Category: Gap Year Continues in the US of A

Well, it’s been a while since I updated the blog. The last blog, done while we were in New Orleans in October seems like a long time ago. Since that time, we visited with friends in Savanna Georgia (Hello to Bob and Linda) and found our way back to our son’s home in Springfield VA.

Well, it’s been a while since I updated the blog. The last blog we did was from our adventure in New Orleans in October; seems like a long time ago. Since that time, we visited with friends in Savanna, Georgia (Hello to Bob and Linda) and found our way back to our son’s home in Springfield VA.   Once we returned to Virginia, we got serious about buying a home of our own .We purchased a lovely 3 bedroom place in Williamsburg VA – we have room ,so come and visit!

Several months ago, we had agreed to join several other families and go on a Carnival  ocean cruise to the Bahamas over the Thanksgiving Weekend. This eliminated the need for anyone to actually have to cook a turkey (although it also meant there were not going to be any left overs for sandwiches).  Joining with about 20 other folks (3 different families with extended relations) we hired a party bus and headed to Baltimore to join Carnival Cruise for a weeklong trip south to the Bahamas.  It was nice to have the bus as that meant we didn’t have to drive, find parking and could  have an adult beverage along the way!

This was our first “ocean” cruise, having done a bunch of River Cruises through Europe; it was a very different experience for us.  Carnival is clearly a party boat and as such there were lots of families and entertainment (and drinks) for all to enjoy. 

While we did get off the ship in Nassau (to get a stamp in our passport!), we didn’t get off on the Carnival Island or in Freeport – it was nice to just relax on the ship and let all the “kids” go explore. 

There were comedians (not really that good) and other entertainment options.  One of the events was a “build a bear” where Katie had the opportunity to pick out something – she created a cat. 

All in all it was a nice adventure and I’m sure everyone had a great time.

After the cruise it was time to actually “visit” our new home, arrange appliances, have our furniture moved from California and do all the things needed to make it our place – plus of course get ready for Christmas.  We purchased the place prior to Thanksgiving and by the end of the year we had slept in our own bed all of 5 nights!

When we left California, we didn’t store much furniture ,basically a bedroom suite, some living room storage units and a carpet or two plus kitchen stuff and artwork.  Needless to say, we have some furniture and other things to arrange and have spent a good amount of time checking out the Salvation Army and consignment stores in both the Springfield Area and Williamsburg.  So, at this point we have several easy chairs, a dining table and 6 chairs plus some stools for the kitchen counter area.  Lots more to get, but we can now sleep in our own bed, and eat meals at a table with real plates and utensils.

Between getting the house set up we tried to squeeze in some Christmas shopping and general holiday planning. 

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We had a nice family Christmas holiday with our grandkids and closed out the year feeling good about all that happened in the past year.  Next up things happening in 2020 including a Cruise through the Panama Canal, a trip to Alaska and other adventures.

For the last 18 months, Janeen and I have been “on the road”. This road has taken us across the USA twice, around Europe for 4 months (and 9 countries) and up and down the East Coast from Savanna Georgia to Prince Edward Island Canada. During these travels we have visited lots of friends, made new friends and toured all kinds of places from Castles to Kentucky Bourbon producers. Throughout this time we have been together virtually 24/7 and I can safely say we continue to communicate with each other and have a good time.

One of the things that have been a constant is “where to next” and we keep finding new places, and old, to visit. As of the end of November, we no longer own a home in California and that prompts us to begin thinking about new places to live – or at least to call “home” when not on the road. However, a final spot won’t be critical until sometime in June or so of next year as we have lots more to do over the next 6 months.

Since the last update, about a month ago, we have stayed mostly in Virginia with some brief times visiting friends in Asheville NC.

We also did a day trip to Charlottesville VA both of these areas are places we might find a landing pad. There are a number of positive things about Asheville – we know some folks there, the community has a lot of activities including walking trails and even a wine tasting group and the place would be brand new.   The Downside is it’s 475 miles away from Springfield VA and our granddaughters – making it somewhat undesirable as a result. Charlottesville is closer, 100 miles or so and we have an agent looking at properties that might work for us that we will check out when we get back to Virginia.

Right now we are in Paris. Yes, Paris France again for Christmas and New Years. We are in the same apartment we had last year in the 18^th arrondissement (currently well away from the protests that have been happening, which is nice). Our youngest son, Ryan and his husband Chris are completing their Masters Degrees (Ryan in International Business and Chris in Hospitality) and Ryan has signed on for an internship which will have him first in Bordeaux and then in a couple of other cities outside of Paris. So, as Ryan and Chris are in Paris, our other son Jason decided he should come here for the Holidays too. He and his family show up on the 18^th and are here until after the first of the Year.

Prior to our arrival a few days ago, Chris and Ryan had gotten the keys to the apartment and stocked it with the critical items – wine and cheese plus some other food items and they now have spent a few hours helping to get the Christmas Tree up and decorated.

 

Next up, our friend Beth will be joining us tomorrow for 2 weeks! She has never been to Europe and it will be exciting to take her around to the unprotested ($$$) wonders of this great city.  She will be here when the Lee’s of Virginia arrive and will move out of our apartment and into Ryan and Chris for a couple of days before she heads home.

More soon!

Virginia is dotted with a number of small wineries throughout the state. While we have been driving around we have noticed a number of them but have not been prompted to stop. Recently, a friend invited us to join her for a Harvest Festival at The Winery at Bull Run

and it seemed like a good time to take the plunge into the local wine world. It would not be an exaggeration that we have been to literally 100’s of wineries over the years – and have a good understanding of the process of how grapes are grown and wine is made.

Cradled in the foothills of the Bull Run Mountains, this winery is just a half hour away from our current landing pad in Springfield Virginia.  Located adjacent to a charming Stone Bridge that crosses Bull Run stream at the eastern entrance of the Manassas National Battlefield Park it is cloaked in history and drama for sure. The original stone bridge was destroyed during the first major battle at Bull Run in July 1861.

Some years later the bridge was rebuilt. Historical markers throughout the property document both the encampments and movements of both sides during the Civil War battle.

Established in 2012, the winery has had a limited release of about 2,500 cases until recently. Production is now ramping up to 10,000 or more with both estate-grown fruit and purchased fruit. The Winery has two vineyards on site totaling over 8 acres of Norton vines. The Norton grape is a true Virginia Native having been first cultivated in Richmond VA during the early 19^th century. In addition to the onsite vineyards they also have a 115-acre property in Rappahannock County. At that location they are currently growing an additional 8 different varietals – Chardonnay, Petit Verdot, Chambourchin, Traminette, Merlot, Viognier, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.

We arrived at the Winery in the early evening – so it was impossible to really appreciate the beauty of the location. The winery includes several buildings – a very nice tasting room, a barrel room, tank room and general support faculties.

We started off in the tasting room – a charming room paneled in vintage barn wood with hand-hewn beams. A hand painted mural depicting the property circa 1862 backs the Stone bar, with copper counter.

There is a nice seating area with fireplace and comfy couches plus a general area for table seating. When we arrived there was a musician playing guitar and a crowd of people enjoying the music and the wine.

Finding a spot at the bar, we sampled 3 whites and 4 reds – a standard tasting menu for the day it seems.

The three whites included a 2017 Pinot Gris, a Stainless Steel Chardonnay and a 2017 Delaney (a blend of 5 different varietals) then moved to the four reds: a 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon, a 2016 Merlot, a 2016 Norton Reserve and a 2017 Chambourchin. The one common denominator of the wines was the ABV of 13% that is a sweet spot as far as I am concerned. The whites were all pleasant.  The Cabernet Sauvignon had only been in bottle 3-weeks and really was not showing at its best – but then I don’t see drinking a Cab Sav until it is at least 5 or 6 years old. The Merlot and Norton were interesting – soft and generally pleasing to the palate. After enjoying our tasting we headed out to the Production Barn for the Harvest Dinner.

Over the course of the next couple of hours and a five-course meal paired with different wines we learned more about the place and enjoyed visiting with new friends.

The first course was paired with a lovely 2017 Viognier – which was my wine of the evening. It went great with the Pumpkin Ricotta Ravioli and I was able to score a second glass that I nursed throughout the evening.

Course two was a Caramelized Onion and butternut squash tart paired with a 2017 Pinot Gris.

Next up was a Grilled port Tenderloin paired with a 2014 Meritage Reserve. This was the oldest wine served and quite nice (second favorite wine of the evening).

Course four was a Seared New York Strip paired with a 2016 Reconciliation

and we finished the evening with Mini Chocolate duo paired with a port style wine called Fort.

At one point I had the chance to talk to the wine maker, Ashton Lough.

He joined the Winery at the beginning and has been responsible for all aspects of winemaking since then. Until recently his position was part time only recently being expanded to a full time position as production has increased. I found it interesting that his educational background, and I assume employment positions, was in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. This is not the traditional pathway to becoming a winemaker but the results in the glass are quite pleasing – particularly the Viognier – so I guess he is doing OK.

 

The evening was enjoyable and could easily cause us to visit this place again to sample more of their wines.

After leaving SoCal we drove to Cupertino and spent a couple of days at my sister Georgia’s place. Our primary reason for being in the area was to celebrate the 50^th wedding anniversary of our friends Pete and Jaynese. Janeen had been in the wedding party and all members of the wedding party were represented!

It was a lovely afternoon celebrating with them.  A couple of days later, we hooked up with our Bethlehem PA friend Myrt

for an evening meal at Palo Alto Fountain and Grill that was delightful.

After leaving Cupertino, we went to Sonoma; first a quick visit with Richard de los Reyes,

winemaker at Row Eleven then lunch with Kirk and Denise, winemakers and owners of WesMar wines.

Both visits were mucho fun and it was great to see all of them even if it was for a brief time. After lunch we went to Sonoma and stayed with our friend Beth. The highlight of our visit was being able to fix all the lamps broken by her cat – turns out new light bulbs were all that was needed! It was great to visit friends prior to heading east.

Our first stop, heading east, was the Empire Mine State Historic Park. Janeen had been here some 20 plus years ago while doing a Northern Cal tour with the boys, but I had never been. This was an active gold mine from 1850 until 1956. Since 1975 it has been a California State Park keeping alive some of the history of the gold rush times. Over its history the mine produced 5.8 million ounces of gold extracted from 367 miles of underground tunnels.

In October 1850, George Roberts discovered gold in a quartz outcrop and thus started mining in the area and after several years, it changed hands being purchased by William Bowers Bourn (1869) who died in 1874 but his son, William Bourn II along with partner George Starr modernized the place and brought in skilled Cornish miners and technology to work the hard rock mining operation.

Over the years various buildings were constructed on the site including a Cottage (small cottage, only 3500 square feet) and a Club House, used to entertain visiting mine owners from around the world, plus various other mining structures.

Over the years the mine went from water powered operation to steam to electricity. What never changed was the hard work required to get the gold out of the rock. Digging deeper and deeper following veins of gold baring quartz, the mine eventually went over 11,000 feet deep. Various operations to get both the workers and the rock to the surface were required. Extracting gold from rock isn’t easy and generally isn’t a healthy operation. Superintendent Starr, however, had an impressive safety record.

Turns out that gold mines were defined as “nonessential industry for the war effort” by the US Government and operations where shut down from 8 Oct. 1942 until 30 June 1945. After the war, a shortage of skilled miners forced the suspension of operations below the 4600 level by 1951.

By the 1950s inflation costs for gold mining were leaving the operation unprofitable. In 1956 a crippling miners’ strike over falling wages ended operations. Ellsworth Bennett, a 1910 graduate of the Mackie School Of Mines in Reno was the last “Cap’n” (Superintendent) of the Empire, overseeing the closing of the Empire on May 28, 1957 when the last Cornish water pumps were shut and removed. In its final year of operation in 1956, the Empire Mine had reached an incline depth of 11,007 ft.

 

For the last 40 years, we have owned a home in Alhambra California. While we have completely vacated the place and put it on the market, it has yet to sell. Recently we spent the better part of a month in our old town – staying with some friends – and doing the final bits to close out the property. As of today, (9-28) we have had several offers but have yet to get through the entire escrow and final sale process. Hopefully soon this will happen. This got me to thinking about the history of the City and what has happened over the years.

The original inhabitants of the land where Alhambra now sits are the Tongva and the San Gabriel Mission was founded nearby on September 8, 1771 as part of the Spanish conquest and occupation of Alta California. The land that would later become Alhambra was part of a 300,000-acre land grant given to Manuel Nieto, a soldier from the Los Angeles Presidio. In 1820 Mexico won its independence from the Spanish crown and lands once ruled by them became part of the Mexican Republic. These lands then transferred into the hands of the United States following the defeat in the Mexican–American War. A wealthy developer, Benjamin Davis Wilson, married Ramona Yorba, daughter of Bernardo Yorba, who owned the land that would become Alhambra. With the persuasion of his daughter, Ruth, Yorba named the land after a book she was reading, Washington Irving’s Tales of the Alhambra, which he was inspired to write by his extended visit to the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain (we visited the room where Irving wrote the book during our trip to Spain in 2015).

Alhambra was founded as a suburb of Los Angeles that remained an unincorporated area during the mid-19th century.

The first school in Alhambra was Ramona Convent Secondary School, built on hillside property donated by the prominent James de Barth Shorb family. Thirteen years before the city was incorporated, several prominent San Gabriel Valley families interested in the Catholic education of their daughters established the school in 1890. The city’s first public high school, Alhambra High School, was established in 1898, five years before the city’s incorporation – both of our sons graduated from this school along with other legendary folk including Clive Cussler – author, Cheryl Tiegs – fashion model, Dorothy Howell Rodham – mother of Hillary Clinton, Mickey Thompson – race car driver to name a few.

Incorporated in 1903, the city was originally promoted as a “city of homes” and many have historical significance. There are various styles; craftsman, bungalow, Spanish Mediterranean, Spanish colonial, Italian Beaux-arts and others. Twenty-six single-family residential areas have been designated as historical neighborhoods.

The downtown area at the intersection of Main and Garfield has been the center of the business district since 1895. Having undergone a number of construction changes over the years it is still the main point to start shopping. Along Main Street, there are a number of car dealerships making it very much a destination for anyone looking to buy a new car.

Alhambra has experienced waves of new immigrants, beginning with Italians in the 1950s, Mexicans in the 1960s, and Chinese in the 1980s. As a result, a very active Chinese business district has developed on Valley Boulevard, including Chinese supermarkets, restaurants, shops, banks, realtors, and medical offices. Just around the corner from our home was an old Bob’s Big Boy Restaurant that was turned into a popular Asian restaurant, Noodle World – our go-to fast food spot for years.

Alhambra has also been in the movies!  NCIS, NCIS-Los Angeles, Father of the Bride and other TV and movies have used parts of Alhambra over the years.

Phil Spector,

a legendary record producer who did a number of records for the Beatles and others, lived in Alhambra for many years in what was called the Pyrenees Castle built in 1926.

In 2003, actress Lana Clarkson was shot to death in his Alhambra home and in 2009, Spector was convicted of second-degree murder in connection with Clarkson’s death. This was national news for several months.

The Hat, a local icon, was opened in Alhambra in 1951. It was the original, family-owned outdoor restaurant, and is now a well-known small Southern California chain. The company has kept to its roots by keeping its retro neon signs featuring a chef’s toque and the words “World Famous Pastrami”. It was a prototype of today’s fast-food restaurants. Its customers consume 13–15 tons of pastrami per week – we have had our share over the years but NOTHING close to the amount they sell on a regular basis. Another favorite over the years has been Pepe’s Mexican Restaurant.

Started in Alhambra they now have locations in many local cities but the original is always the best.

During our visit we discovered that one of our favorite chefs has purchased a neighborhood pizza place and is beginning to change it into something different. Genovese’s Pizza (2900 Main Street, Alhambra – stop by!)  has been around for a long time and now Hugo Molino and his wife Aricia are hosting Pop Up presentations for some of the creations Hugo has done over the years. Recently we were there for Tuscan Night that was wonderful.

Over the years the City has changed, but it has always been able to maintain a certain character – clean, relatively safe, a bedroom community with generally good schools and an active City Council moving in conservative fashion to improve the place.

Once we sell the house, which will happen eventually we know, we will still return as we have great friends to visit, places to eat we love and a climate that is really hard to beat.