That’s it, the inexorable return home has started…
We finally left the hotel we called home for the past 5 days, in San Diego. All good things have to end, but it ain’t over til it’s over!!
Quickly, before I tell you about our past couple of days, a quick note on the title of this post… When we were in Florence, we had a nice dinner in the old town and I had to choose a bottle a wine. I decided to pick a wine from Oregon , since we were in Oregon. I narrowed down my decision on a wine by the intriguing name of ‘NxNW’. I merrily ordered a bottle of the ‘NXNW’, to which the nice waitress said ‘Beg your pardon?!’. Since it happens frequently with me (for unknown reasons…), I repeated my request, to which she replied ‘Oh, the North by Northwest, you mean…’. Yes, that’s what I meant… I felt stupid, but she was cool about it and we all had a good chuckle…
Anyways, we decided to leave San Diego before President Obama got here… We don’t want to overshadow his quick trip to the San Diego Bay area…
We headed for Paso Robles, the wine area we had skipped on our way down. Paso Robles is not as famous as Napa and Sonoma, but has over 200 wineries nonetheless. We checked in at the historical Paso Robles Inn, a very nice old hotel we recommend! We found a place to have food, and wine (we picked a Cabernet Sauvignon called Treana, from the Paso Robles region).
Today, we hit the road again, after a quick breakfast at the ‘Coffee Shop’ of the Inn. The plan was to check out a couple of wineries and then head for Carmel-by-the-Sea, via the coastal US-1 highway.
We visited 3 wineries (Windward, Justin and Ancient Peaks), and collected another 12 bottles… We have started getting rid of clothes and souvenirs to make way for the wine…
The drive along the coast, from Cambria to Carmel, known as the ‘Big Sur’ area, is magnificent, and the gods have graced us with a clear and sunny day today!!
Checking in in Carmel, we quickly found a seafood restaurant, to enjoy oysters, lobster and wild mushroom risotto, and blue and dungeness crab raviolis, with a bottle of Pinot Noir from the Russian River… I know, life is tough…
Later.
G.
