St. Innocent Winery

Posted on September 1, 2022 by If It Was Today

After a leisurely morning we headed south to St. Innocent Winery, thanks to a recommendation from Allan. The drive took about an hour, but it was well worth the trip.

St. Innocent Vineyards

It was an idyllic setting overlooking a small pond.

St. Innocent had something we hadn’t seen at the other wineries – a tasting menu with food pairings. It really helped to spotlight the strengths of each wine. We loved it.

I would highly recommend St. Innocent – it was probably our favorite so far. We took a different route back, crossing the Willamette river on a very small ferry.

While waiting for the ferry, we spotted a nest with a juvenile Peregrine falcon (we think) calling for food from its parents.

A view of the Willamette from the ferry.

Then it was home where our designated driver had a glass of wine in her happy place.

And then, after dinner prep, it was up the hill for another sunset in everyone’s happy place.

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Country Roads

Posted on August 31, 2022 by If It Was Today

After a quiet morning we headed south for a wine tasting at Cristom Vineyards.

We had a cheese tray with the last glass to tide us over till a late lunch.

The tasting room was in the middle of the vineyards.

The Pinot Noir grapes are beginning to ripen.

Then it was off to Left Coast wines for lunch – with wine, of course.

We shared a pizza from their wood fired pizza oven. They asked if we were celebrating anything, and we said “the fact that the border is open again”. So we were treated to a complementary glass of bubbly.

Then it was back to the cottage.

Another evening watching the sunset.

A short walk back to the cottage in the twilight allowed some interesting pictures – the light was amazing.

Then it was back to the cottage for dinner and a relaxing evening … wait for it … drinking wine.

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This Never Gets Old

Posted on August 30, 2022 by If It Was Today

We visited two wineries yesterday – Elk Cove and Kramer Vineyards. At the first we tasted wines while looking out over the vineyard. At the second we watched birds of prey riding the air currents while searching for their dinner.

We had our lunch between the two tastings at the Horse Radish in Carlton. The food was divine – we will definitely be back. The scenery around the two wineries was not what we expected. They are in the hills surrounded by forest and small farms selling farm fresh chicken and quail eggs. The roads were scenic but also very narrow and winding. I was glad that I wasn’t the one driving.

And then it was back to the cottage to watch the sunset with a glass of wine. It never gets old.

It’s off to another wine tasting shortly, but here is my view as I write this.

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Wine Country

Posted on August 29, 2022 by If It Was Today

On Sunday we headed inland to the Willamette valley.

To celebrate the amazing surroundings we had a meeting of The Other Champagne Club overlooking the vineyards.

Then we headed up the hill to watch the sunset.

The changing colours and shadows as darkness descended were stunning so we stayed and watched.

Now for the wine tasting…

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Last Day

Posted on August 28, 2022 by If It Was Today

Not the last day of the trip – just the last day on the Oregon coast. We had lunch at a local brewery with amazing wood fired pizza. The beer was pretty good too.

We walked along the beach in the morning and afternoon but the highlight was a campfire on the beach watching the sunset.

We let the fire burn down to embers and then doused it with water. We don’t want to be responsible for starting any fires…

Tomorrow we head inland to the Willamette valley and wine country.

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Going Rogue (in a good way)

Posted on August 27, 2022 by If It Was Today

What did you think I meant? We were just down the road from Newport so we had to visit Rogue Brewery where I had a Rogue Dead Guy ale. Yummy.

But the highlight of the day, other than Rogue, was walking along the beach. First thing in the morning the mist was so thick that you could barely see where you were going. It was equal parts disorienting and magical.

Walking along the beach, we kept seeing bits of evergreen trees in the sand. There must be a story there, but I have no clue what it is.

We were fascinated by the other things washed up on the beach.

There were a number of tidal pools near our hotel and I could have watched them for hours. I nearly did.

We went for a long walk along the beach in the morning, but we enjoyed it so much that we had to go for a walk in the evening. The sun was setting…

The tide was still going out, which created fascinating patterns of running water.

… and interesting reflections in the wet sand.

I’ll leave you with a picture of shells attached to the rocks – almost abstract art.

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Oregon

Posted on August 25, 2022 by If It Was Today

We headed south from Seattle this morning driving along the old pacific coast highway.

Along the way we stopped at Canon Beach with a perfect view of The Haystack.

There were several interesting rock formations along the coast.

Jan took her sandals off and walked in the surf – how could you resist?

The Pacific Coast Highway has scenic viewpoints about every five minutes and the view is amazing every time. Here is one example.

It was mostly sunny, but looking inland the hills were shrouded in clouds.

Our hotel is right on the ocean with a balcony where we can sit and listen to the surf.

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Flowers

Posted on August 20, 2022 by If It Was Today

We don’t often travel in the summer because we prefer to stay home and enjoy the garden. (It’s so nice here in the summer – not so much in the winter…). But we made an exception this year and we are off to Oregon next week. This is what we are leaving behind.

I’ll try to post on the trip, as long as I don’t have too much fun wine tasting.

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Last Day in Brussels

Posted on May 22, 2022 by If It Was Today

Sunday in Brussels was much quieter than Saturday had been, and that was a very good thing. We head to the airport tomorrow morning around 6:00 AM – they now recommend arriving four hours early for international travel, and with all the new restrictions and forms we decided it was a good idea to follow the recommendations. So we wanted to take it easy today. This first picture shows a building that is being renovated just outside our hotel. They clearly intend to preserve the facade and have built a huge iron brace to hold it in place while they reconstruct the interior.

Next we have a picture of the church on the central square – the Grand-Place, followed by an example of the type of building that surround the square.

I suspect there is an interesting story behind this statue, but I can’t imagine what it is.

This is an example of the ironwork around the Petite Sablon park. Note the hand holding the flowers.

Another unusual building near our hotel.

And a painting of the Belgian icon, Tin Tin, on the wall of a building.

I’ll close with two examples of ephemeral art. The first is an ice cream cone with two flavours arranged in the shape of a flower. The second is the sand sculpture I showed in a previous post, with a different, but related, image today.

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World Day for Cultural Diversity

Posted on May 22, 2022 by If It Was Today

On our second day in Brussels we headed away from the center of the city to see the botanical garden. It is a fairly small park, but wonderfully maintained with flowers, trees, and a small pond. One tree was particularly striking.

When you looked closer, the bark reminded me of lava, and looked like it was flowing down around the branches…

The leaves and seed cones looked like a prehistoric tree.

And then there were the flowers. So many flowers.

There was also a small pond with turtles sunning themselves on the rocks.

After a pleasant walk through the botanical garden we continued to the beer museum, stopping for lunch along the way. Of course, we saw plenty of stained glass and Gothic cathedrals.

As we headed back toward the center of town I captured this image of the blending of old and new. A dead tree is covered in lush green ivy. Probably a metaphor about our world today somewhere in there, but I just like the picture.

As we started out this morning we came across several gatherings that seemed to have a cultural theme, so we looked into it when we got back to the hotel. Turns out that May 21st is World Day for Cultural Diversity. And by early evening it was definitely a celebration of diversity … especially the celebration part. The streets were absolutely packed with pounding music on every street corner.

The theme was cultural diversity, but this last picture captures just how much we all have in common. Early in the afternoon we came across a Turkish celebration with music and dancing. At least the young girls were dancing and having a great time. But the young boys were not nearly as enthusiastic.

Some things are the same everywhere.

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