back, cottaging

Back from hiatus which was actually a nice vacation with a couple buddies out in Utah for a camping/hiking weekend in Zion National Park which was awesome. Definitely more to come on that. Speaking of camping...

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This past Memorial Day weekend, a group of friends that we have a yearly camping tradition with decided to upgrade ourselves from camping, to cottaging. Rather than tent it out in the wilderness like cavepeople, slaving away on a weekend that is supposed to be for relaxing, and remembering, the group felt that it was time. Time for the 30+ year olds to move up the food chain and rent a cottage full with the standard camping necessities like beds, showers, hot tubs and 42" HDTVs.

We rented a little cottage up in Poynette, Wisconsin near Lake Wisconsin and immediately any regret of the decision to upgrade was long forgotten. Kirsten and I arrived first out of our group and was welcomed by the owner, Dave, who was doing some work on the cottage next door which he also (recently) owns. He was great and made us feel very welcome. He has done an incredible job fixing up the cottage to be the rental property it is today. It sits on a little river that leads into Lake Wisconsin. He really thought of everything in regards to what a seemingly well prepared group like ours would forget when camping. Cottaging 1, Camping 0.

The weather was great all weekend except for a brief period of downpour on Saturday night. That only lasted a half hour or so though so no biggie. Saturday during the day was gorgeous so the guys packed up the sticks and went golfing. It was a shorter, yet very difficult, course nearby. Cottaging 2, Camping 0. Also, we did a little fishing off the dock most of the weekend and while the "other" Derek caught numerous, I stepped up and hauled in a couple beauties like the one pictured. I think something was wrong with our camera though, because I swear this one was like ten pounds and at least a foot longer.

Sunday we went to a nearby winery called Wollersheim and went on the tour which was pretty neat. I had heard of the winery before (it's the sister winery of Cedar Creek Winery in Cedarburg) but I didn't expect it to be as nice as it was as far as the buildings, grounds, etc were concerned. At the end of the tour they of course have a tasting (Cottaging 3, Camping 0) which they picked 4-5 wines off the list to pour and talk about. Pretty standard. But then after that was done, the guide went back up to the top and went through ALL the wines they had there for anyone who wanted to try them. No explanations this time, just tasting. Pretty sweet. The winery also served as the backdrop for our group photo for the weekend. (Notice Kirsten's little belly on the far left!)

So while camping always holds a place in my heart, the cottaging weekend sure was a great time. It just provided a lot more things to do which was great. A little something for everyone. I love camping, but the cottaging trip was a fantastic time.

vacation: wine time! Day 2 and 3

Day Two: Before having a little breakfast and heading out winery hunting again we took a little walk around the town of Santa Rosa where we were staying. Santa Rosa is a great location to stay. It provides easy access to both Sonoma (15 minutes to the East) and the Russian River Valley area (15 minutes to the North) and it is about $80 cheaper per night than staying right in either of those areas. So if you're planning on visiting wine country and want to maximize winery options, Santa Rosa is a nice place to rest your head.

We started the day heading to the town of Healdsburg which is a neat little town (Cedarburg-esque for those Milwaukee area people reading). We began at Lake Sonoma Winery which is the winery whose club I (currently) belong to. I'll be canceling after my next shipment because of the new club I had joined this trip. We tried a few, purchased a few and then headed across the street to Toad Hollow which is home to one of my favorite wines out there, their Private Reserve Pinot Noir. Delicious, but at $46 per bottle, I had to just taste, and move on. I could maximize my money elsewhere, which I did throughout the weekend. I think we brought back a little over a case which has become the standard for our trips out there. Of course, my lovely wife will have to wait before enjoying any until the little one is done marinating in her belly. :)

Another place I'd like to mention is Ferrari-Cerano winery. I think it is by far the most extravagant one we visited (doesn't mean it has the best wine though!). You can see from the front page of their website that it's gorgeous. Although you can see from the picture on the right that it depends on the weather. :) Inside, the place is just ridiculous. Marble and wood (I'm sure from only the finest trees that rain forests have to offer) everywhere. It really is beautiful. Their wine was pretty good. Apparently it's been served at Presidential dinners which means either A) it's really good or B) the made a large donation to that particular President. I'm going with B.

Day Three: We spent the third day in San Francisco which was a lot of fun also. We did a lot of the touristy things like staying down by Fisherman's Warf, going to Ghirardelli Square and riding the cable cars. Not to intentionally skip out on writing about it, but it was just a nice friends day. Sightseeing and talking. I'll let the pics below do the talking.

vacation: wine time!

A few weeks ago, we took a trip out to California to wine country with our good friends Emmett and Julie, who were taking their first real vacation without their little one, and our goddaughter, Harper. It was their first trip to that area whereas it was our third. I think it's safe to say that it's become a top destination of ours!

Day One: We spent the first full day of the trip in Sonoma visiting wineries, many of which we've been to before but just can't seem to get enough of. We started the day at Ledson (pictured) which is a smaller winery who, like many out there, only sell their wine at the winery. The grounds there are awesome as you can see and the people working the tasting room are great. Their really knowledgeable and friendly. It's a very impressive place which to me covers the fact that their wine is only average. They just try to do so much. No winery can be great at making almost ALL the different variatels, I don't care who you are.

The lowlight of the day became the highlight. Kirsten, who given our news that we're going to be parents became our designated driver on the trip, belongs to the wine club of SL Cellars, a great little winery known primarily for their sparkling wines, her favorite. We noticed when we got there that the front sign had changed and, to make a long story short, found out that they joined up with a group of other smaller wineries to become Family Wineries, a co-op designed to help promote the small wineries that are too small to operate their own tasting rooms. While it appeared to take a little bit of the "coolness" away of being a part of a little winery, we were introduced to Michelle, the lady running the tasting room. Michelle was great and whereas most wineries let you taste anywhere between 5-7 wines, we left there having tried 12(!) which was awesome. I ended up joining one of their clubs which will send me 2 bottles from 3 wineries, twice a year. Should be great.

We finished up the day having dinner at a great little restaurant called "The Girl and the Fig" right on the square in Sonoma. It's a fancier restaurant who takes their food and wine pretty seriously. It was delicious again (we had eaten there during our first visit to Sonoma) and our server was really interesting. She was probably about our age, cute, but very...intense. She ran an efficient area. I think that's the best way to put it.

Next, day two....