Don't Be A Whiner

Joined Heidi and Julian yesterday for the opening of wine touring season here in good ole Oregon. We bought tix for the North Willamette Wine Trail Tour,  which gave us a glass (each of course) and access to many an independent winery for tasting all day (for us anyway, it lasted Saturday and Sunday).

Huge kudos to Julian for being our designated driver for the day!

Here is the map for all the potentials that we had to choose from (click the map to enlarge)...

We started out at Garden Vineyards and they had some nice wine and snacks to start us off.  Then we headed over to Helvetia Winery where we were treated to some delicious Salmon treats (sliders and Hors d'oeuvres).  Apparently their son in law is a tribal fisherman and he supplies the goods.  Pretty tasty and pretty cool.  We ended up purchasing a canned smoked salmon infused with Jalepeno.

Not to stay on the beaten track, we then went to SakeOne for...  Sake tasting.  Not my cup of kale but, Susan liked the offerings.

Next up was Montinore Estate for some more traditional Pinot tastings.  Most of what we were having on the trail were Pinot Gris and Pinot Noire as this is the Oregon grape of choice.  They served us up nicely (Buffalo Wellington and Fresh Fruit Tartlets) and we had to head outside to get away from the Grateful Deadesque (or not) music.

Here is a photo of us by what may be the old estate mansion...

First vineyard sighting (not really)...

Plum Hill Vinyeards was our next stop.

Very nice barrel tasting out front...

Most excellent barn photo...

Next Up Patton Valley Vineyard.  They had an assorted meat and cheese plate to go with the tasting.  I think Julian took full advantage of the meat plate.  Great Pinots and this may have been our fav...

Hmm.  Wish they had frog legs?

Awww.  Death Metal Man and Banker Heidi...

Beware of... Satanic Cows with Deer Antlers (and red golf ball Rudolph nose)...

Dos Mas.  We decided to hit Kramer Vineyards and made a quick visit here.  After that, we went to our holy grail of the trail, Elk Cove Vineyards.

They probably had the best tasting, even though we were a little late, and sported a $100 bottle of Pinot tasting!  The server graciously treated us to seconds on this beast.

At least we ignored the parking signs!

You're Dead To Me..

Not Dead Yet!

All in all, great day to be touring the area and we had great company to boot.

Pad My Thai

We were forced to have dinner at Pad Thai Kitchen with Evyl K, Jim, Liby & Dan last night.  This is what happens when one is under the gun.

Veggie Salad Rolls...

Tom Yum Soup...

Spicy Green Bean...

Drunken Noodle...
 

Smiling Bellies...

 

Reaching Baby...

Flying Jowls...

And if anyone had any doubts, "WE DO CATHERING & TO GO"...

Charleston SC Family Gathering - Day 2 Walk About

After Breakfast, Team Brown gathered in the Lobby for an "official" family photo op...

And here are some photos from our walk about town...

Horse Feathers...

Cooper River Bridge from the Marina...

Cloudy Heavens...

Sweet Ride...

Fire Dog...

We ended up grabbing lunch at the Amen Street Fish & Raw Bar which was just what we needed after a nice walk...

Murphy-Goode Fume Blanc, Awesome Fannny Bay & Beausoleil Oysters and Tuna Tartare muy delicioso...

Oyster Shooters, Compliments Of Laura (the Manager)...

We had our final happy hour of the trip and walked on over to Poogan's Porch. Another fine southern meal had by all.

Thanks for the trip folks!

Charleston SC Family Gathering - Aquarium Visit

Pat, Karen, Susan and I headed over to the Charleston Aquarium on Day 2 and decided to post this separately.

Whale Of A Bone...

Snakes All Around...

Nice Legs...

This next one is the infamous Albino Alligator and the exhibit just opened on March 20th, 2010.  According to the press release, they estimate that this guy is only one of 50 in the world.  He has been at the aquarium for about 6 months acclimatizing and they still have him cordoned off to one side of the tank until he is fully adapted to his new enviros.

Word has it that he came from a gator ranch in Florida and lacking pigment and all, was not likely to survive to adulthood at the ranch or in the wild.

 Here is a shot I got from the Aquarium Website...

This is video of the Great Ocean Tank.  Boasts the deepest tank in the world (The largest is in Atlanta)...



And now for something completely different....

Not sure why there is a Bald Eagle at the Aquarium but, what the hay...

And we finished off the tour with the Penguins on loan from the San Diego Zoo.

Charleston SC Family Gathering - First Night & Mom's B-Day

So, we had a gathering of the immediate Brown family to celebrate Mom's upcoming 80th birthday, Jenny''s 50th and Mary's 58th.

Here is a photo of me and the Obama's in DC on the trip down...

We checked into the DoubleTree Suites on Church Street, right downtown which served us very well.

The night we arrived, the city was on fire with revelers of the annual Cooper River Bridge Run. The streets were packed and the crowds were highly lubricated after running or watching the 10K.

I think they said that about 45K people were directly involved in the race (running or supporting) and maybe about 80K total when you counted in the partiers that came to watch.

We had great food at the The Library Restaurant the first night and I would recommend the Short Ribs.

Day 1

Team Brown headed out to Patriots Point across the Cooper River Bridge  (longest cable-stayed bridge in the western hemisphere).  Unfortunately, we spaced our camera and will have to rely on on the web links if people want to see pictures.

We had a great time touring Fort Sumter, which was involved with the first shots fired in the civil war.  Pretty cool history review and glad we went.

Then we hit the  the USS Yorktown Carrier for a tour and this was very cool.  Dad was able to recount stories of being on the USS Boxer which was of a similar class carrier during the Korean War.  I think dad had fun relaying the stories of daily life on the ship (he was on it for 2 years of duty) and we got a kick out of them for sure.

After the tours, we headed over to Sullivan Island where we were going to hit Poe's Tavern (Our friend Katy's recommendation). When we arrived, we determined it was too crowded for our group of ten and we ended up across the street at the Home Team BBQ. Hit the spot for a hungry crew as it was about 3pm already.

We had happy hour in Mom & Dad's room and at this point we unveiled Mom's Birthday Photo Book.  The book was a sibling group effort with me as publisher via the Kodak Photo Book website.  Kudos to Susan as well for her editorial input.

You can click on the Photo or Link to check it out here (there are additional photos past the 80 in the published version)....

Family Photo Book 2010

It was lots of fun reviewing the great memories with Mom!

Cover Girl...

Good Stuff...

Reid needed a beer...

Then we were off to Bocci's for Dinner and good food for traditional Italian fare.

Plenty of wine was flowing and we ponied up for a game of 500 after dinner before we hit the sack.

Shoes On A Wire

Oh, how we miss the good old days when shoes on a wire really meant something rather than just a "cool" thing to do.  At least they have the lucky number 13!

On to more kid friendly topics, we have Josie James swingin her heart out at the local park...

This is a cool shot of what looks to be a Weeping Cherry Blossom Tree...

 Dandy Lion going to seed...

And if you must know, I had some scrambled eggs with fresh chives (from the garden box) and cheddar cheese for breakfast...

Into Thin Air

Finished the book written by Jon Krakauer the other night. Great read about climbing Everest.

 
Highly recommended.  A little slow to start but, then becomes almost impossible to put down.

Here is the link to it on Amazon.

Spring Forward!

Well not until Saturday officially.  However, this did not stop Hugo from celebrating early.



Just so ya know, this is what we have to contend with.  As noted in this earlier post, this dog was not made for keeping four paws on the ground, despite his potential back issues.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Get your green on!   It's that day of the year again.

Josie turns One year old today.  Happy B-Day Josie James!

Might need a beer soon since we need to tackle taxes crap again.

Strikers Of Sweden

We had a small scare the other day but, Marilyn only sprained her ankle this time around.

Susan was good enough to makeshift a hospital toy to make the time pass faster for Marilyn...

On to Sweden...  I received the tubes of delicious cheese in the mail as well.  Took a good three weeks for my b-day present to arrive.

Cheese with...

• Reindeer meat
• Caviar
• Crayfish
• Shrimp

Helan gar as they say!