California Dreaming

So the end of August and first part of September, we flew to California for our second honeymoon.

In case you missed an earlier blog, we've been married 20 years.

We flew into San Diego and got a convertible mustang to drive up the coast.

I think this was the first true vacation that we took.  Something that was longer than a few days and Jim wasn't attached to a ship.  Over a week of just the two of us.

What bliss!

Of course we took the windy road up to see the Hollywood Sign.  You can't get too close.  And those sharp turns freaked me out.  Not Jim's driving, mind you, just the blind turns.

And we HAD to stop at the USS IOWA.  Years ago when we were in Rhode Island we came across the IOWA and were able to touch her hull.

I had never been to California, so I turned to all the Navy wives out there what to do.  I got a plethora of answers.  Some helpful.  Some not so much.  There's so much you can do in 7 days.

We went to Hearst Castle, because SO many people told me we should.  And it was AWESOME!  We did the basic tour.  Holy moly!  There were tons of other tours, but like I said we wanted to see other things as well.

I'm sure a few of the things I told Jim that I wanted to see surprised him, but he was a great sport.  We stopped at a Mission in Santa Barbara.  Just a quick peek around and a few pictures.

 We also visited the Winchester Mystery House.  Photography is not allowed inside so this one shot we got of the house will have to be all we take with us.

I think my favorite stop along the way was San Francisco.

We stayed in a fantastic hotel!  We rode the trolley cars (mark that off my bucket list), went to Fisherman's Wharf and had dinner there.  We also had the BEST Irish Coffee ever!  At a place called Buena Vista.  Would have never known about this if we hadn't struck up a conversation with a total stranger.  Now that was serendipity!

I honestly wish we'd had more time for San Francisco.

And I had to get a shot of the Golden Gate Bridge.  What a foggy morning that was!

We also visited The Bay Model after we crossed the bridge.  Something we had both seen on Mythbusters and thought it would be cool to actually visit.  And it was!

We went to two wineries in Sonoma County and two wineries in Napa, but that is for another blog all together!

We headed up to the Yosemite National Park area, but due to the fires we were unable to go into the park.

We did stop at the Toiyabe Motel, which a friend recommended.  So very cool!  Even though I was freaked out a bit, because we were driving further and further into forested areas and it was getting dark.  At some point we lost cell coverage.  What an adventure!

We headed back to San Diego a few days before we were going to fly back home.  We thought it would be a good way to decompress and maybe wander a bit more.

We strolled past the Hotel Del.  Never went in though.  Ate yummy food.  And just drove around a lot.

All in all a great trip!

And I would so do it again!

Military Appreciation Night

Taking the oath

On August 10th we attended a Tides Game.  Happy coincidence?  It was also Military Appreciation Night!

We actually got a Luxury Suite in order to celebrate our 20th anniversary.  Our anniversary is actually the 13th, but that's a week day and we wanted to share this experience with our friends.

First pitch

This was something we'd been wanting to do for quite a while.  Even funnier is that most of our friends that came are military as well.  No surprise there right?

So we got to witness people taking their oath to join the military, the Navy band performing and military throwing out the first pitch.  And to top off the awesomeness of the evening?  Fireworks!!!

So we got our own box with a balcony, which was great.  We could sit in air conditioning or sit out on the balcony and enjoy the game.  It had rained earlier that day so it did get kind of muggy.  Something you may notice with a few of the photos I took.  Foggy lens.

Plus we ordered food and beer so that no one was hungry.  Hot dogs, popcorn, nachos and cookies.

YUM!

And don't forget the yummy beer!

It was a great combination of people.  And we were so glad that they could come out and celebrate with us!

 Some knew each other from other groups that I'm in or they lived next to us or they work with Jim.  So we felt it was a great mix!

Wow that was a bit of a ramble there wasn't it?

Good food.  I don't think anyone walked away hungry.

Good drinks.  And no one drove under the influence.  We are responsible people!

Silly Jim with buddy Terri

Sweet Caroline...  dum dum dum

Good company.  The best company.

And a great game!

Who could ask for more?

 And of course there were a few of us who had had enough to drink to sing along with some of the songs the ball field played.

And the game ended with a fantastic display of fireworks.

We were definitely pleased with the way this evening went.

So much so that we just may do it again next year some time.

And just so you can see how happy we were I've added a photo that a pal of ours snapped for me that night.

Bonus photo!  The happy couple!

Mariner's Museum

Ring the bell!

So during our Yorktown Battlefield tour we decided it was just too beautiful to head home.  So we decided to head to the Mariner's Museum in Newport News.

Restoration in progress

Neither one of us had been to it before and I had heard a lot of great things about it.

They have pieces of the USS Monitor there that they are restoring.  How cool is that?  You can actually see the restoration in progress with explanations.

Which I actually found pretty cool.  I'm a geek.  I admit it.

I'm starting to get excited about history.

Can you find me?

They have a really good replica of the USS Monitor.  You can walk aboard to get a feel for the size.  You can also walk below it to see the propeller and hull.

Ship Outline

I thought it was pretty cool.

 They have a really good set up of displays.  The outline of how the ship looked is really neat to look at.  I was glad to get a shot.  I'm never sure with the lighting that they had.  It was kind of dark and I wasn't sure if the outline would truly show up.

But I think the definition on this is really good.

Replica of interior of turret

Kinda creepy when you think about it.

That's how it looked when they came across it.

Gives me chills just thinking about it.

 All in all it is SO worth the price of admission.

Yorktown Battlefield

I can see you.  Can you see me?

Let's face it.  I'm not the historian in the family.  That's totally on Jim.

But on July 6th we decided to do a driving tour of the Yorktown Battlefield.

It was a gorgeous day, so we took the top down on the Miata and drove it.

Any excuse to drive with the top down in the Miata.

A good friend loaned us the CD to play while driving through the route.  Thanks Christina!!  It was an informative and entertaining CD.  And that's a tough one for me.  I get bored very easily.  So I was impressed that the CD kept me involved.

There were plenty of people out and about to enjoy this beautiful day.  And I could not blame them.

While we were there we decided to get the pass that gets us into National Parks across the US.  I can see this being a very useful thing for us in the future.

All in all a very nice day.

No Excuse

So I realized that I have been extremely lax in my blogging.

I could blame it on my other blog, but I was ignoring it as well.

*sigh*

So I will be playing catch up.

Not that we've done tons of stuff, but we haven't been stagnant!

Bear with me.

A Tasting We Will Go

On the 23rd we met up with our friends, Jeff and Ruth, and went to a few wineries.  And you know me...  I love to go and explore wineries.  I just wish we could have gotten maybe one more, but time didn't allow.  Maybe next time.

Bear with me as it's been almost 5 days or so since I did these tastings and have only my notes to go by.  *sigh*  But I was much too tired when we finally got home to actually blog on this and lets face it I've been lax about blogging.  Oh and in case you hadn't figured it out...  This is going to be a long blog!

Our first stop was Mediterranean Cellars.  We had been there many years ago and were pleased to see how busy it was this Sunday afternoon.  They have 3 different tastings, but you can only do 2 of them. Which I can completely understand.  I did 2 of them while Ruth and Jim only did the 1.  So lets get on to the good parts...  The tasting!

The first was a Chardonnay.  It was released 3 weeks ago.  100% Chardonnay and done in steel and oak.  I'm not a bit fan of this wine, but it was okay.

Next the Vidal Blanc.  100% Vidal Blanc.  Done in steel with just a tiny bit of oak.  It was okay but it tasted a bit young and I think with a bit more aging it might be really good.

Bellview Blanc has Vidal Blanc in it , but I have no idea on the percentage.  The wine maker is a bit of a mad scientist (which I LOVE!) and doesn't always tell his blends.  It was done in American oak.  I really wasn't a fan of this one.

Rechina.  Okay I deviated from Ruth and Jim's tasting here.  I was tart and had a nice bite to it.  This was the 2006.  I liked it so much that I bought a bottle.  I let Jeff try it and since he seemed to like it I got him a bottle as well.

Viognier.  This was a March release.  100% Viognier and done in stainless and oak.  This is a wine you will find in most wineries.  It had a touch of sweetness to it.  I didn't really care for it.

Martina's Rose.  Wish I knew how to put the little symbol over the 'e'.  Most places do that to make it sound elegant., but only a true dry should have it.  It's a pet peeve of mine.  This was dry!  Hooray.  It was tart and very nice.  I let Jim sample this and he liked it as well.  I left with a bottle of this.

Calypso was 100% Chambourcin.  If I remember correctly (and I might be wrong) it was a rose as well.  I found it to be a bit fruity with almost a sparkle/effervescent sort of finish.  Not a fan.

On to the serious reds!

Chambourcin was done in French oak and is 100% Chambourcin.  It was slightly dry with a touch of smoke.  Sadly to me, it had a bit of a sour after taste.

Cabernet Franc, another popular wine among Virginia wineries.  I got dry violets in the bouquet as well as fresh cut grass and charcoal grill smoke.  It's 100% Cabernet Franc and was aged in French oak.

Cabernet Sauvignon, this was 2007.  It was aged 2 years in French oak.  It was nice and dry with just a slight pucker.  I tend to really love this wine.

Romance is god chilled or at room temperature.  It was light and dry, but slightly sweet.  Okay, but not a big fan of it though.

Sweet Lucia is named after the wine makers mother.  This is a white dessert wine that is EXTREMELY sweet.

Marterella Winery was our second stop since it is right across the street from Mediterranean Cellars.  I would give a website, but am unable to find one at this time.  I did the 2 tastings while Ruth did 1.  What can I say when I do a tasting I want to try everything that a winery has to offer.  We had been here as well (a number of years ago) and I was glad to see a major improvement in their wines!

Pinot Grigio 2010 was nice and tart.  Made in stainless steel, which I LOVE, it hand notes of green apple in it.  I shared with Jim, because he is also a big fan of Pinot Grigio.  I left with a bottle of this.

Vidal Blanc 2010  was a nice refreshing white with a nice citrus finish.

Viognier 2009 is what they call the 'Tommy Bahama' wine.  It was very milk and light, even though they say it has a medium body.  It was all done in stainless steel.  I wasn't a major fan.  Although I do enjoy whites done in stainless steel.

Chardonnay 2008 is their 'everyday' wine.  I found it to be fruity.  I was done in stainless steel with a finish in oak.  Nice!  Even though I'm not a Chardonnay fan, I could see drinking this.

Barrel Select Chardonnay 2009 was done in 100% French oak.  So it was nice and oaky.  And definitely not my sort of thing.  I don't like lots of oak in my whites.

Heritage Dry Rose 2010 is aged in stainless steel and is a nice dry Merlot.  There is a LOT of Merlot taste in this.  And as many people know I really can't drink Merlot (gives me a big, honking headache). However, this is a REALLY nice sipping wine.  And yes, I shared with Jim.

Rosalie Rose 2011 is a semi-sweet Merlot, that is done in stainless steel.  It is very sweet to me.  I can smell the strawberry in it.  So this is really not the wine for me.

Merlot 2008 was aged 12 months in French oak.  I found it to be light with a slight bit of fruit to it.  As mentioned before I'm not a big Merlot fan.  A side note, this was noted as Estate grown.  So the grapes came from the winery itself.

Cabernet Franc 2009 aged in French oak for 12 months.  It's also noted that these grapes were Estate grown.  I think it's always good to know when the grapes come from the winery itself.  Especially a smaller winery.  I got green peppers on the nose.  I found it to be smooth and light with a spicy finish.  I know that sounds a bit odd, but it's what I got.

Sangiovese 2010 was aged 24 months in American oak.  I love a good Sangiovese, so of course I shared it with Jim.  It was smoky, dry and quite nice.

Meritage 2009 is a blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Verdot and Merlot.  It's aged for 27 months in both American and French oak.  It was dry and smooth.  They said it would be a good companion to a good cigar.  I can see that.

Grace 2011 is a Vidal Blanc and Riesling blend that is aged in stainless steel.  Don't be fooled this is a dessert wine.  it is 4.3% residual sugar.  I thought it was nice and would go well with a sharp cheese and apples.

Sweet Nothings 2010 is a Chambourcin that has flavors of raspberry when you pair it with chocolate.  It is also 4.3% residual sugar.

They also served Vino Frappachinos.  I didn't get to try any, but Ruth did.  Sadly, they were out of mixes so we couldn't buy any.

Our third stop for the day was Pearmund Cellars.  Another winery we had been to in the past.  I love how much information that they give you in the tasting sheets.  I won't bore you with all of it, but they tell you where the grapes came from, the alcohol content, how it was aged and the residual sugar.  How awesome is that?

2012 Petit Manseng is 100% of this grape.  I'm used to this as a dessert wine, so it was a nice surprise.  No residual sugar to it.  Done in stainless steel.  It was dry with a bit of fruit to it.

2012 Riesling is done in stainless steel and has only .5% residual sugar.  It was crisp, peachy and slightly sweet.

2011 Viognier is aged in stainless steel with the last few months in barrels of acacia wood.  I'd never heard of that, so I thought I would pass it along.  It was floral on the nose and had a honeysuckle taste on the end.

2010 Old Vine Chardonnay was aged 8 months  in French oak.  it was very oaky.  I was not a fan due to the oaky factor.

2010 Merlot was aged 9 months in American oak.  I found it to be light with a bit of smoke to it.  It was very oaky though.

2010 Cabernet Franc was aged 9 months in American oak.  There was a hint of smokiness, while it had a bit of tartness (in a good way) and spice.  It was a bit oaky for me.

2010 Cabernet Sauvignon was aged 12 months in American oak.  It was light and nice and smooth.

2010 Ameritage Reserve is equal portions of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.  Aged 14 months in American oak.  This is a full-bodied and hearty red.  Nice and smooth.  I had to have a bottle of this.

2010 Petit Verdot seemed a bit green to me.  I think it might age nicely.  It was aged 14 months in American and Hungarian oak.  It was nice though.

2007 Collaboration is a Washing state blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 8% Malbec and 8% Cabernet Franc.  It has nice soft tannins.  It's light and nice.

2010 Late Harvest Petit Manseng is harvested at 29 Brix and bottled with 6% residual sugar.  It's aged in French oak for 9 months.  This is what I think of when I hear Petit Manseng.  Very sweet with a honeysuckle finish.

2011 Late Harvest Traminette is aged 9 months in Acacia.  It's harvested at 29 Brix and is 6% residual sugar.  It seems thicker.  Better in fact.  Have a vanilla flavor to it.

I did learn that the winery is on the market for $5 million.  So if you're looking to get me something for Christmas you can keep this in mind.  ;-)

La Grange Winery was the final stop for the day.  It is also owned by Chris Pearmund and he sold 75% of his winery to a Chinese firm in January.  The tasting notes here are fairly well put together and I only needed to make a few short notes of my own.

2012 Rose is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.  It's done in stainless steel with a short soaking.  It's a dark white.  Light in color and flavor.  I wasn't terribly impressed.

2010 Fletcher's Chardonnay is 100% Chardonnay that is done in French oak.  It had a nice body and flavors of pear.  Quite nice.

2010 Viognier is 100% Viognier done in Hungarian oak.  Why do they always feel the need to do this in oak?  There is a honeysuckle smell and is velvety in the mouth.  Smooth, even if I'm not an oak fan.

2011 Cuvee Blanc is 40% Traminette, 30% Vidal Blanc, 20% Viognier and 10% Riesling.  It's done in stainless steel and has a floral smell to it.  It was citrusy with a honey end to it.  Not bad.

2012 Cuvee Blanc is 40% Traminette, 30% Vidal Blanc and 30% Seyval that is done in stainless steel.  It is slightly sweet.  About 1.2% residual sugar if I'm reading this right.  But nice with a peach sort of flavor to it.

The 2012 Traminette was only for people who had wine membership.  So not for me!

2011 Norton is 100% Norton done in American oak.  It is very dry and oaky.  Not really a fan of this one.

2011 Merlot is 100% Merlot and done in American oak.  It was smooth.  I got a hint of cedar off it.  Which seemed VERY odd to me.  The tannins seemed nice though.

2011 Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that was done in New American oak.  This was smooth but seemed a bit green to me.  I think it will age well.

2010 Tannat is 100% Tannat (I'm seeing the trend here) and done in American and French oak.  It was dry and had a pepper finish.

Generals Battlefield was also only for people who had wine club membership.  I however, was not  about to purchase a membership just to try 2 additional wines.

2012 Bennonis Red Blend is Chambourcin and Mouvedre Syrah blend that is aged in American and Hungarian oak.  There was a slight sweetness to it.  I was not a fan.

NV Snort is a blend of Petit Verdot, Tannat, Touriga Nacional and Tinta Cao (never heard of this one).  It's done in American and French oak.  It is 8% residual sugar.  More like a port.  It had the dark fruit and chocolate smell to it.  Not a big fan of this either.

Afterwards, we sat out on the patio and enjoyed some of the treats that they had available.  Very nice.

Harborfest

The Godspeed

So on June 9th we went to the Harborfest.  There was concern that Harborfest would be cancelled due to the weather.  Nasty stuff coming up.  They did make alternative plans, but luckily they really didn't need them.  The parade of sail was, unfortunately, canceled.

Balloons!

We decided to head out and check out what was going on there on Sunday.

The weather was beautiful.  Once again we drove Jim's Miata with the top down.  So pretty!

The learning barge was there as well as games, food, vendors and other activities.  I just had to snap the photo of the woman in the balloon gown.  Lady Gaga you need to check your wardrobe and see if you can do better.  LOL

Of course we checked out the tall ships.  I particularly liked the Kalmar Nykl.  Bright and colorful!  So it was really easy to see the wonderful detail.

I mean check out how colorful the back end of the ship is!  I think we really could have spent quite a lot of time just checking out all the detail work.  So much easier to see it all the wonderful detail.  Loved it!

I'm not sure if the faces are great or if they creep me out though.  I'm thinking they creep me out.  I mean really who wants all those faces staring at you?

Froggy Rowboat

And I love the red lion!  How ferocious!  There is no missing that what so ever!  I have to say there is something very bold about this ship.

And I had to get a picture of the frog row boat.  I'm not sure what sort of competition this was, but I honestly hope that this boat won.  Because it is all sorts of awesome!
 And of course we had to grab this quick shot of the Landshark Mobile.

Great fun!

Catching Up: May

The moat!

So in May we traveled to Hampton to visit Fort Monroe and the Casemate Museum.  We'd never really gone there before.  Why I have no idea.  But it was a lovely day so we jumped in Jim's Miata and drove there with the top down.

Oh the glorious weather!!!

Gun line

Why have we not explored more of the area that we live in?  There is so much history in this area!

It was really interesting to walk around the fort, especially when you realize that you're walking on roof tops.  Isn't that a kick?  And who doesn't love a moat?  How very kick ass!  Love it!

Gun Ports

I'm not the history buff.  That's Jim's department.  However, I found it to be very interesting.  Jefferson Davis was held there!

I have a friend that works there, but as it was a weekend I knew she wouldn't be there.

And of course no trip is complete with goofy pictures of the two of us.  I mean seriously do you think we can act like adults the whole time?

No!

Goofy Jim

Silly Michelle

Catching Up: January Part 2

So in January our buddy, Phil McKenney, had an art exhibition entitled "Abstracted Action: Works by Phil McKenney" at the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in Portsmouth, Virginia.  We were lucky enough to get to catch up with him on opening night.  We even saw Lee Duckworth, an educator at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum.  Another gentleman I have the pleasure of working with.

It was a wonderful event and Phil's artwork was lovely.  As always.

Catching Up: January Part 1

Traveling is so tiring.

So now I'm going to play catch up with the things we've been up to since this is 'our' blog.  Even though I'm the only one who seems to post here.  Oh well!  Bear with me.

In January, Jim & I drove back to IL to visit family.  We brought our little dog with us.  She is in no way a good car dog.  So we got doggie Valium and ginger snap cookies.  Darby LOVED the cookies and they seemed to help since she didn't get car sick once.  We did learn that too many of these cookies can make Darby a hyper puppy.  She really didn't want to go to sleep at the end of the day.

We were able to surprise my parents.  I told my brother, but no one else.  I needed him to keep my dad from leaving for any long periods of time.  We weren't going to be staying for more than a few days so we didn't want to alert our entire family.  We feared feelings would get hurt.

So if we didn't see you while we were home, our apologies.

Jim's mom managed to figure out we were in the area because Jim kept texting her.  *sigh*

Darby discovered that she LOVES crunchy IL snow!  I spent a large chunk of time taking her out to do 'business'.  Which was really just her finding new areas to stomp around in.  Silly dog!  I can understand though, because the snow here is wet and mushy.  Not nearly as fun.

So a large part of Jim's family showed up at his grandma's house.  Not what we had really intended, but once word got out everyone wanted to see Jim.  He hadn't been back to the area in something like 4 years, so they all wanted to visit.

Jim's grandma isn't a huge pet person, but was kind enough to allow Darby to stay in the house.  It was really appreciated!  And Darby was pretty well behaved.  It was a bit overwhelming for her.  I mean it was a new place and there were lots of new people in the area.  And children.  Something she is really not used to.

And Jim's cousins fell in love with the little dog.  They wanted to carry her everywhere.  So Darby fell in love.  LOL

And of course they were camera crazy.  I myself did not have my camera on me.  Most of these photos came from my iPhone.  However, they were kind enough to share photos with me.  I guess when you only go back to a certain area every few years people are bound to go a bit crazy with the photo taking.  And if you know me, you know I was dodging those photo snappers like crazy.  The paparazzi can be so tiring.  LOL

And of course there were all sorts of line ups and groupings that HAD to be done.  Which can cause me to get very cranky.  So of course I'll add the shot of us with Jim's mom and her husband.

Darby also did pretty well in the hotel (dog friendly) that we stayed in.  Although it was a bit disconcerting for her to hear people in the hallway.  So she did bark and growl a bit when she heard them in the hallway.  And she LOVED the king size bed.  So did we.

And in case you didn't notice...

Official Luggage Checker

Pumpkin really missed us and felt the need to sniff and examine our luggage once we got home.

Apparently we passed the Pumpkin inspection.  All was well, except for the cold I caught from someone.