Chardonnays can be.

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Reflection’s Viognier is the perfect balance in a white wine; enough fruit to make it fill the mouth, just dry enough to finish nicely, and a round enough feel to let you know you are embracing more than fruit juice. Sitting on their deck, sipping a glass, pen and paint in hand, made for a perfect afternoon.

I will be back, that is for sure, more of the reds next time. The real question is how long I can fight of the urge to sign up for another wine club, a battle I fail at too easily.logo

What an amazing 16 days!

On By Terry ChristophersonIn Trips and travelLeave a comment

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7 cities, 6 flights, over 10,000 air miles, over 1,000 driving miles – all in 16 days. Then throw in a hurricane warning in Hawaii, some great food, a surprise visit by good friends, and a birthday weekend that was amazing. This has been a great August!

A view from Surfrider courtesy the96815

On By Terry ChristophersonIn Trips and travel1 Comment

Nova knows Waikiki! The Moana Surfrider is one of my favorite places in Wakiki, and she just posted this on her site. For the inside scoop on Waikiki or just some great pics, follow her blog the96815