Knitting 40 shades of green

Random Thursday: Travel edition

1. I spent yesterday traveling to attend the NEA Representative Assembly.  All of it hectic.  My taxi was 25 minutes late.  That is so not OK, especially when you are me and you mock the airport/airline recommendation to arrive with plenty of time to clear security.  I had barely over an hour to get from my house until the time the plan would take off. 
2. I made it.  This may be because I prefer to fly the handful of airlines that use the old terminal at DCA.  I think because it reminds me of my dad but also because it is quick as a wink to get through security and check in. 
3. This meant no time at the airport for knitting or even sitting down.  Let alone the traditional beer at the Sam Adam's bar served by a bartender named Napoleon (who names their kid Napoleon?  Despite the name, or maybe due to it, he is a great bartender).
4. I flew to Atlanta to get to Chicago.  I am not sure if this is due to my preference for the old terminal at DCA or if it was the only flight that allowed me the middle of the day hours that allow me to procrastinate on packing until the morning of my flight or maybe just complete inattention when buying the ticket and the price looked good.
5. When traveling I feel like I am constantly pulling out credit cards and IDs while lines of people wait patiently (or not) behind me.  I find that I end up putting them somewhere more convenient than in my wallet in a pocket of my purse inside my carry-on bag.  I have gotten some surprised looks when I take them out but I don't lose them and I don't worry about pick pockets.  
6. The CGI is taking place in my hotel.  This means the place is crawling with secret service and media personalities like Wolf Blitzer.  It also means the meeting rooms are super cold for all the men in suits.   Or maybe the Sheraton just likes to keep the place like a meat locker, this is Chicago.
7. "Deplane" is not a word.  If you can't "plane" then you can't "deplane".  We don't debus or decar or deship/deboat why do we insist on using this made up non word?  Whatever happened to disembark?  It is a perfectly good word and no one uses it.  The only proper use of this word is to talk about the Rourke's side kick from Fantasy Island.
8. The one eating experience on my radar in Chicago was to go to one of Rick Bayless' restaurants.  Interesting enough they are all under the same roof which is less than a mile from my hotel.  So, I walked over there last night and found the one seat at a very crowded bar at Frontera Grill -- a restaurant I couldn't get a reservation in online two months ago.  Pretty fortuitous, if you ask me.

Socks, Socks, socks

It was a day late in the month of December, as I was hanging hand knit socks to dry on my drying rack, realizing that I didn't have anymore socks hand knit socks in the sock drawer, when I made the flippant statement to the universe.  "I need more socks.  My goal for 2011 is another 12 pairs of socks into the sock drawer."  Well, I hate to let anyone down and that includes myself, but knitting happens in fits and starts around here lately. What had I gotten myself into?

Well, with a little cleaning out of the knitting basket that hides beside the couch and a little bit of kitchnering and tucking in ends, I was off to a good start.  There were quite a few green socks in that bin, and even a couple of pairs.  (hmm, I wonder where the yarn and pattern are for that single sock...) So, two pairs down, I spent much of February knitting away on a simple pair of "dollar" socks that I started for car drives to wineries and then took seriously and finished one at the January board meeting (as those meetings require mindless knitting so that I can pay attention to the business at hand). I finished them up while in Tacoma for Madrona, the best fiber festival ever.

With 3 pairs done, I cast on another mindless pair (as there are always car trips that call for mindless knitting). I am now 3/4 of the way through my "winery socks" named for the color and the knitting that was occurred back and forth to the wineries.  So that puts me at almost 4.5 pairs and here we are half way through the year.  I better pick up the pace on this knitting goal.

hmm, I wonder what other half finished socks I can find with a bit of straightening up...

 

I'd complain but no one would listen

So instead I will whine wine.

Last year, early in a relationship, I picked up a 2010 Virginia Winery Guide on a winery excursion and the idea of visiting the almost 160 wineries listed there in came to the light of day.  I am nothing, if not motivated by clearly set goals.  When the 2011 guide arrived with it's close to 190 wineries I decided to stick with the 2010 version. 

Father's Day was on Sunday and since I was without my father, who I am sure would have loved the excursion and was watching from whichever version of the afterlife provides for the most fun, and the co-conspirator  of that goal was without his children who would be arriving from overseas for the summer in a few short days, we decided to knock out a few wineries. 

Our first stop was Three Fox Vinyards in Delaplane, VA.  We tasted 8 wines that are made at the winery and 2 guest wines from other wineries in VA (Barboursville Leggero Chardonnay and Thibaut-Janisson Sparkling Chardonnay) .  The whites were unoaked and strong on citrus flavors and quickly moved toward the off dry category.  The reds were in the Italian style and while drinkable were a bit lighter than what I choose to drink on a regular basis. 

The real gem of this winery is the setting.  If you are looking for a romantic place to take a date on a picnic, this is your place.  They have tables with umbrellas set on a patio, a porch and out in the yard.  If none of those spots suite your picnic needs, they have set up tables between the rows of baby grapes, and even have hammocks and picnic tables over along the tree line for the after lunch sipping and napping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our second stop was Delaplane Cellars, which was having a bit of a celebration for Father's day.  The lovely stark and modern tasting room had a stage with a guitar player and singer for our listening pleasure and had brought in wood fired oven pizza to fill the father's bellies. 

We tasted 6 wines and I much preferred the reds in this line up.  I felt the Springlot, grown on two acre vineyard just 3 miles west of the winery, had a nice rounded flavor.  It is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot which are aged separately and then blended before bottling.  I also enjoyed the Cinq which included the above grapes plus the addition of Tannant.  It was a bit spicier and tasted as if it would grow better with age.  The pizza smelled delicious and so we ordered a couple of glasses and enjoyed a personal size pizza despite having had sandwiches earlier and a wine bag full of snacks. 

We made a brief stop to experience the last of the spring harvest at Hollin Farms.  We picked some lettuce and some beets but with the heat we have been experiencing we were really in between the spring and summer crops. 

 Our final stop of the day was Naked Mountain Winery which is on a beautiful slope of the blueridge.  The winery has changed hands in the past year and the new owners and their staff were wonderful hosts.  We tasted 9 wines at this stop and found quite a few of them to be pleasing.  The barrel fermented Chardonnays were oaky and the reds were quite drinkable.  We enjoyed these wines enough to leave with three bottles one of which we started with some snacks before leaving the vineyard.  Don't worry we corked it and brought the remainder of the bottle home. 

All in all it was an enjoyable wine outing which allowed us to cross another three vineyards off of the map for a total of 40 vineyards visited together from the 2010 map.  (We may have visited one or two new ones from the 2011 by mistake.)