California Trip, September 2014

Saturday, September 27

This morning we boarded a bus and headed up to the Sunset Savor Wine and Food Festival at Rancho Margarita near Paso Robles. We had VIP passes, which got us past the long lines, and we were able to sit in comfortable seating in the shade when we needed a rest, which was great. We learned that in past years it has been up to 103 degrees at this festival, so we felt fortunate -- only up to 79 today.

Sunset Wine Festival

While we tasted wines and sampled some yummy food (Merlot ice cream!?), above us soared two drones, probably taking photos of the event. I suppose we'll have to get used to Big Brother hovering in the air above us, now.

Drone

The most fun part of the day was a wine-tasting seminar we attended. In the VIP area, we had met a couple from Houston, and they joined us for the seminar; they're sitting to the left of Pat. The wine editor of Sunset Magazine led the seminar, with two wine judges (both were winemakers) leading the tasting. They talked about how they judge wine, what they're looking for and why some wines are gold-medal winners. We tasted six wines along with them, and all were excellent. Wine judges spit out wine after tasting, so they can give all the wines an equal chance. ;o) We didn't spit ours out. It was too good.

Wine tasting seminar

Tasting six wines after already tasting a bunch in the festival was a bit much, so I didn't finish all mine. Pat was extremely impressed with Summerwood wines, and the cabernet was especially good.

Wine seminar

We returned on the bus, with most everyone else on it pretty tipsy and loud. We sat behind a lady who laughed like a cartoon character the whole 40-minute ride. That didn't do my headache much good. But we finally made it back and then looked up a seafood restaurant, called the Cracked Crab, in downtown Pismo Beach. We had to wait over an hour because they didn't take reservations, but we got a chance to walk on the pier and watch the sun set. And the crab was scrumptious!

Sunset at Pismo Beach

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