Posting from Disneyland

Well, I never thought I'd say it, but Disneyland is a magical place... for even I, a Disney scrooge, reluctantly left the park smiling broadly. I'd spent the first two days of my conference (American Library Association) begrudging that Anaheim was selected as the location. I bought a ticket for an event not realizing that I was actually buying a voucher to be exchanged for a ticket to the Disneyland theme park. I tried to get my money back and they refused, so I decided not to waste the dough and just go... I wandered around the park for three hours marveling at all the amazing attractions, light shows, landscaping, architecture, sensurround sound, and the thousands of people (and no drunks). I was all by myself having a blast and an unforgettable evening. I really liked the park, but all the commercialism surrounding it is pretty annoying--my hotel is right in the resort and it's difficult to escape. Also, it took a couple days of getting used to seeing "Micky everywhere." If not his entire image, the "three adjoining circles" appear in the most unlikely places such as on the top of lamp posts and metal stanchions, in the wallpaper (photo above), carpet patterns, topiary (although my photo shows Donald), and even his gloved hand graces the decor--they are holding the sconces to the wall in our bathroom. I have to admit though, I prefer the Disney architecture to the barren landscape of this desert that is So Cal. I'm looking forward to returning to the lush land of the Middle Coast!

In the meantime, I was extremely happy to find a very nice wine bar a few paces away from my temporary resident, the Dreams Tower. The hotel campus has a ships and pirates theme, and the wine cellar is below a little place they call Hooks Point next to the Neverland Pool. I was able to fully enjoy a Pinot Noir wine flight consisting of Acacia, Edna Valley, and another not so memorable. The Edna was my favorite, with a nice blend of fruit and earth, with a touch of vanilla. The Acacia was by far the earthiest, but also good. I was able to work in one memorable dining experience at a high end restaurant called the Napa Rose inside the Grand California Hotel (uber lodge extraordinaire--larger than life). The restaurant, thankfully, was more tastefully designed and sized at a more human scale. The food was awesome--had a wonderful grilled salmon with a medly of wild mushrooms in foam, which I successfully paired with a delicious Jade Mountain Mouvedre.

Prior to this trip, I had the pleasure of attending a wine tasting at a great little wine bar in my neighborhood called Perpendicular. The distributor was showing a collection of wines by Brassfield Estates from Lake County, CA and a new appellation called High Valley. The whites were 2006 and included Sauvignon Blanc, Dry Riesling, and Serenity, the latter an unusual blend of 63% Sauvignon Blanc, 28% Pinot Grigio, 6% Gewurztraminer, 3% Semillon. It was my favorite of the whites, with a complex, fruity structure, medium bodied, and nicely balanced with just enough acidity. The reds were 2004 and included Merlot and Zinfandel. The merlot was the best, which was extremely smooth and rich. I agree with their notes which use descriptives like black cherry, cocoa and cinnamon. I don't usually like Merlot, so this was a pleasant surprise. More information about these wines is available at http://www.brassfieldestate.com/wines/.
I found them to be good value wines with prices ranging from $13 - $17.

Time to don my library cap again and get ready for the Newbery-Caldecott Awards Banquet.
Cheers!

Patio Wine Tasting

Patio Wine Tasting
June 7, 2008

The challenge from our hosts was to “Beat the Palmelo.” Wines are listed in order from most to least favorite. Bold indicates a characteristic was mentioned three or more times. Except for the last one on the list, I'd buy any of these wines again.

Wine: [2006??] Palmelo (Sauvignon Blanc)
Region: California
Bouquet/Palette&Body: fresh, flint, clean, grapefruit, lemon, lemon rind, citrus, slight spice like white pepper, acidic, light, crisp

Wine: 2006 Memsie (Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Rousanne, Chardonnay)
Region: Australia
Bouquet/Palette: aromatic, sweet, cream, slight mineral, floral, pear, stone fruit, honey, slight vanilla, butter, citrus, buttered toast, melon, crisp, tart, silky, crisp

Wine: 2006 Mason (Sauvignon Blanc)
Region: California
Bouquet/Palette: grapefruit, white pepper, grapefruit, silky, rich

Wine: Greg Norman Chardonnay
Region: ??
Bouquet/Palette: banana, butter, cream, nutmeg, ginger, slight oak, vanilla, nutty, spice, banana, apricot, clove, spice, nutmeg, butter

Wine: 2004 Conundrum
Region: California
Bouquet/Palette: hot, very aromatic, floral, a little sweeter than previous vintages, tropical, a little spice

Wine: 2005 Schlossaarstien (Riesling-Cabinet)
Region: Germany
Bouquet/Palette: green apple, pineapple, mango, pear, peach, mango, apple, green apple, citrus, green, mild citrus, grapefruit, pineapple, tropical, sweet, crisp

Wine: 2006 Allison by Stelzner Family Vineyard (Rose)
Region: California
Bouquet/Palette: strawberry, apple, raspberry, vanilla, rhubarb, cranberry, peppery, cinnamon, citrus, steely, tart

Wine: 2006 Fetzer Gewurztraminer
Region: California?
Bouquet/Palette: toasty, spice, citrus, sweet, too sweet, very sweet, hint of mint or eucalyptus, vanilla, honey, buttery, melon

There were actually several more wines to taste but we stopped taking notes when a severe thunderstorm forced us into the basement I mentioned in the previous post. If you're interested, check this post and comments in the near future for possible additions and more details on price, region and maker. Cheers, JJ

Out of Touch

It's been a while since I've been able to blow some time in front of my computer. I've been super busy with trying to get my Mom completely untethered from her house of 40 years. She's 74 and is now living in an assisted living facility--very nice complex and close to my house. We moved her out in December and it's taken until now, plus quite a bit of cold, hard cash, to get her house (the place where I grew up) cleared out and cleaned up--phew!! Finally, we are at the point of having real estate agents looking at it to determine a fair listing price. We hope to have it listed by the end of next week. We've also been showing it to potential buyers who got wind of it going on the market before the listing--all of this has been extremely time-consuming.

Meanwhile, I've been training for a 5K coming up in July. My elliptical has served me well in that capacity over the winter. I finally took to the streets this past Saturday on a hot and stuffy morning. I managed to run about an 11-minute mile, my usual time, so I was happy with that--but I spent the rest of the day icing my knees to keep them from swelling--worked pretty well. This is also helping with the blood pressure which is mostly back to normal, I'm happy to report.

A recent, really cool development is that I managed to rescue a very limited number of special items from my Mom's house (the last three truck loads went directly to landfill, sadly, thanks to 1-800-GOT-JUNK). One of those treasures was a swinging porch bench which DG and I put together one Saturday afternoon. Ever since then, my neighbors and I have been spending Sunday evenings out there sipping wine and chatting. We've drawn passers-by to the porch to join us and it's been a total "community-building" phenomenon. I've always avoided hanging out on the front porch due to prior bad connotations, but I'm slowly being converted by my neighbors who say that front porch frequenting is good for the neighborhood on a number of fronts--even from a security standpoint.

My lifestyle here is so different from the one I left in Seattle and let me tell you, I was fighting hard to avoid sinking into the "white picket fence" mindset, but now that I live in a house on a street full of other houses instead of a downtown highrise, or mid-sized condo, it's hard not to get caught up in it. I tried hard to buy a condo, but I couldn't bring myself to spend the money in what I thought was/is an over-valued market. But I'm adjusting...now, I spend a lot of time bird-watching from my own front and back yards. We have a nice variety of resident birds including cardinals, finches, hawks, woodpeckers, and geese, along with the ever-present sparrows and robins. Closer to the water there are quite a few gulls. We also have our resident bunnies (quite a few) and squirrels. The biggest difference in lifestyle is having my immediate family so close at hand and allowing them to take up so much of my time--it's all for the good right now though.

Some things are similar. Like Seattle, a number of my favorite hangouts are in my neighborhood, rather than downtown. I have my choice of restaurants and coffeeshops, as well as a local theater, art gallery, huge park, and wine shop, all within easy walking distance. A slightly longer walk encompasses everything else to which I need regular access (though I usually drive). Downtown is farther away than what I enjoyed in Seattle, so I *always* drive to that area of town. I drive a lot more in general, but my neighborhood is great for walking and biking, so I do this when I can.

Well, I think I'll try to load in a few pictures too: Mom at the grocery store (she can't walk unassisted); a scene from the RiverWalk (DG and I spent a perfect Sunday afternoon along this groovy part of downtown); my front porch on a night other than Sunday.

Next posting will include notes from a patio wine tasting at a friend's last week before howling winds, torrential rains, and thunderstorms sent us packing into the basement (not a bad place to be stuck since he has a beautiful new bar, complete with booth seating). Check back in a week or so...

Cheers