I been to St. Louis
Damn! That was FUN!
There was GOOD wine. Lovely architecture. Glorious parks (seen from inside the car because it was SNOWING!). And OMG bread!
I met Myra's parents. She had me show my back to her dad. Her mother said it is beautiful and her dad asked if I had any on the front. Myra's nephew, Jared, was there and we compared tats. Later, we drove to pick up the car from a BIL who had done a repair and I got to meet Kay, Myra's sister and Jared mom, and her husband.
We stopped at a wine store and picked up Beringer Private Reserve, Napa, 2007 Chardonnay.($22) and La Crema, Sonoma, 2007, ($16) and consumed same with Chapel Hill Creamery Carolina Moon cheese, calamata olive/rosemary bread from Black Bear Bakery (whence comes lovely Vanilla Almond Crunch Granola), sundried tomatoes, Myra's pesto, roasted tomato hummus, Meadow Creek Dairy Mountaineer cheese, Gardinera vinegary vegetables (cauliflower, carrots, celery, peppercinis)
We talked so long every night that I kept missing my bedtime call to the cutie in Winston-Salem.
Tuesday, we had lunch with Gary and Andy at Rasoi, one of the restaurants Andy has helped open. Very nice Indian food with many Indian people eating there, too. Always a good sign, I think. Then, we went to see art while the mens went to work. The Duane Reed Gallery had lovely stuff, including Mr. Chihuly's pieces. We stopped at Herbie's for coffee and deepfried chocolate ganache before wandering into Left Bank Books where I had a delightful conversation with Erin, the salesclerk, wherein she convinced me to buy Octavia Butler's Fledgling and pointed me to a short story she thought I'd like (Lazarus) based on the rest of our conversation.
Still stuffed from lunch, we went home and had more snacks for dinner when we decided we had room, again.
Wednesday, I got to go to a Herb Society lunch. The herb this month was dill. I may try planting some seeds this Spring. Apparently, it doesn't like being transplanted. Then we drove around St. Louis, letting me see the city itself. Stopped at Black Bear Bakery, where I got some of that lovely olive bread to bring home.
Then, wine shopping at Randall's, where I got some Volante 2004 Zinfandel ($14) and a couple of other things that looked interesting. There is a delightful man who sits at a table in the doorway, doing a 2 bottle tasting all the time. He is about 112 years old and has one of the worst hair pieces you've ever seen. He is also very charming and if he was here I'd do all my wine shopping at whatever store he works for.
It had started snowing while we were there and Myra drove me around, showing me more of the city. We stopped at Bissinger's for chocolate and coffee (and presents for my mens).
We progressed to dinner at Duff's. We shared an order of bruschetta. I had the Marblehead chowder and Myra had the gumbo. Myra knows the cook and he was very generous with the duck. I had a glass of Dreyer chardonnay (Sonoma, 2007) and it was very nice.
It had finished snowing by the time we got home and we had a quiet evening. I was a little nervous that the snow that had happened there and the snow that was on its way here was going to give me a turbulent flight, but everything was placid.
Here are all 3 pictures I managed to take. I was just too busy looking at everything.
There was GOOD wine. Lovely architecture. Glorious parks (seen from inside the car because it was SNOWING!). And OMG bread!
I met Myra's parents. She had me show my back to her dad. Her mother said it is beautiful and her dad asked if I had any on the front. Myra's nephew, Jared, was there and we compared tats. Later, we drove to pick up the car from a BIL who had done a repair and I got to meet Kay, Myra's sister and Jared mom, and her husband.
We stopped at a wine store and picked up Beringer Private Reserve, Napa, 2007 Chardonnay.($22) and La Crema, Sonoma, 2007, ($16) and consumed same with Chapel Hill Creamery Carolina Moon cheese, calamata olive/rosemary bread from Black Bear Bakery (whence comes lovely Vanilla Almond Crunch Granola), sundried tomatoes, Myra's pesto, roasted tomato hummus, Meadow Creek Dairy Mountaineer cheese, Gardinera vinegary vegetables (cauliflower, carrots, celery, peppercinis)
We talked so long every night that I kept missing my bedtime call to the cutie in Winston-Salem.
Tuesday, we had lunch with Gary and Andy at Rasoi, one of the restaurants Andy has helped open. Very nice Indian food with many Indian people eating there, too. Always a good sign, I think. Then, we went to see art while the mens went to work. The Duane Reed Gallery had lovely stuff, including Mr. Chihuly's pieces. We stopped at Herbie's for coffee and deepfried chocolate ganache before wandering into Left Bank Books where I had a delightful conversation with Erin, the salesclerk, wherein she convinced me to buy Octavia Butler's Fledgling and pointed me to a short story she thought I'd like (Lazarus) based on the rest of our conversation.
Still stuffed from lunch, we went home and had more snacks for dinner when we decided we had room, again.
Wednesday, I got to go to a Herb Society lunch. The herb this month was dill. I may try planting some seeds this Spring. Apparently, it doesn't like being transplanted. Then we drove around St. Louis, letting me see the city itself. Stopped at Black Bear Bakery, where I got some of that lovely olive bread to bring home.
Then, wine shopping at Randall's, where I got some Volante 2004 Zinfandel ($14) and a couple of other things that looked interesting. There is a delightful man who sits at a table in the doorway, doing a 2 bottle tasting all the time. He is about 112 years old and has one of the worst hair pieces you've ever seen. He is also very charming and if he was here I'd do all my wine shopping at whatever store he works for.
It had started snowing while we were there and Myra drove me around, showing me more of the city. We stopped at Bissinger's for chocolate and coffee (and presents for my mens).
We progressed to dinner at Duff's. We shared an order of bruschetta. I had the Marblehead chowder and Myra had the gumbo. Myra knows the cook and he was very generous with the duck. I had a glass of Dreyer chardonnay (Sonoma, 2007) and it was very nice.
It had finished snowing by the time we got home and we had a quiet evening. I was a little nervous that the snow that had happened there and the snow that was on its way here was going to give me a turbulent flight, but everything was placid.
Here are all 3 pictures I managed to take. I was just too busy looking at everything.