June 27-29: It’s the law: You must wine...

Who are we to ignore the fact that we’re in Wine Country? Of course, for us, we can make almost anywhere we are into Wine Country.

Friday night, we almost made it to Jocko’s up in Nipomo (about 30 minutes away) for steaks, but logistics coordinating with other family members, not to mention a lack of reservations at a place known for wait times measured in hours, conspired against us. Fortunately, we’ll probably be passing this way in the Fall on our way back to Arizona, so that was only a minor disappointment.

Especially since we were only 3 minutes away from another of our favorite steak places, the Hitching Post in Buellton. We’ve been going to this place for decades; Kathy was the one who introduced us to the place back in the late 1970s. Back then, it was a quieter time. Since the restaurant was featured in the movie Sideways in 2004, crowds have been larger, noisier, and more “touristy”. Without reservations, we were able to secure a couple of spots at the bar after a short wait and were soon elbow deep in great steaks and a bottle of their renowned house Pinot Noir.

On Saturday, we headed back toward Lompoc to make a stop at Foley Estates Winery, one of Geri’s favorites. In “the old days”, we would have identified several wineries to visit, mapped out a route, and made a day trip of it. These days, we pick one, maybe two, and tend to settle in. In this case, we did the standard tasting at Foley and ended up buying a couple of glasses of what we liked best. We skulked out a spot at one of the outside tables and settled in. We invited other wine drinkers to join us and met some new people. We relaxed and enjoyed.

We made plans to meet Cherie on Sunday afternoon at the “Wine Ghetto” in Lompoc. This area, “behind the Home Depot”, is a small industrial park that’s been almost completely taken over by small wineries. Since Cherie is the “local expert”, we let her be our tour guide. She led us through four tasting rooms before closing time, all within walking distance of each other. What an awesome place for winos!

This was a wonderful way to wrap up our stay. We’re back on the road tomorrow…