Dallas Treats: Scardello and Rise No. 1

Since the Chihuly exhibit at the Dallas Arboretum (see previous post) took only one morning, we spent a pleasant day sampling some fabulous Dallas food.

Scardello Artisan Cheese @scardellocheese has won the “best cheese shop” award for the past two years from Dallas Magazine, a well-deserved honor. 

Their cheese case includes around 150 varieties from Texas, US, and around the world. The friendly staff will offer you samples of anything, and he’ll put the label next to it so you can read about what you’re trying. (If you really want to annoy him, and I did, keep taking the small piece of waxed paper and wadding it up between tastings.) They’ll cut any size you want, even off the wheel.

Labels include the cheese’s name, type of milk, its maker, and a brief description. Just tell them what you like (“funky,” “your best blue”), and they’ll make a recommendation (along with a wine pairing to complement your selection).

They host wine tastings, beer and cheese pairings, and other events throughout the month. In fact, this weekend, our local friends from Ranger Creek @rangercreek will pair their La Bestia with a Gruyere.

Grab a loaf of crusty bread, some choices from their charcuterie, and a few brownies from Oh Brownie @ohbrownie (try the gourmet sea salt and caramel) to complete your meal.

We would have eaten lunch there, but we had reservations at Rise @risesouffle, a floating-away-good soufflé restaurant on Lovers Lane.

 

Styled after a French bistro, the menu includes traditional French appetizers, salads, and cheese, in addition to their ethereal soufflés. Play some Scrabble on the table while you await your appetizers.

Bruce’s artichoke Andrée (served steamed with “Hedda’s family sauce”) was earthy, and the creamy sauce nicely offset the leaves. He ate all the tender inner leaves, which got tougher as he moved outward.

Soupe a l’oignon grantinée? Yes please! This onion soup had a marvelous depth of flavor from the caramelized onions and would hold up just fine in France.

Their entrée soufflés run the gamut from traditional (like my jambon and Gruyere) to the more adventurous. Bruce’s salty and garlicky esgargot soufflé arrived on a traditional escargot dish. All of them were lick-your-bowl delicious. My sister worried that my ten-year-old nephew would wolf down their shared soufflé while she took the five-year-old for a potty break.

Your server will recommend that you order your dessert in advance, since soufflés do take time (and they’re all cooked to order). Our table communally devoured (hey, we’re family) soufflés of chocolate, raspberry, and a seasonal pumpkin selection.

Remember that soufflés take time to prepare. Summon your inner Frenchman and relax and enjoy the wait.

Tips for a Successful Wine Tour

The wines of 4.0 Winery

Looking for a fun day trip, regardless of the weather? Try the Texas Hill Country Wine Trail!  @texaswinetrail 

 

Some lessons we’ve learned while leading tours for our friends: 

• Save your nose: Don’t wear perfumes or other strong scents. “If you do not smell a wine…very little information goes to the brain, and not surprisingly, you have trouble deciding what the wine tastes like,” writes Karen MacNeil in The Wine Bible. I want to smell my wine, not the trendy fragrance your cousin Martha just brought back from France. Strong colognes impede that sense and annoy others. 
• Breakfast and hydration: Eat a filling breakfast, and bring water to stay hydrated between tastings. 

Our group at 4.0 Winery

• Always bring a cooler: Heat and wine do not play well in the same sandbox. Why spend all that money on a nice bottle of wine, only to allow a hot car interior to destroy it? 
• Plan your route to minimize driving: While you can enjoy the beautiful rolling scenery of the Hill Country, the goal is to taste and compare wines. Use online resources (like the Texas Hill Country Wine Trail map, see link above, or CatchWine) to plan an efficient route. We target four to six wineries but stay flexible to meet the needs of the group.

 

Monarch migration season at Messina Hof

• What’s for lunch: Our group packs a cold lunch and stops at a winery for a picnic. Ask the staff if you can use their seating area; some wineries are more hospitable than others. TABC rules require that you consume only that winery’s products on their premises, so no opening bottles from down the road. If you stop at a Texas state park, they mean it when they say “no public consumption of alcohol.” Small town restaurants offer another dining option.
• Dealing with crowds: Buses and limos lurk in winery parking lots, which means a big group (or two) has beaten you to the tasting bar. The Texas Hill Country Wine Trail attracts over 5 million visitors annually, and sometimes, you’ll swear all of them are there on your afternoon. Many wineries increase their staff on weekends to accommodate these large groups. However, on our recent tour, Mendelbaum Winery had only two staff scrambling to serve over 40 people. We waited nearly an hour, and half our group never tasted. If you notice an overtaxed staff or too-crowded tasting bar, move on to your next location before the rest of the crowd does.

Pouring a sample at Hilmy Cellars

• It’s OK if you don’t like one: All wineries provide dump buckets, and no one takes offense if you jettison a sample. Life is too short to drink a wine you don’t enjoy.
• Buy local: Ask which wines you can get only at the winery…and buy them! You can always get that Becker Viognier at H-E-B. Support local business!
• Designate a driver: All those little tastes add up (not to mention the glass of wine with lunch). Designate a driver who’s responsible enough to know when it’s time to stop tasting.

Many thanks to Four Point Winery @fourpointwine , Messina Hof Hill Country , Hilmy Cellars  and others for a fun Saturday. I hope you’ll visit one of the Texas Wine Trails very soon!

Meet the New Spec’s!

Growing up in Houston, I saw Spec’s (@specs1962) liquor stores (with their bespectacled rabbit logo) all over town. The same Houston family has owned and operated the chain since 1962. They opened their first San Antonio store about a year ago at IH-35 and Loop 1604, but wow, what a pain it is to get to. But their newest store opened nearby….in the old Conn’s building at DeZavala and Vance Jackson (on the northwest corner).

They have many neatly aligned rows full of a wide-ranging wine selection. Spirits, too, of course. They arrange their beer selection by state so you can try some non-local brews. As with most of their stores, this location also has finer foods (including Bruce’s favorite German coffee, difficult to find in these parts), a humidor, and a cheese case (Central Market offers a better selection, though). I made a mental note for entertaining—they have the best barware section I’ve seen in town and lots (and *lots*) of Riedel glassware, including some gorgeous, sinuous decanters I’ve never seen elsewhere. And some fun items too (like Angry Birds gummies).

To my surprise, I found a deli at the back of the store (there’s a small seating area up front). They serve made-to-order burgers, sandwiches, and salads, with several selections for vegetarians. The turkey we sampled tasted smoky and tender.

Conn’s occupied a large space, so the new Spec’s feels open and airy, despite the vast selection available.

They offer a 5% discount if you pay with cash, so stop by the ATM before you visit.

Wildflowers, Wildfires and Wineries

On a sunny Saturday, we set out to visit some wineries further afield, in and around Brenham. Along the way, we explored the devastation at Bastrop State Park and this year’s amazing wildflowers in Central Texas. I posted a short video on my YouTube channel.

Last year’s drought produced some horrific wildfires, one of the most destructive burning in and around Bastrop. Much of Bastrop State Park remains closed, but we were surprised to find open camping areas and a nearly unscathed golf course. Make no mistake….the park is devastated and will take years to recover. But we saw many groups of campers, and several other areas reopen on April 13. The smell of smoke, even months afterwards, wafts through the air; the blackened trees stand starkly against the bright blue sky.

Next, we made our way toward Brenham, awed by the many gorgeous fields of wildflowers along the way. (Can anyone tell me what that orange-pinkish one is?) No, we didn’t stop at Blue Bell, since we had visited previously, but I highly recommend it.

Our first stop was Saddlehorn Winery (@saddlehornwnry) just outside Burton. The owners renovated a horse barn into a spacious and pleasant tasting room. Their winery is well situated to view the rolling hills of central Texas and many nearby fields of wildflowers. We enjoyed their wines the best of all our visits. The Blanc du Bois, our favorite, is a crisp, dry white that we enjoyed with our picnic lunch.

Next stop: Windy Winery, near the Brenham Airport. Their wines were too sweet and simplistic for our tastes, and the older couple who own the winery really needed some extra help in their smallish tasting room.

Pleasant Hill Winery was hosting a craft fair and dog adoption event, in addition to their tours/tastings, making for a crowded and noisy space. Unfortunately, we couldn’t taste their wares. They pair a tour with tasting; if you don’t want the tour (and we didn’t), you must wait for the half-hour for a tasting only. Since we arrived at ten after and the room was shoulder-to-shoulder, we demurred and moved on.

Our final stop on the way home was Rohan Meadery, just outside La Grange. Having already mentioned that another vineyard’s wines were too sweet, we nevertheless wanted to give this out-of-the-ordinary spot a try. And we’re glad we did! Yes, they were sweet, but not overpoweringly so, and they were all very well crafted, with both subtle and overt flavors such as pear and lavender. Bruce is looking forward to creating a martini with the bottle of Cranberry Honeywine.

Important travel warning: we drove south on SR 237 to get from Brenham to La Grange. This normally placid back road bisects the wee town of Round Top….which, unfortunately for us, was hosting its twice-annual Antiques Fair. (The meadery owner said it was the biggest in the world, and I do not doubt that one bit.) A normal twenty minute traverse turned into an hour-long, put-it-in-park ordeal. If you plan such a trip, I would recommend visiting their website to determine dates. And understand that while the fair “officially” starts and ends on the stated dates, the vendors (and customers) show up at least a week before; I wouldn’t want to chance it the week after either.

A New Addition to the Hwy 290 Wine Trail: Messina Hof

On our most recent wine tour with friends Tom and Mary, driver (and hubby) Bruce spied a billboard for Pedernales Falls Winery that provided needed directions. Simultaneously, Tom and I both shouted, “Messina Hof!?!” (@messina_hof #mhhillcountry ) Bruce was baffled; “it’s just a billboard” he thought. “TURN AROUND!” we both told him. “There’s a Messina Hof back there!”  So turn back he did. (We visited Pedernales, one of our favorites, later that day.)

We discovered that it didn’t open for another half-hour, so we planned to visit Pedernales, then come back. As we walked back to our car, general manager Steve Warren popped his head out and said, “We’ll open early for you!” in his gentle Texas drawl. He didn’t have to ask twice.

We adore Messina Hof’s wines, but even for us Aggies, their main location in Bryan puts it out of range for a day wine trip from San Antonio. So we were ecstatic to find a new, nearby location.  With the Texas Hill Country ranking as the second most visited wine region in the US (behind Napa), owner Paul Bonarrigo executed a genius business move by opening here.

They opened three months ago, and it’s clear from the site that they have further building plans. Four small B&B cabins sit out back (pictured at right), and they soon begin work on their on-site winery building. Once spring rolls around, some landscaping will make the place even more inviting. They just planted their first vines (Lenoir).

Five tastes and a souvenir wine glass cost $5—a tough decision with 45 to choose from. I focused on whites, while Bruce tried a variety of their excellent ports. The aromas of French oak permeated the rich and buttery chardonnay. The Beau (a blend of shiraz and muscato) is fruity and light, a perfect summer sipping wine.  With the exception of their sparkling wines, all their grapes come from Texas (at this location; not in Bryan).

Their large tasting room features two tasting bars and a small seating area. They also have a special events room available for reservation.

Messina Hof is known for their ports; unfortunately, neither Tom nor I enjoy ports or sherries. But Steve (that's him on the left) was persistent. He insisted that we both try the Solera sherry. We were both floored (and both came home with a bottle or two). I have rarely tasted a wine with so many complex flavors—vanilla, cherry, almond, creamy, and some chocolate. It was quite simply amazing.

You will definitely want to plan a visit soon to this new addition.

The New Twin Liquors Marketplace

Twin Liquors recently opened its newest Marketplace in the old Conn’s building (on the west side of 281 between Bitters and Nakoma). This impressive 15,000-square foot store provides an excellent selection of beer, wine, liquor, cigars, and barkeeping tools and accessories.

We began shopping at the Twin Liquors at the Alon Center when it opened a few months ago. Their pricing can’t be beat; on most items, “case pricing” applies if you buy two of any item. They also have weekend specials .The staff at both locations is very friendly and helpful, without being intrusive.

The large, open entry area at the Marketplace invites you in; on the first visit, it’s difficult to know where to start browsing. (Oddly, both stores, the Marketplace and Alon, smell of insecticide.) The many racks of wine line up smartly in straight rows, like a squad of marching Marines.



The humidor stocks a wide variety of cigars, as well as premium scotches (arranged on high shelves to prevent accidental breakage). I can’t abide cigarettes, but the aromas of cigar and pipe tobacco take me back to my grandfather’s house. The Marketplace hosts “Wine 101” classes in their spacious classroom (separated by a glass wall) on the first and third Wednesdays of the month from 6:30-8:00. On Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 3:00-8:00, they sample a variety of wines and liquors at their tasting bar (which even has a little seating area).

They stock “fine wines” (roughly $75/bottle and up) in a glassed-off room at the right rear of the store. Their current selection is a little thin (especially from France), but they plan to add more. Frankly, we just can’t see spending several hundred dollars on one bottle of wine or scotch, I don’t care how rare or divine it is.

Some up-front displays of Texas liquors would be a nice addition. Ranger Creek .36 anyone?

The building holds an additional 7,000-sf of storage, and they plan to open wholesale operations after the first of the year.

I always like to see a big, long-vacant building claim a new tenant. Driving by the near-deserted Olmos Creek Center (NW Military and Huebner, where the old H-E-B used to be) is just a bit depressing.

I highly recommend a stop at the Marketplace!

Finishing Off the Hill Country Wine Trail (Part 2)

Our next stops on Saturday: Pillar Bluff and Texas Legato. They share the land, but not the vines. The winemakers are twin brothers, but the wines were vastly different. The staffs at both tasting rooms were very friendly, even more so than most tasting room staff. We enjoyed the chenin blanc and Founders red at Pillar, and the Family Reunion at Legato. We also had a delicious wine slushy at Pillar Bluff and brought back the mix for our next party. Texas Legato served some Ghiardelli brownies made with their port (instead of water); a definite "must-try" for our next gathering. Yum!

On the way to our next stop, we discovered an unlisted vineyard, Fiesta Winery (on FM 580 outside of Lampasas; tasting room is pictured). Only open 9 months, they serve several varieties flavored with different syrups. "It's differ'nt than ev'body else," said winemaker Stephen Baxter, sounding (and looking) just like my dad. "It's our niche." I am not normally a sweet wine fan, but these were not overpowering and very tasty. I'm sure they'll appear on the wine map soon.

Last stop of the day was Alamosa Wine Cellars, just outside San Saba; we brought home some El Guapo (a red) and Scissortail (a white).

We enjoyed a terrific Texas diner dinner at Blue Bonnet Cafe in Marble Falls. I even got a piece of pie (chocolate meringue); desserts are unusual for me. If you haven't made a stop there, you need to rectify this error post-haste.



On Sunday, we booked passage on the Vanishing River Cruise on Lake Buchanan. I worried a bit about the lake level. Turns out that they can't do their signature cruise (Canyon of the Eagles and waterfalls), but we got a cool tour of a normally submerged old town. We packed our own lunch (no wine allowed, unfortunately), and set off.

When the dam was built in 1937, the old town of Bluffton was relocated. From 1937-2007, the old town only reappeared four times. From 2007 until now, it has appeared three times. Any doubt we're in a prolonged drought?

Even all these years later, a casual walk on the sandbar reveals many "found" items (pictured). 75 years underwater washed all the color out of the stone foundations and any metal, so any flash of color—blue glass, green pottery, shoe parts—stands out immediately. Bruce and I found an old pulley and an iron bolt of some kind. It's nearly impossible to imagine such a move in this day and age; can you imagine the lawsuits? Another advantage of a river cruise: no dust. Any time a breeze blew up on land, a teaspoon of grit landed in my contacts-laden eyes. Not fun.




Our last stop before heading home was Perissos Winery, near Inks Lake State Park. The owner is an architect, and the grounds and working tasting room show it....everything neatly in its place. He even labels his vines (pictured).

I said at the beginning that this "finishes" the Texas hill country wine trail, but that's probably untrue, as Fiesta Winery showed. My guess is that one or two new ones open each year.

I highly recommend a visit to this northern region. You can do the trip in one day from San Antonio, but it made for a much more relaxing, restful, and enjoyable weekend staying in the area.

Finishing Off the Hill Country Wine Trail (Part 1)

Over the past several years, we've visited nearly all of the wineries on the Texas Hill Country Wine Trail. But we never could quite make the ones on the northern-most edge of the tour; just too far for a day trip. So we took a long weekend to complete the circuit.

Bruce found us a lovely old B&B in Burnet (the Airy Mount Inn), where we stayed in a coverted farmhouse. Unfortunately, the nappy carpet in our second floor room harbored flocks of sticker-burrs, like little pebbles with thumbtacks pointed straight up. After one punctured my heel, I deployed shoes. We figure a small, annoying, long-haired dog (say, a shih-tzu) paid a previous visit, rolled around in the dessicated grass outside, then came in and shed stickers like comet dust. Other than that, we found the inn quiet, comfortable, and private.

On the way up, we stopped by our favorite Hill Country winery, Flat Creek Estate. It's about half an hour outside of Marble Falls (a two-hour drive from our house). So we don't get here on most of our day trips with friends. We arrived at 11:00 so we could try their new bistro (Friday-Sunday 11:00 am-4:00 pm).

Chef Sean Fulford's full menu includes both lunch and brunch items. We ate our meal in a very pastoral setting, overlooking the well-stocked kitchen garden and watching a couple of hummingbirds having a snack just outside the window. My grilled cheese was rich, buttery, and tasty, and I am certain that the lettuce was in the ground not a half hour before. Bruce's quail (pictured above) featured mustard seed flowers and a balsamic reduction.

After lunch, we meandered down to the tasting room. We love all their wines, particularly the Super Texan and their almond sparkling wine. I am not a "super-taster" and usually can't accurately describe flavors like "black cherry" or "tobacco." I just know what I like. I recommend visiting their websites and letting their experts describe the wine.

Two other wine tour recommendations:

• Take a cooler, especially in the summer. Despite growing well in it, wine does not like Texas heat. You do not want to spend your hard-earned dollars purchasing several bottles, then pouring them down the drain at home because they were overheated in the car.


• More and more stores (especially Central Market and Gabriel's Liquors) are carrying Texas wines....a good thing. So find out from the tasting room staff which wines they only sell at the winery. Concentrate your purchases on these varieties.

All the vineyards featured a welcome splash of green in the midst of a drought-weary region. Only the prickly pears seem to thrive right now, absent irrigation.

Next we headed to the other side of Lake Buchanan to visit Fall Creek. Lake Buchanan looks positively piteous. It's down 21 feet. We quit counting the number of high-and-dry docks, with water nowhere around. (There's not a lot more useless-looking things, let me tell you.) It is going to take a powerful lot of rain to fill it back up again.

The entry into Fall Creek featured a long, cooling drive through the vineyard (pictured). Our favorites included their riesling and Ed's Sweet Red. You can enjoy a glass of wine and a cheese plate on their lovely patio (complete with fans and misters), but at 100 degrees, we decided it was way too hot.

Suppertime! Burnet is surprisingly bereft of (non-chain) places to eat. We finally found the Burnet Feed Store BBQ; nothing spectacular to report.

Our Saturday started out with lots of Tour de France text updates from my friend Shauna. (I am a Tour fanatic; when I am away, I deputize someone to keep me updated, since my smart phone took a swim in the toilet.) We took an unplanned side trip to The Czech Stop, on IH-35 in West (just north of Waco).

The Czech Stop occupies a non-descript storefront behind a gas station. You might easily drive past it...until you notice the hordes of cars and streams of people going in and out. The aromas of freshly baked bread wafts out the front door. They have some of the best kolaches in Texas, in huge variety. Their sausages and sandwiches are equally fabulous. We bought too much, then headed back into wine country.

Another post tomorrow with the rest of the trip!

The "In-Studio" Experience at KLRN's Blazing Gavels Auction!

We've enjoyed KLRN's Blazing Gavels auction for years; we've bought wine, vacations, art...all sorts of cool things. They had a Twitter account last year but really didn't do much with it. This year, rather than tweeting themselves, they decided to ask members of the San Antonio social media community to come into the studio and serve as "guest tweeters." I was flattered and honored to be asked to do so Friday night!

As much as we've watched the auction, I've never been in studio during the events. I previewed the new digs a couple of days ago (see my last blog post). I've heard it's very exciting, so I was really looking forward to it. And here I am:

• 5:05pm: arrived at the station early. Each night a restaurant donates dinner for volunteers. Tonight we enjoyed salad and pasta; very tasty.


• 5:20pm: into the studio with Katrina, who helps set up my station and get me logged onto the various accounts. She offers a few suggestions on what to post, but for the most part, I'm on my own.


• 6:07pm: went on air a few minutes ago with lots of hoops and hollers from the USAA volunteers. There's so much activity that it's tough to know what to focus on. Can't hear Steve (the announcer), which is oddly disorienting.


• 6:20pm: found out they plan to do a little interview with me later this evening. I hope my tongue doesn't decide to get all tied in knots.


• 6:30pm: Bonnie Walker of the great blog SavorSA just sat down next to me! She's reading one of the wine boards later. Trying to figure out how to pronounce all those foreign words. Oh...and she's co-editing a new foodie magazine, San Antonio Taste. Look for it at HEBs.


• 6:50pm: starting to feel the rhythm and keep my eye on things I want to bid on. I'm allowed, but I have to call from outside the studio. I think I may have gotten a Texas red wine package, but just like everyone else, I won't know until they call.


• 7:30pm: wandering around the studio. Lots of wine lined up in the back. At any given time, there's at least one board with open bidding on wine packages.


• 7:50pm: I've just about decided that bidding will have to wait until I'm not tweeting. Too much going on.


• 8:10pm: snack break. Headed up to snack room for some soda, popcorn and chips.


• 8:15pm: sandals may be cute, but an unwise choice in a chilly studio. My toes is froze.


• 8:40pm: Ellen stopped by to say goodbye and asked me to come back! She also asked me to put a bug in Chef Jason Dady's ear about donating some gift certificates for his restaurants. I'll see him Monday night at a cooking class, so I'll ask!


• 8:55pm: about to do my on-camera interview. Boy, I hope the words all come out right.


• 9:15pm: done! Everyone said it looked fine. Hope so. I recorded it at home and will look later. That's nerve-wracking!


• 9:45pm: tonight, USAA volunteers man the phones. Shift changes at 10:00, and new folks are trickling in.


• 9:55pm: winding down. Last night's guest tweeter made it to 11:00. Not this tired bear.


• 10:00pm: finally got to meet the awesome Steve Alwais, the voice of Blazing Gavels!


• 10:05pm: signing off! They want me to send a "guest" entry for their blog. Will do so tomorrow!
  

And to finish the night, a much-appreciated escort out to my car by a nice deputy sheriff.

Many, many thanks to KLRN, Ellen, and Katrina for a fabulous evening!

It's Almost Time for Blazing Gavels!

It's almost here! The 44th annual Blazing Gavels Auction (sponsored by KLRN) is June 10-19.

This year's auction features a spiffy new set. Students at the International Academy of Design and Technology designed the colorful murals (pictured), which were painted by students from the Blue Star Mosaic program. They give the set a marvelous sense of color and movement. KLRN's engineers worked hard to design a new set in about half the space. (KLRN now rents part of its studio to another production company.) But there's still plenty of room for volunteers to move around...and for three rows of phones!

The auction features hundreds (if not thousands) of items...everything from gift certificates to food to wine to travel to......you name it. The most valuable prize this year is a Harley Davidson motorcycle, valued at $15,000. You can bid on the more valuable items on their website.

I highly recommend calling the station (210-270-9000) to get a speed bid number. This makes it easy for you to bid on multiple items (and multiple times, as you compete with other bidders).

This year's auction also features social media. They have a Facebook page and a Twitter account (www.twitter.com/KLRNauction); the Twitter account will have "guest" Tweeters each night. I'm honored to say I'll be the "guest Tweeter" on Friday, June 11. They'll also feature social media-only items each night, with the biggest prize being an iPad (donated by Rackspace). You'll only be able to bid on these items via Twitter or Facebook.

They're still looking for volunteers for a few shifts, particularly the late-night shift (9:30 pm until it's done). Call 270-9000 to volunteer.

The fundraising goal this year is $402,000, which represents about 8% of KLRN's annual budget.

Tune in June 10-19 at 6:00 pm, or visit their website. Bid high, and bid often!

Galveston: Day 2

A much slower pace today than yesterday. After a tasty morning breakfast at Miller's Seaside Grill, we headed out to Moody Gardens. I have always wanted to visit and have never been.

Much to our disappointment, the Rainforest Pyramid is closed for renovations until next April. We purchased tickets for a "Dolphins and Whales" IMAX and the aquarium. Unfortunately, neither one of them measured up.

The film featured beautiful cinematography and soothing music, but just wasn't very interesting. And the aquarium was much smaller than either one of us expected. I guess after having experienced the Baltimore National Aquarium and the one in New Orleans, it's tough for anything else to meet the standard.

Next we headed out to Bolivar Peninsula. I spent many summers there, and I wanted to see how it was faring after the storm. We found more houses that we expected, but poor Gilchrist had just about been wiped out. Lots of blank slabs and stilts holding up nothing. We discovered a bit of rebuilding, but also several families living in trailers on their slabs. A little sad. But I do always enjoy the ferry ride. Took some cool photos, which will be posted to my Facebook page soon.

Next destination: The Strand, Galveston's historic shopping district. I had heard that 80% of businesses had returned, and on previous passes through the area, things seemed pretty much back to normal. But I must say we were disappointed in the shops we found. Mostly touristy t-shirts and sunglasses, and more empty storefronts than we expected.

We did find a lovely wine bar...Bacchus. Bruce had a white wine flight, I a red wine flight, and we discovered a marvelous new sauvignon blanc. Go look for Warwick from South Africa. Delicious!

Dropped back by the hotel to change and check out restaurants. After getting in late Friday night and a sub-par meal last night, we were really hoping to find something delicious. And we did!

Olympia Grill on Pier 21 serves terrific Greek food and wines. We started out with an appetizer dip combination. They brought out an enormous platter of tzatziki, hummus, feta, Kalamata olives, skordayia, and melitzano salata....a delicious eggplant dish. (Yes, eggplant. Those who know and love me are presently shocked into insensibility.) WAY more than we could eat....now sitting in take-out containers in our hotel room. A lovely light lentil soup followed. Bruce had a perfectly grilled red snapper. Tender and flaky and not in the least fishy. I had souvlaki with tzatziki; again, perfectly cooked. Our excellent server Nicole talked us into a baklava to take home. YUM!

We head home tomorrow after a fun trip.

Up Into the Mountains We Go/Final Comments

Today we planned a day-trip to Cloudcroft, about an hour and a half east of Las Cruces. After going up and over the mountains to the east of Cruces, we were down in the valley and quickly into the White Sands Missle Range.

The range still shuts down once or twice a week for an hour or two for missile tests. Fortunately, we missed that part. We did, however, get stopped at yet another border patrol checkpoint, where they just waved us through.

We had visited White Sands National Monument before, but it was worth a quick stop for facilities, a new pin for my collection, and fabulous photos.

After passing through (unremarkable) Alamogordo, we visited a winery we'd met the day before. Not only did Heart of the Desert have great wines (including a pistachio rose!), their large pistachio grove out back (the oldest and largest in NM) produces a huge crop of nuts. I forgot our notes on which wines we liked, so we were obliged to taste again.....darn. :-) Also found a fabulous new chile shirt.

Next we headed up the road to Cloudcroft. A sign at the beginning of the drive warned that we would gain 4,315 feet in 16 miles. Wow. The above photo is just outside the one tunnel. Look closely and you'll see White Sands in the background.

A nice drive up with many scenic vistas. The village is quite small, and we quickly found the best place in town to eat lunch....Rebecca's at The Lodge.

The Lodge was originally built in the late 1800s and rebuilt after a fire in 1909. The railroad owned the lodge; they had a line up here to transport timber. Rebecca's boasts fabulous views and terrific food. My blue corn chile rellenos with red chile hominy was delicious! Poor Bruce though...the altitude (about 9,000 feet) was really tearing him up.

We wanted to take advantage of the many surrounding hiking trails, but lightning moved in, and neither one of us wanted to be hiking on a mountain in lightning. So we headed back to Las Cruces.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our trip, and I hope you have enjoyed the travelogue. My favorite part is the bounty we're bringing back to share with friends:

• Roswell Alien Amber Ale
• >12 bottles of wine
• Chiles (yes more)
• Chile powder
• Hatch sweet onions
• Pistachios
• Cookies

The drive back is long and warrants an entry only the first time through, so I'll see you again soon with a post on a different topic.

Today's New Mexico Bounty

By happenstance, we discovered a Labor Day weekend wine festival just outside of town. We enjoyed a lazy Sunday morning (no alcohol sales before noon, don't you know) before sallying forth.

Had an unexpectedly difficult time finding somewhere for an early lunch. Those who know and love me understand that I am worse than a four-year-old when my tummy is grumbling and we can't find food. Bruce was ready to go into the fields to harvest anything he could find. Fortunately, we landed at El Comedor for a nice New Mexican repast.

The Southern New Mexico Wine Festival is held every Labor Day weekend at the Southern New Mexico Fairgrounds just outside of town. Surprisingly, no charge for parking and only $13/each for admission. We were surprised to find 13 southern NM vineyards represented. And all very reasonably priced. The most we paid for a bottle was $21.Our favorites:

• St. Clair's Mimosa: a Mimosa already in the champagne bottle. Tasty as well as pretty.
• DH Lescombes Royal Kir: flavors of black currant. Yum!
• Luna Rossa's Nini: a nice medium-bodied red

We first did a "circuit" tasting and made notes of the wines we wanted to come back for. Interspersed were food and craft (needed more) vendors, including a hat maker where I purchased a fabulous new shady hat. Sounds odd, but it's like wearing a parasol on my head....terrific for hot sunny days.

Three discoveries:

• New Mexico has a state cookie: Biscochitos. Really. Melt in your mouth yummy.
• Who knew New Mexico had so many good wines?
• Near-miss rain in SA just steams things up. Near-miss rain here cools things off quite nicely, thank you.

Overall, we found this festival much better organized than the Hatch one, and very laid back and enjoyable. Great salsa music, too. Lots of people, but all polite and just enjoying the wine. This plus Hatch makes for a good southern-NM destination weekend.

Enjoy a Tasting at Sister Creek Vineyards

An easy (and pretty) 30-minute drive from north San Antonio, make sure to stop at Sister Creek Vineyards in Sisterdale on your weekend Hill Country drive. Housed in an old cotton gin, the winery produces wines with grapes from the High Plains (mostly), including award-winning Muscats and other varieties.

A tasting is free for three wines; for $5, you get a taste of 8 for $5 (plus tax). $2.50 gets you two one-ounce pours of the Meritage blends. All their wines are very reasonably priced. They encourage guests to take a self-guided tour of the winery.

We enjoyed a 2007 Meritage blend of three grapes (cabernet, merlot, and sangiovese). Only available since March, they’re hearing great feedback. The Meritage blends are available only at the vineyard.

In July 2002, their small vineyard drowned under 8 feet of water (from that summer’s 43” of rain). The vines developed root rot, destroying all of them. They were on track this year to harvest once again, but a few weeks ago, a hard freeze killed them all again. Our host said, “we’ll be feeding birds and raccoons this year.” Such are the vagaries of the wine business.

Enjoy the Texas Hill Country Wine Trail

There’s no better way to spend a weekend day than driving through the Texas Hill Country and sampling wines. The Texas Hill Country Wine Trail (http://www.texaswinetrail.com) features 24 vineyards (currently; more are added each year). The trail’s northernmost point is in Bend (Alamosa Wine Cellars); the closest to San Antonio is Dry Comal Creek in New Braunfels.

We generally target four or five vineyards, plan our route, and pack a picnic lunch. We often go with friends, which of course makes the entire outing more fun. You’ll sample a variety of wines at each location. Most tasting rooms have a small tasting fee that is often waived if you purchase a bottle.

Many vineyards have invested a great deal in their tasting rooms, and some schedule non-wine events. Torre di Pietra (just east of Fredericksburg) features a lovely gift shop and live music on the weekends on their outdoor patio. Becker Vineyards just completed their annual lavender festival and has recently expanded its tasting room.

Our personal favorite is

Flat Creek Estate, about 20 miles east of Marble Falls. Their wines are fabulous (we’re members of their “grand cru” tasting club), and they have one of the prettiest tasting rooms on the trail. They’ve recently begun serving a light lunch in their events building.

You’ll also meet many friendly “vineyard dogs.”

IMPORTANT NOTE about traveling the wine trail in the summer: So how quickly do you turn on your a/c when returning to the car? Think about your wine sitting in that as you taste. Texas summers are an enemy of your wine purchases. When taking the wine trail during warm months, bring a cooler filled with ice to hold your purchases while you visit other vineyards. Otherwise, the Texas heat will ruin your wine before you can get it home.