I Do - Chapter 5

Sunday, April 22

We said good-bye to Kristi and Gordie, checked out of Alderbrook, then headed to Bremerton to catch the ferry to Seattle.

We arrived in Woodinville early afternoon with no plans or expectations. I really think that is the best way to travel; whatever comes your way. We ended up at the Red Hook Brewery for lunch. Does it get much better than that? So many people and so many different beers, you wouldn't believe it.

We then stumbled upon the annual "Passport Day" for the local wineries.

There are approximately 85 wineries in the immediate area. Many of the wineries buy grapes from other areas in Washington and don't have an actual vineyard. Their tasting rooms are separate from where they make the wine, which means the tasting rooms are walking distance from each other in the actual town. For this particular event, about 35 wineries participate. People buy a "passport" that gets them into 35 wineries to taste wine. I would think you should probably pace yourself. There are also food vendors set up all around town. People wander the streets, going from winery to winery, with a wine glass in their hand. The first words out of my mouth: "Hey, we should move here." We didn't have a passport, so we couldn't go to 35 wineries (good thing), but we did go to a couple. It was a beautiful day, and we had a really nice relaxing afternoon.

The first winery we visited was Brian Carter Cellars. We liked their wine. The second winery we visited was Delille Cellars. We liked theirs as well. The "Other Deb" (that is what her business card said), a worker at Delille Cellars, suggested we go to Kirkland to spend the night. The really cool hotel in Woodinville had rooms for $350 a night, but we weren't willing to pay that since we were only going to spend about 12 hours in the area.

Kirkland, home of Costco, was an awesome town.  It was about 5 miles down the road from Woodinville. It had a young feel; lots of people and lots of energy. Oh, yeah, and lots of dogs. Everyone had a dog. Kirkland sits on Lake Washington (maybe). We struggled with the waterways, not knowing when one started and when one ended. Still, it sits on water, is very pretty, and appears to be fun.


We stayed at the Heathman Hotel, a few blocks off the water but still in the thick of things downtown. This particular dog was just pooped and couldn't go a a step further, let alone stand up.

We were looking for a Mexican restaurant, as we were pretty tired of clam chowder, and we needed something simple, spicy and fun. The hotel gal suggested the Cactus. What a great restaurant. I had one of the best Mexican meals of my life. It was called the Chicken Fried Chicken. It was a delicately breaded chicken breast, sitting on chipotle mashed potatoes, with a chorizo gravy. Chris had the braised brisket enchilada. What a great meal to end the trip.




On this trip, Chris and I set out to see new places; eat food that we would remember, talk about, and make our mouths water for years to come; visit breweries and wineries; and share in the joy of Dave and Marita getting married. Mission accomplished.

Tomorrow morning we start home. We are shooting for 7:00 a.m. to be on the road. You know what that means; it might be 7:00, might be 7:30, might be 8:15. Only time will tell.


"In the end, it's not going to matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away." ~ shing xiong