Sunday, November 20, 2016

Verde Valley Wine Trail!

I've wanted to do this road trip for a while! Lori and I drove up through Prescott Valley and into Jerome, thinking we'd visit three or four wineries. The drive up is beautiful!


Our first stop, Cellar 433 in Jerome. Our sommelier, Shell, set the bar REALLY high for all other tasting rooms. She was adorable, knowledgeable, and so sweet. We tried six wines -- three white blends and three red blends. Enjoyed a cheese platter and enjoyed the view!





Lori was getting a little silly, but still oh so sophisicated!  (Note: the pinky is out!)

Just up the hill is Haunted Hamburger. Shell was kind enough to hold the wine I purchased so we didn't have to carry it.
 Hungry!  I had the sourdough burger. Nom nom nom.
 Many of the leaves have already fallen, but there were still a few colorful spots.  This one is right outside the fudge shop. It was raining lightly and the air smelled SO GOOD.
Next (and last) stop:  Page Springs Cellars. The atmosphere is lovely. The service not so much. No tasting notes, no information about the wines (other than the name). As I mentioned, Shell set the bar HIGH. 

 At least we got the last slice of cheesecake to share!

I bet the vineyard is absolutely beautiful in the spring!




Saturday, November 12, 2016

Chocolate and Chilies

The Desert Botanical Garden had a chocolate and chili festival so we had to go. And we had to be looking fabulous! It was a little warm, but we enjoyed ourselves.

There was FREE CHOCOLATE CAKE!


We did some shopping, wandered through the gardens, stopped for green chili burritos, and saw a cooking demonstration. Almost too pretty to eat!






A little contemplation time...


Saturday, November 5, 2016

Bacon, Blues & Brews!

Who can resist bacon? And music? And great weather?

I don't think there were enough food trucks, but we did manage to get some bacon.

The ultimate burger -- hamburger, pulled pork, bacon and cheese with barbecue sauce. Mmmmm.
 This beer from the Beer Research Institute is a coffee milk stout. It's called "Morning Sex" and when I said to the server "I need that!" he was quite amused. It was so good I went back for seconds.
Deb and I got matching tattoos, visited a palm reader (to see if she would tell me the same thing the clairvoyant told me a couple of weeks ago), and I bought a cute dress.

This is the foot I stomp scorpions with, so it seemed appropriate.


Saturday, October 29, 2016

Day Trip to Bisbee!

I may have mentioned that I love my sister. She invited me to join her to visit the Copper Queen Mine in Bisbee and it was so fun! We arrived before our scheduled tour so we stopped for a beverage at the Stock Exchange.
Cool old building!


The town is quite picturesque.

Ready for the mine tour! 

Safety First!

Mine entrance



Downtown Bisbee.

 Lunch at Santiago's Mexican Restaurant. Yum!


Parting shot of this adorable little town. Such an enjoyable day!


Saturday, October 22, 2016

Mesa Adventure Challenge!

Back in August I'd found a Groupon deal for the Mesa Adventure Challenge. A scavenger hunt around downtown Mesa. Thought it sounded like fun and recruited some co-workers to do the challenge with me. It was a blast! Really too hot to be walking around outside and we were dripping with sweat, but I was really proud of us for completing ALL of the challenges!







Afterward, Deb and I stopped at Sassy's Cafe for cupcakes and water. Most of these went in my freezer. That spumoni cupcake was amazing.


Sunday, October 16, 2016

Vintage and Vino

Deb and I went to Vintage & Vino at the Equestrian Park in Queen Creek. Lots of upcycled furniture and decor. Wines to try. Food trucks to visit (the crepes were delicious). I even stopped for a session with a clairvoyant. 


We went to Queen Creek Olive Mill and then took a long scenic drive up to Jalapeno Bucks. Best brisket sandwich ever!


And speaking of Vintage,

Westwood High School's 35th Reunion was held at the Monastery restaurant. Saw a few people I remembered, and LOTS of people that I did not remember at all. Nice to catch up with a few friends, though!




Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Fall Break!!!

 A fun getaway to Washington D.C. with my favorite sister!  First stop, Los Angeles. Because airlines. Hm.  Anyway, we had a bit of a layover, so we took some photos and had a really expensive dinner with cocktails.


Arrived early Sunday morning in D.C. First stop -- the Jefferson Memorial. This one is my favorite! And it was chilly! Don't even remember the last time I felt cold. 


Next stop: parking in D.C. (not recommended). Upon consultation with Yelp!, we settled on breakfast at Lincoln's Waffle House. It's right across the street from Ford Theater.  The line is out the door, so you know it's gonna be good. Interesting collection of Lincoln pictures and photos of Vietnam.


Here's the view of Ford Theater from our barstools...
Not much sleep on the red-eye flight, but we're excited to be here!

 Walked for miles and miles and saw most of the Memorials. The World War II Memorial is amazing.
 And of course we visited Mr. Lincoln. It was pretty crowded.
 So wise...

The view from Lincoln Memorial.


And then we visited "Taste of DC" on Pennsylvania Avenue. All kinds of foods, beer and wine, music. I guarded our cell phones on the charger at the Lyft tent and Lori found Carmine's meatballs! YES!!!

And then we found Sprinkle's Cupcakes! By then it was getting really crowded and I don't enjoy crowds, so we I needed to leave.


After checking in at the hotel in Maryland and taking naps, we headed to Target and then checked Yelp! again for dinner recommendations. Yelp! hasn't failed me yet!  This place was called Carolina Kitchen and it was SO GOOD. Fried okra, pulled pork sliders, and sangria. Yum!


Monday we took the hotel shuttle to the Metro and headed first to the Holocaust Memorial. Very depressing but worthwhile. We were there for several hours without realizing how late it was.  Went from there to Arlington National Cemetery (keeping with the theme of death, I guess). 


We did not stay for the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier because there were parents letting their children climb on the walls, which I thought was very disrespectful! and I can only bite my tongue for so long.

Lori really liked the sound of Foggy Bottom, so that was our next stop on the Metro. Consulted Yelp! again and found a the Mediterranian version of Chipotle. Delicious!  I believe it was called Roti.


Decided getting off the Metro at random stops was a good idea. We picked a random stop and looked for a bar. This one wasn't so friendly, so we had just one drink  -- a blueberry mojito -- and hopped on and off the Metro again.


Next bar: Bullfeathers!  Totally empty (we were guessing because it was Columbus Day) so we had personal service and several more drinks!


A late dinner near the hotel with mediocre service and mediocre food, but we had fun. Lori was amused by the cherries in her cannoli, so I kindly reminded her that it is October and that must be a Breast Cancer Awareness cannoli.

Tuesday morning we were at it again from the Metro.  First stop, the National Post Office Museum. I wanted to see the PostSecret exhibit, but there are so many fun things in here! We sorted mail on a train, tossed packages, viewed stamp collections, and learned about mail fraud.



The National Building Museum is conveniently located directly across from a Metro stop. The building itself is amazing. The exhibits were interesting, though many were geared toward the younger crowd.  Lori's favorite part was the "guard" who was fast asleep in the loud play room. I woke him on our way out when I said "Have a good day!" and he bolted upright and said "You too!"


Carmine's is not far from the Building Museum, so we stopped for more meatballs and a cocktail.


Met the manager, Brian, who is absolutely adorable! 


I really wanted to see the butterfly pavilion in the Museum of Natural History. We got our tickets and had some time, so we visited the Hirschorn Art Museum. Weird stuff in here.  Weird. 


 This piece of "art" is a ball of aluminum foil that pretty much fills the room. We did not understand.


This one is probably called "Nothing to Wear" or "Laundry Day."

And this one is called "Butt Prints."


Hm.

This is supposed to be art, as well. I'm just not sophisticated enough to understand it, I guess.


Picture perfect!

The butterfly pavilion!  WOW!  So many varieties of butterflies. It was very humid in there.



And then, cocktails! And bar food. 


Our last morning we headed to Baltimore. Lori is a good sport and an amazing travel companion. She is up for anything and was happy to ride the dragon paddle boats around Inner Harbor with me.  I love her.





And then, more cocktails!  We have a layover in Denver so we found the Cantina and had some tacos and margaritas.