Seattle, WA

Of all the places I love in Seattle the one I love most and go to as often as possible, is Pike’s Place Market. I’d marry that place if I could and then my every day would be filled with beautiful flowers, fresh seafood, street buskers, fresh fruits and vegetables, gorgeous handmade lotions and clothing. I’d dine on crepes and wander the market sampling all the goodies. Each day I’d try to catch your flying fish and I’d feed your little bronze piggy, Rachel, all my pennies.

Earlier this month, Pike’s Place Market celebrated it’s centennial, making it the longest continually-operated farmer’s market in the U.S. Located in the heart of downtown Seattle, Pike’s Place Market occupies an impressive 9 acres, has it’s own free medical clinic, senior center, childcare center, food bank and low-income housing. In fact, the Market houses some 500 low-income residents in 8 buildings. The Market even has it’s own government of sorts in the Pike Place Preservation & Development Authority (PDA).

If you’re wandering about Seattle right now you might run into a few piggies gone to market! Why pigs? Well, way back in 1971 the market was nearly destroyed to make room for a plaza but thankfully citizens rallied to save the Market. The Market Foundation had a bronze piggy bank sculpted as a fund raiser and so “Rachel” was born. To date, Rachel has earned the Market over $120k. Not bad for a pig’s days work. Rachel is very popular with kids of all ages and it can be very difficult to get her picture due to the number of people trying to do the same. For the centennial the Market decided to populate Seattle with 100 Pigs and thus was born the Pigs on Parade project, a larger version of a theme from 2001. Pigs on Parade is a fund raiser for the Market’s human services.

I just love turning a corner and finding a new piggy. Each pig has a sponsor and a fun name of some sort. There are 100 pigs, one for each year the Market has been in business. I took pictures of each pig I came across. One, named Gloria, with it’s purplish hooves was sure to get a laugh out of my similarly named purple-crazy friend, Gloria. Then there was the pirate pig and the i-pig which I had to capture for my buddies working at Apple. There was one with monopoly money stuck all over it named appropriately, PigMillion. Here I am standing behind “Lost in Time Swine”:

For those of you who would like to track down all the piggies yourself, don’t be pig-headed, use this handy map.

Seattle, Pike’s Place Market, history, Pigs on Parade, Rachel, Pig, crepes, flowers, vegetables, seafood, farmer’s market, centennial

As we were driving along the beautifully scenic Highway 99 toward Seattle a few weeks ago, we heard a thunderous noise pass overhead. “What the @#$%#? was that!”, I asked my partner, who was driving. “Oh, I read in the newspaper that the Blue Angels were in town.”

Sure enough as they swung back around, it was clearly the Blue Angels flying over us. I quickly grabbed my camera and started taking pictures out the passenger window. Most of them came out pretty bad. Moving cars aren’t the best vehicles for great photography. I did manage to capture one great shot, however:

I think it’s particularly cool that the Boeing building is in the frame!

Blue Angels, Seattle, Seafair, picture, Boeing, Hwy 99, Highway 99

What: Bumbershoot!
One of the best arts and music festivals in the US!
When: Sept. 1-3
Where: Seattle Center
$$$: Listed on the website

What: Dave Matthews Band in Concert
When: Friday, August 31st - Sunday, September 2nd. Gates open at 4 pm, concert begins at 7 pm
Where: The Gorge Amphitheatre, 754 Silica Road NW, George, Washington. About a two and a half hour drive east of Seattle.
$$$: $48.50 - $65

What: Labor Day Wine Tastings
When: Aug. 30th - Sept. 1st (3 Events)
Where: The Wine Alley, 14276 SE 176th Street ~ Renton, WA
$$$: Save %10 on featured pours

What: The Henry’s 80th Anniversary Celebration
When: Now - Sept. 3rd
Where: The Henry Art Gallery
$$$: FREE through Sept 3rd (regularly $10, $6 Seniors, Free for kids under 13)

That’s about all I see going on this weekend. I imagine no one wants to compete with Bumbershoot and that’s probably a good idea. If you’ve never been, do make it a point to go, it’s a wonderful event!

Seattle, Bumbershoot, wine tasting, The Wine Alley, The Henry, Art, Music, Things to do, Events, Labor Day, Dave Matthews, The Gorge

Elliott’s Oyster House
1201 Alaskan Way, Pier 56
Seattle, WA 98101
206-623-4340

Is it proper to call it a restaurant review if the only thing you ate was the oysters? Well, if you’re going to call yourself an Oyster House then it seems right somehow to make it all about the oysters.

I can’t tell you the number of times we sat outside of Elliott’s Oyster House, eating steamed clams from Steamer’s on Pier 56 while being completely clueless to the fact that we were sitting next to one of the best Oyster Houses on the planet. While we’re unlikely to stop going to Steamer’s on any given trip to Seattle, we’ll never again fail to stop in at Elliott’s Oyster House.

How little we knew when we stepped into Elliott’s for the first time. We had no idea, for example, that Fortune Magazine had rated it one of the top 5 Oyster bars in the United States. What greeted us on our first trip was an impressive oyster bar which it turns out is 21 feet long! 21 feet of gleaming silver with tiers of trays filled with oysters lovingly nestled in ice. Surrounding the oysters an array of trophies, most of them attributable to Master Oyster Shucker, David Leck.

David has won many competitions, some based on speed. Check this out:

Before going to Elliot’s I’d had oysters and I knew I liked them but I knew nothing about the different types of oysters and sadly, I’d never had a minionette sauce. What a stroke of luck it was for us to not only discover Elliott’s but to sit down at the oyster bar with David shucking oysters. Because we were interested in the varieties of oysters and how they compared, David took the time to educate us and allow us to try out the various oysters he had on hand. In fact he spoiled us rotten. He may have spoiled us for oysters anywhere else while he was at it. My favorites were the Kumakoto Oysters, a small deep-cupped variety with a pretty fluted edge. They were small but flavourful with a delicate, slightly sweet flavour.

Back in Austin, Tx, we’d only eaten oysters with horseradish, ketchup and hot sauce. Man do I feel like a heathen now. One of the things I noticed about the oysters David served us was just how fresh they were and how much liquor they had. The iciness of the champagne mignonette sauce made for a perfect accoutrement.

After we’d eaten our fill of oysters, David mentioned to us that they had a Happy Hour on Mondays from 3-6 and that the oysters were .50 cents apiece to start with and gradually increased in price. Well that sounded like too good of a deal to pass up so on Monday, our last day in town, we returned to gorge ourselves happily on raw oysters. We managed to eat 6 dozen!

With the taste still fresh in our mouths, we returned to Texas. A few days later, craving more oysters, we made our way to Quality Seafood, undoubtedly the best seafood store in Austin but sadly they just couldn’t compare to the wonderful oysters we had at Elliott’s. This is not meant as a slam agains Quality Seafood, they are excellent and we’re very lucky to have them in Austin! Ah well, back to horseradish, ketchup and hot sauce. Don’t worry Seattle, we’ll be back!

Eliott’s Oyster House, Elliott’s, Oysters, Kumamoto, David Leck, Oyster Bar, Seattle, Pier 56, Master Oyster Shucker, Quality Seafood, Austin, minionette, champagne

The Westin Seattle
1900 5th Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98101
Phone: (206) 728-1000
Fax: (206) 728-2259
Email: washi@westin.com

Pros: Great location, wonderful views, comfy beds and linens, bus stop right out front, close proximity to restaurants and coffee shops that offer free wi-fi

Cons: Poor housekeeping, no free wi-fi, $16 a day for High Speed Internet (might be a pro for business travelers), $32-35 a day for parking. Forgive me, but I’d much rather spend my money enjoying Seattle’s fabulous seafood!

In general, when visiting Seattle, we stay with family. This visit we’d already spent a week in Spokane at a family wedding and a week in the Yakima Valley staying with family and touring the Rattlesnake Hills Wine trail. In light of that, we decided to be a little selfish and enjoy our favorite city without familial obligations and therefore we booked a hotel. Our criteria for the hotel was centered around a desire to be downtown, right in the middle of everything and of course, we didn’t want to stay in a dive.

My first choice was Pensione Nichols Bed and Breakfast. Situated in Pike’s Place Market, the location was appealing, the price good, and it just looked like a neat place to stay. Sadly, they were booked. With a little help from Priceline, I managed to get a very good price for The Westin, in downtown Seattle. The Westin is supposed to be a very upscale hotel and we were very excited to stay there.

We arrived on a gorgeous summer day, the weather more like what we would normally expect in Austin, but hadn’t seen so far this summer. Located on 5th and Stewart, the Westin stands tall, offering spectacular views of Lake Union, Puget Sound, the Olympic Peninsula and the Cascade mountain ranges. As we are familiar with Seattle, finding the hotel was not a problem. Finding the hotel reception area and the parking garage turned out to be a bit more challenging.

If I’d taken the time to look at the Hotel’s website prior to our arrival, I might have noticed this message:

Highway Construction

From August 10, 2007 to August 29, 2007, please allow extra time if you are traveling north on Interstate 5 into Seattle. Interstate 5 will be undergoing extensive construction during these dates and will be reduced to two or three lanes during the daytime, and at times just one lane overnight. Please contact the hotel for further information.

Eventually we managed to valet park and unload the car and we headed inside to register. The nice lady at the desk offered us a choice of rooms, one with a view and one without. We, of course, chose the view, and oh what a glorious view! We looked up the rates for the daily parking and discovered it was $35 a day. Ouch. Self-parking was discounted to all of $32 a day.

We found the elevator and headed up to our room. As we got off the elevator and rounded the corner we were greeted by a large pile of what I can only describe as looking like animal feces. Sitting next to it was a large air blower/moisture control unit, the kind they use to dry wet spots on carpets. We walked around it gingerly and entered our room which was located right next to the mess. Shortly afterward the bellhop arrived with the cart containing our luggage. After he left we noticed he’d dragged some of the mess into our room. We bent down for a closer inspection and discovered that the dark pellets weren’t poo at all but rather, raisins. I was relieved but hoped that the bellhop would report the mess.

The room itself was very nice with beautiful white duvets and bedding on the dark wood queen beds. There was a desk situated in front of the big picture window, a television and armoire at the foot of one bed and a chair and tea/coffee making service at the foot of the other bed. There was also a tempting array of snacks that could be had for an exorbitant price. We’d declined a key to the mini-bar for a reason. Why pay an arm and a leg for snacks when you’re within walking distance of a drug store on one side and a nice little deli/store to the other?

We unpacked our bags and left to find some food, once again stepping over the mess. We wandered down to the waterfront and had our usual first-night-in-Seattle meal of steamed mussels and crab cakes at Steamers, where we sat outside and enjoyed the beauty of the water while people watching. We returned to our room a few hours later, walked past the raisin mess and relaxed in our room for the rest of the evening. I tried to connect to the hotels wi-fi only to discover that they charge $16 a day. Since even the cheapest of motels offer free wi-fi these days, I was too miffed to pay it so I cadged off someone else who didn’t have their connection locked down. It was slow but free.

The next morning we slept in, fetched some breakfast rolls from the cafe downstairs and headed out around 11:30am. As we left we noticed a card that allowed us to pick our room cleaning time so we chose noon-2pm as we figured we’d be out and about by noon and unlikely to return before 2pm. We stopped in at the Serious Pie just down the street for a seriously yummy lunch of pizza and salad. More about that later. We wandered around town for a bit then headed back to our room to grab the laptop and camera. We stepped off the elevator, rounded the corner and stepped past the raisin mess. It was about 2:30p. Our room was still not clean. We’d only turned in the card a few hours earlier so that was no big deal. We returned to our room about 6pm, our room was cleaned but still the raisins remained. The room cleaning was minimal. They’d replaced the towels and made the bed. That’s it. They had not bothered to replenish the teabags, cups, or Splenda that I’d used. Great, just great.

Finally I called down to the front desk and complained. It had been a full 24 hours. Maids, bellhops and guests had walked through the halls and still they hadn’t cleaned up the mess. I wondered if the rest of the guests thought it was dog poo, too. If so, were they as put off as me?

The next day we once again left the room around 11:30 and returned around 3pm to drop stuff off before heading out again. The raisins were finally gone but the air blower remained in the hallway until our last day. That’s nearly 5 days of walking past it for those of you counting and trust me, I was counting. At 3pm our room remained uncleaned. What was the point of filling out the card requesting a specific cleaning time? I’d left a note for the maid asking them for more cups, stir sticks and Splenda. Although they did replace the cups and stir sticks they left me a mere 3 packets of Splenda. Gee, thanks, do you really think you could spare them?

This became the pattern. The room was never cleaned before 3pm. They never left me more than 3 packets of Splenda no matter how many notes I left them. They never did more than the bare minimum of cleaning which meant they replaced the towels and made the beds each day. They didn’t even clear empty shampoo/conditioner bottles from the shower nor give us clean water glasses. The room was never unacceptably dirty and the room was nice but having said that, I’ve had better housekeeping at a Best Western or a Holiday Inn. I expected much better from The Westin and I was very disappointed. Did I complain? No, I did not. As I mentioned, the room was acceptably clean, the housekeeping just didn’t impress me. It certainly wasn’t bad enough to complain about and risk having a disgruntled maid use my toothbrush to clean the toilet. I will, however, be forwarding them a copy of my review. It’s unlikely I’ll stay there again. My friend’s mother recommends the Sheraton next time. We’ll see.

Update: In which the Seattle Westin redeems itself!

Read my other reviews

Seattle, Westin, The Westin, The Westin Seattle, Downtown, hotel, housekeeping, review, Serious Pie, complaint, raisins

Two links I want to pass on before I forget. One is a link to some wine tour packages for the Yakima Valley. They are very reasonably priced but then it’s not a real fancy area. It’s mostly a lot of nice country folk. There is an opportunity there for an enterprising person to set up a nice B&B and perhaps offer a bus tour that takes you around to each winery.

The second is a link to “Go Taste Wine”, a website that maintains a calendar of Washington Wine Festivals & Events.

Next on our stop is:

Portteus Vineyards
5201 Highland Drive,
P.O. Box 1444, Zillah 98953
Hours: Daily 10-5
509.829.6970
Fee: Free for the first 7 wines, $1 for each additional wine & their port

The drive into Portteus Vineyards was undoubtedly my favourite and takes you right through the vineyard. They have a beautiful new tasting room with a helpful and knowledgeable wine steward.

Portteus boasts that they have been the “red-wine lovers destination for over 20 years!” which was enough to tempt us into their wine tasting room. Not that we need a lot of encouragement. Right off the bat I noted that they had 3 red wines priced at $10. Even more impressive is that they were all decent wines. We decided to just go for it and try all their red wines as well as their port. There really wasn’t a bad wine in the bunch. Their 2004 Rattlesnake Ridge Syrah was particularly nice and well priced so we bought a bottle. The passport deal for Portteus was half price on their 2004 Estate Bottled Reserve Red Wine so we gave it a try and found it to be a nice full-bodied red wine so we bought a bottle of that as well.

Finally, we tried their 2003 Portteus Port. Oh baby! I could have sat sipping that port all day. It’s a ruby port with lovely complex layers that just roll across your tongue. It starts off sweet on your tongue but it doesn’t end there, it goes on to many more layers of flavour.

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Rattlesnake Hills, Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail, wineries, Yakima Valley, Portteus Vineyards, Portteus, 2004 Rattlesnake Ridge Syrah, wine, vineyards, Washington, Go Taste Wine, Washington Wine Festivals & Events, red-wine lovers, Ruby Port, Portteus Port, Wine Tour Packages

We interrupt our regularly scheduled wine tour du jour so that I might brag about a friend, a Washington native who has come to the attention of Dilbert creator, Scott Adams.

It seems like lately all we hear about is the bad side of celebrities. I’m happy to report that this is not one of those stories. Recently a friend, Scott Meyer, came to the attention of Scott Adams. Impressed with the work he saw, the creator of Dilbert reached out to the relatively unknown cartoonist. I’m not at all surprised that at first, Scott M, didn’t believe it was really Scott A who was contacting him. Thankfully Mr. Adams persevered.

Since then Scott has been offering Scott advice on how to make his comic strip, Basic Instruction, more marketable. Not only that, but Mr Adams is blogging about it for the world to see!

I’ve known Scott (Meyer) for some 13 years now. I met him when he was still living in the U-District and performing his comedy act at the Underground. I knew then that he was hugely talented and that opinion has not changed. I’m extremely happy to see the rest of the world getting an opportunity to meet Scott, too. Scott Meyer, that is, everyone already knows other-Scott. In Scott’s own words, “I’m a lucky bastard!”

Lets bring Scott Meyer’s website to it’s knees for yet another day, shall we?

Scott Meyer, Scott Adams, comedy, Basic Instruction, Dilbert, comic, cartoonist, cartoon, Washington

Once a part of the Columbia Valley appellation, the Yakima Valley appellation was determined to be a distinct appellation in 1983 and became authorized as an official American Viticultural Area (AVA/appellation). An appellation is a geographical-based term used to distinguish where the grapes for a given wine are grown. Appellation rules are governed by the country in which the wine is produced. In the United States appellations are governed by the American Viticultural Area (AVA) The Yakima Valley AVA was the first AVA to be established in the state of Washington.

Although the Yakima Valley is a booming wine region currently making headlines, vineyards aren’t exactly new to the region. In fact, the first vines are said to have been planted in 1869! People who are not native to Washington state are often surprised to learn that Eastern Washington is semi-arid desert. The combination of sunshine, volcanic enriched soil and the benefits of an early established irrigation system makes it the Yakima Valley an area ripe for farming. On average the Yakima Valley region has 300 days of sunshine a year, a far cry from it’s western sister cities! Apparently that nets them approximately 200 growing days per year. Volcanic soil is said to be twice as productive as regular soil. In addition, the desert nights are up to 40% cooler thereby helping to preserve the acids while the daytime heat develops the sugars. That’s rather hard combination to beat. There are places in the Valley where you can stand at four corners and see four different crops growing, apples, hops, grapes, corn. Speaking of corn, I’ve never had better sweet corn than in Yakima Valley. In fact, the county ranks first in the nation in the production of apples, winter pears, fruit trees, hops, and mint, with pears, grapes, cherries, peaches, and apricots also coming in as major crops. As a final note, the Yakima Valley shares the same latitude as the Bordeaux region in France.

Now that you’ve had your history lesson for the day, let’s talk about my visit to Bonair Winery.

Bonair Winery
500 South Bonair Road, Zillah 98953
800.882.8939
509.829.6027
Fax: 509.829.6410
www.bonairwine.com
winemaker@bonairwine.com
Hours: Daily 10-5. Winter hours daily 10-4:30

The thing that first attracted me to Bonair was the simple fact that they make mead. That’s fairly non-traditional and I just had to try it! I was surprised to find that the folks at Bonair had carved out a little European-looking villa. One side looking very German and the other looking more Italian all with a beautiful little pond, complete with ducks! There was even the sweetest baby gosling.

The second thing that caught my attention was that they served tapas, and I was hungry. A hungry diabetic is a not a pretty sight. The Bonair Winery produces grapes from two vineyards, the Château Puryear Vineyard and the Morrison Vineyard. Planted in 1968, the Morrison Vineyard is the oldest of the Rattlesnake Hills vineyards. I started with the Sweet Mead, but I didn’t find it to be all that sweet, nor to my liking. Their Riesling, however, was just lovely, with silky pear undertones. I liked it so well that I bought a bottle! Next I tried the Bonny Bonair, a dryish Pinot Noir that was fruity, light and ideal for a summer luncheon. Finally we tried the ports. Oddly, they carry a white port! I’d never heard of a white port so of course we had to try it. The Yakima Valley Gewurztraminer White Port was certainly interesting and nice but for me it lacked the complex flavours of a ruby or a tawny port. Their Cabernet Franc Port, on the other hand is a rich and complex ruby port that I’d welcome on my table any day of the week.

With the tasting out of the way we shared a tapas plate of summer sausages and cheeses and settled onto their patio to watch the ducks, sip a glass of Bonnie Bonair and relax.

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Rattlesnake Hills, Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail, wineries, Yakima Valley, Bonair Winery, Bonair, Morrison Vineyard, mead, wine, vineyards, Washington, ducks, duck pond, tapas

Something I failed to mention in my previous entry is the Wine Passport. You can purchase your Rattlesnake Hills Wine Passport at any of the 16 wineries on the Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail (or the Visitors Center) for a nominal fee of $5. I suggest you purchase yours at your very first stop in order to reap the benefits right away. As you visit each winery, present your passport and get it stamped. Each winery has it’s own unique stamp and each winery offers a unique gift ranging from 10% off your purchase to 50% off a specific bottle. After visiting 10 of the 16 wineries you will receive a special prize and an invitation to attend the annual Passport Party where I’m given to understand that there are lots of great prizes as well as wines to taste. Your passport NEVER expires so if you can’t hit all the wineries, just hold on to it for your next visit.

Here is a list of the current benefits.

Okay, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, on to my next winery.

Paradisos del Sol
3230 Highland Drive, Zillah 98953
Phone: 509.829.9000 or 509.829.5590
Fax: 509.829.6227
Hours: Daily 11-6. Winter hours may vary, please call ahead.
Wine Tasting: Free

After reading through the descriptions of the various wineries, I settled on Paradisos del Sol“We, Paul and Barbara, drink more of our wines than anyone else. It has to be wholesome, wholistic, hedonistic, and yummy. Traditional wines with our unique twist. Slow wines for slow food, friends, family, and fun. No faux château here—it’s “the House” with chickens, geese, cats, dogs, fish, frogs . . . family friendly. Kevin’s Jellybean Store (Valley’s best cherries and melons). Come Taste Paradise in a garden of the sun!”

True to the description we were greeted upon our arrival to free-range chicken strutting around the yard and a very humorous sign reminding you not to leave your wine to bake in the sun.

Owner, Paul, was busy installing a new roof with the help of his brother. He thanked us for getting him in out of the heat for more enjoyable pursuits. A man after our own hearts, Paul immediately brought out food to pair with his wines; and act that would only endear him to us. First up was a wonderful Artichoke Crab Dip which Paul served with their Rosé Paradiso. The pairing worked well and the Rosé Paradiso had a crisp, lightness to it that was perfect for a summer day.

Next Paul traded the Artichoke Crab Dip for their Bleu Ribbon Dip (aka Glop) paired with the Paradisos Red, a full-bodied red with the aroma of oak and berries. This is a wine that would be perfect with our homemade pizza, with lasagna or any hearty red sauce.

My current favourites are dessert wines and ports so with that in mind, Paul pulled out his Flaming Pears with Angelica G, a dessert wine so yummy that I wanted to crawl inside the glass and lick it clean from the inside!

Lastly, Paul brought out brought out a bottle of Late Harvest Botrytis Riesling. He told us that it took his 9 year old son to find a food to pair with this wine. He set two candles out and lit them. What Kevin suggested was toasted marshmallows. Paul brought out a bowl of mini-marshmallows and we slowly cooked them over the flame. What resulted was indeed a match made in heaven. Finally a wine you could sit by the fire sipping while toasting marshmallows with the kids!

Our visit to Paradisos del Sol was our overall favourite. Paul is a down-to-earth kind of guy who has let success grow his wines, not his ego. Be sure to stop by and shoot the breeze while trying out some fabulous wines and tell him you read about his winery in my blog!

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Rattlesnake Hills, Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail, wineries, Yakima Valley, Paradisos del Sol, wine, vineyards, Washington

There are few cities that I love more than Seattle and since I am fortunate enough to be spending a couple of weeks in Washington state, I thought I’d share my experiences. I once lived in the area but long ago moved due to a great job opportunity. The job took me to Atlanta which I hated and eventually left for Austin, Tx. I never expected to like living in Texas but Austin isn’t at all like living in Texas. When Austinites ask me about Seattle, I often tell them that Austin is sort of like a sunny Seattle. However, as one of my friends says, “when it comes to recycling, Seattle makes Austin look like eco-terrorists.” Or something like that!

But… let’s back up a few steps and talk about the Yakima Valley, one of Washington’s fastest growing industries and one of the wine industries newest darlings. I first started exploring the new wineries about 2 years ago and while I took home some excellent wines I was even more impressed this trip. I found more diversity and more maturity in the wines available.

My first stop along the Rattlesnake Trail was Tefft Cellers, located in Outlook, Washington. Tefft Cellars has some great wines but what really drew me back there was a wonderful Black Ice Wine I purchased a couple of years ago on my first visit. Luckily they had some in stock and I bought a bottle. They don’t always have the ice wines because they are dependent on having had a frost. This batch was partially frozen and was helped along by modern technology so the wine had a reduced price. Thankfully that did not affect the taste. Their Syrah was very nice and we left with a bottle of Huckleberry wine, since this is something we’d never see outside of the northwest.

Eaton Hill was just down the road from Tefft so we popped over there for a wine tasting. The building it’s located in was very interesting. Once the home of a tomato cannery, it apparently took some 5 years to clean it out and repair it for use. There is a double row of windows at the top of the building and all the glass had to be replaced. I’m bummed now that I didn’t take pictures of the interior. Today I’ll be touring around a few more wineries and I’ll let you know how that goes.

Tune in tomorrow for the next stop along the Rattlesnake Hills Trail!

Part One of this series.
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Part Five in this series

Yakima Valley, wine, Rattlesnake Hills Trail, wineries, vineyards, Washington, Tefft Cellars, Eaton Hill

This month 451Press is holding a comment contest. It’s pretty easy. All you have to do is leave a comment telling us:

If I had $300 dollars I would buy________.

What would you buy with $300? Or even $200 or $100? Now is your chance to find out! Comment on any 451 Press site during the month of August and you could win! Three comments will be chosen at random to win a cash prize of $300, $200 or $100. The more you comment the more chances you have to win. So start reading and let those fingers fly.

That’s it! Easy as pie. Hmmm, what would I do with $300?