every US state makes wine.
Here are some regions you may not have heard of.
Where have you had wine in unexpected places? I’d say my most unexpected places for wine were in Arizona, both around Sedona, and way south, close to the border with Mexico. And in Missouri – which happens to be on this list.
Do tell. Are they hidden gems?
One of my favorite places to be. Here it’s restful, peaceful and pretty. And there’s some really great wine to be had too!
We were supposed to visit with family this weekend for fall foilage but foul weather forecasts fumbled that formulation. How’s that for alliteration?!
I had never heard of a Haimish Line before reading this New York Times article but after reading about it, I totally understand it.
This article points out the exact reasoning of why I enjoy staying in locally owned bed and breakfasts, and try to partake in locally owned business for tours and activities. It’s all about the local experience and the truly familial feel.
Do the boyfriend and I remember Malania and her husband, the owners of the B&B in Arenal, Costa Rica and their kindness? Do we remmber Malania’s husband, who spoke zero English, who kindly drove us to his favorite restaurant down the road from the B&B in the pouring rain (because we didn’t yet have a rental car)? Yes.
Do we remember Alejandro, Marta, Elda and Elda’s husband at the family run B&B in El Calafate, Argentina? They repeatedly brought me fresh ice for my knee after my glacier hike and told me the word for knee so I could get a brace for my aching knee. Do we remember how Elda kept telling me I would be fine when she was booking our horseback riding excursion, and not laughing when I asked her if she would come to the hospital if I happened to get hurt? Do we remember being dropped off by the Alejandro’s brother (Elda’s husband) at the airport, not just at the curb, but inside at check-in where there were hugs and handshakes and tears? Only my tears, but still. Of course we do.
What about having breakfast in the kitchen of the family, with the family, in Monteverde, Costa Rica where Reina, the mom, easily handed the boyfriend their baby daughter while she made our eggs…straight from their neighbor’s chickens. Again, yes.
What about Zoran who picked us up in Dubrovnik and drove us to Bosnia-Hercegovina, with one other couple from London in his family’s van? He took us to a local restaurant, did the ordering and introduced us to local Bosnian fare like burek (amazing doughy goodness stuffed with cheese or sausage or spinach) and cevapcici (spicy sausage sandwiches with a red pepper paste).
Zoran was our own personal guide and because we were such a small group, he was able to take us to see several towns along the way to Mostar. He spoke about the turbulent history from an extremely personal perspective (to be fair, everyone we met in Croatia that spoke about the war, had a very personal perspective). And as he handed over all of our passports at the border, he knew we all (well three of the four of us – guess who was indifferent) coveted a stamp from Bosnia, so he asked Border Patrol in the local language to stamp each of our passports, which they did.
What about Ana and Ralph at Delta Unplugged in Tigre, Argentina? We had an amazing day with them at their home and on their boat. In fact we are still penpals.
What about the feeling at some of the wineries on the Finger Lakes where they treat you like family, and not just another taster? Yes agains.
And what about Bube and her mother in Dubrovnik? Her mother, who spoke a few words of English, was the only one there to greet us after our 13 hour expedition to get from Newark, NJ to Dubrovnik, Croatia by way of a race through the airport in Frankfurt.
Bube’s mother showed us to our cottage where we dropped our bags, and then she brought us up to her roof, for an amazing view of Dubrovnik.
Once we realized that the walk up 300 or so steps (cars were not allowed where we were going) was absolutely, positively worth it, she asked us “Drink?”
After spending ten minutes with this lovely woman, we realized that her English vocabulary was limited. Wanting to make this as easy as possible I replied, “Water?”
She replied “Beer?”
And that was that! Yet another resounding yes.
These are just a few of these memories that make me smile. You don’t, typically, have these experiences in hotels where you are one of hundreds of guests. There are very few fond memories from my time staying in hotels. Do I remember the kindness and the hospitality they had? Yes, of course. But do I remember those memories as fondly as these truly personal touches of kindness and local hospitality? No, of course not.
Took a bus to a subway to a train … and then a train to a subway to a bus … all to get to and fro the beach in Long Island today.
While the beach was absolutely lovely, the beach wasn’t the final destination, but the fabulous company the boyfriend and I traveled to see.
What kinds of routes and/or transportation have you traveled and/or utilized just to spend some quality time with good friends?
Following up on yesterday’s post…we wound up going to Brescia, a small medieval town in between Venice and Milan.
The only hiccup…okay, okay there were two, and they were so minor, but the boyfriend never lets me tell this story without these two key parts because he likes to know where he is sleeping each night, and I happened to prevent that.
1 – I figured we would go to the tourist center to find out what we could see and do for the day, and of course get a recommendation on where to stay. So we got off the train, and because there was only one or two pages about this particular town in the guidebook, there was not a sufficient map. Since we had our luggage (just one wheelie suitcase each — no rucksacks on this trip) this was not the time for aimless wandering. Suitcases on cobblestone…not ideal. We cabbed it from the train station to the tourist center. Which we quickly found out was closed. Until April. It was January. Oops.
Trying to prove that picking a town and finding accommodation on the fly were still great ideas, I wanted to relax the situation a bit and I figured a glass of wine and some lunch would be good right about now. So we crossed the square to a lovely restaurant where we could sit outside. Yes, we could sit outside. In January. (See, there are positives to all of this).
Another positive was our waiter. He was friendly and helpful, especially with accommodation recommendations. The guidebook had said something positive about places near the train station. Yet he told us, and this was a few years ago so I may not remember exactly…but it was more or less ‘The places by the train station are a piece of shit. You should stay here or here.” So we went to each of the places he named, they were across the cobblestone from each other, and walking distance from the square we were in, ensured there was availability at both, were invited to take a look at each of the rooms at both, and settled in for the nicest, and costliest, accommodation of our trip.
The boyfriend does not let me forget this because…
2 – If you plan ahead you do not have to sleep in a ‘piece of shit’ place near the train station, or spend an hour sorting accommodation with luggage in tow.
Hey, it was still fun, and I proved that sorting accommodation on the fly is totally possible.
I thought more and more about yesterday’s blog post. I do have the same awe about trains as that little boy I saw yesterday.
Setting: Venice, Italy train station, January 2008
Had convinced the boyfriend that we could ‘wing it’ for two nights, while the rest of our accommodation and destinations had been planned in advance, and there were many. We had been in Siena, San Gimignano, Chianti and Greve in Tuscany, Florence and Fiesole, a small town on the top of a hill outside Florence.
We had added one day/night to Venice, so we had one freebie day/night towards the end of our trip, with no plans. We had to ultimately get back to Milan the day after the day it was for our return trip so anywhere between Venice and Milan was fair game.
I was in my glory watching the train boards flip and change the destinations with that deliberate noise to make sure travelers are paying attention.
The sound that those boards make just get me excited over the opportunity of where you can go next, what’s near the destination and how easily you can get there.
Thank you Wikipedia for telling me that it is called a split-flap display. And this video showcases the noise I am talking about. Thank you random YouTube user. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA6zn3nP7tY)
I was looking at the destinations on the board and looking down in the guide book to decide which line we should take, and which stop we should buy tickets to.
Since the boyfriend was totally, utterly and completely breaking a sweat not knowing where we were headed next I had to work quickly. I had to figure out a destination while ensuring it would get us headed in the general direction of Milan.
Isn’t this compromise? We planned most of our accommodations in advance…are two nights, with no planned destination or accommodation, that much to ask? If you ask most of my friends, and my boyfriend, the answer is yes. Unfortunately, for any of my travel companions who do think that way, I don’t.
And yes, if I could install a mini split-flap display of some sort in my home, I think I would seriously consider it. I just love that noise and the day dreaming it promotes.
I work in a building that has a lot of revolving doors. Manual revolving doors. At least once a week, without fail, there’s some tourist who stands in the door. I have to assume they are waiting for it to move automatically.
It makes me chuckle every single time. And then I give it a swift push.
Spent the day at the beach on Saturday.
The ocean air smells better, and feels good too. We spent the day people watching and feeling the sea breeze.
We were not proper beach-bound (I can’t ask an 81 year old to walk on the sand when she can’t manage that well on regular land) but I did get my feet in the water and walked in the sand.
The ocean had four shades of blue. There were few clouds in the sky.
It was nice and sunny and hot but once we got close to the sea, the heat lifted and the cool breezes surrounded us.
I wish sand castles were real because I would choose to live in one. Except during Florida’s hurricane season.
I absolutely love surprises. But I’m never usually the surprisee. More often than not, I am the surpriser.
Surprise success yet again! I made it to Florida and was able to surprise my grandma for the weekend. I never tell her when I am coming and I’ve done these surprise trips for what seems like a billion times. I am pretty sure she has caught on by now – especially when I show up near her birthday or a few times for Mother’s Day – but the surprise is just so.much.fun.
I do realize that surprising an 80-year-old woman is probably not the best idea but she is usually sitting down when I surprise her. She is going to be 81 on Sunday and aren’t birthdays about celebrating with the ones you love?
I’m not offering $50 like Wandering Earl…but I am curious.
Wandering Earl had asked his readers (I’m one of many!) last week what gets you excited about travel?
Here was my answer. Tell me yours! Or tell Earl (his contest is over, but there are some great answers out there)!
My ‘moment’ is as soon as I press purchase for airline tickets. Since I’m always researching and planning and dreaming, the ‘purchase’ button seals the deal. When I booked the flights for my recent trip to Argentina, it was nearly midnight, I had work the next day and all I could do was jump up and down on the bed in excitement. And I should add, I’m in my thirties.
simply three cents 