We left Cloverdale and headed south on the 101. A quick text let Blakey know we were on our way. When she found out we were going to be passing through Santa Rosa, the call went out for “Pliny the Elder.” It is a craft beer brewed by the Russian River Brewing Company that has […]
Food
Anderson Valley
After picking up “the 1” at Leggett, just south of the Humboldt Redwoods, we headed over to the coast. Just south of Albion we turned inland again on highway 128. It was another beautiful road through another redwood forest. Eventually it opened to the Anderson Valley. The Anderson Valley is about 100 miles north of […]
Barbara, Hyla, and Al
We went to Eugene, Oregon to see Barbara, Hyla, and Alfonso. Barbara is a cousin. By pure coincidence, another cousin, Susan, was visiting from Hawaii. Ellen hadn’t seen her since childhood. I first met Barbara and Hyla when they visited us in Linden Hills several years ago. We pulled up fairly late on Saturday. It […]
Homage to the Lake Cabin
Last weekend our good friends Beth and John invited us to their family lake cabin in celebration of John’s birthday. The cabin is on Red Cedar Lake, near Birchwood, Wisconsin. We biked, boated, talked, ate, drank wine, went for pizza, and generally had an all-around good time. Truth be told, there were actually five of […]
Brat Fry Secrets Revealed
Having grown up in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, the bratwurst was a food to be revered. In the 50’s and 60’s, Sheboygan was dotted with small “craft” butchers. Their German heritage drove them to compete mercilessly at sausage-making. It is not an exaggeration to say that Sundays at around noon, the atmosphere of Sheboygan was smokey. This […]
Maplewood Meats
We often plan our trips from St. Paul to Door County with a stop at Maplewood Meats just west of Green Bay on Highway 29. To my taste (and I grew up in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, the bratwurst capital of the world), Maplewood Meats has the best brats around. Those who have had the opportunity to […]
Gruenke’s
Our visit to Bayfield provide a bunch of looking back at some of the great times we’ve had on the south shore of Lake Superior. One of our stops this trip was Gruenke’s Restaurant. To be honest, this is a place I frequented more on buddy sailing trips than with Ellen and her parents Tim, […]
Martha’s Vineyard Tourists
There comes a time when one must admit to being a tourist. Even with the sage counsel of longtime island residents, we are ultimately tourists to Martha’s Vineyard. With that in mind, Bob, Pam, Ellen, and I spent the morning and afternoon “touristing.” We started at the West Tisbury Farmer’s Market. We then proceeded to take […]
Orange Peel Bakery
As we were returning with Bob and Pam from a day of activities, we decided to check out the Orange Peel Bakery. We had passed the sign for the bakery several times already, as it is on the main drag not far from Ellie and Jack’s place. Always on the prowl for potential delicacies, this […]
Menemsha
One of the more delightful spots we have visited is Menemsha. For me, it is the first place I ever set foot on Martha’s Vineyard, several years ago when Phil M. and I sailed over in Bluejay. Bluejay tied up in Menemsha Harbor – August, 2011 This trip, we hoped to go over on […]