July 4th Weekend in Jackson - July 4 - 6
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July 4
Trisha and Matthias were in town for Lulu Bartley's wedding in Plymouth (Sacramento/Lodi area). Since our backpacking plans with Kristine fell through, we decided to drive on up and visit them. It was low to mid 90s on our drive up, typical central valley weather. We arrived and met them at the Jackson Rancheria Hotel and Casino where they were staying and we were staying for a night.
We drove around Jackson to try to find a place to eat, but so many of the places were closed for the holiday. We ended up eating at Mel and Fay's Diner, which is famous for their Moo Burger. Since I don't eat beef, i ordered a Moo Burger (2 patties) made with turkey patties. It was huge, but I was very hungry and it was very tasty. Andrea had a bacon cheeseburger, which she thought was okay, but her chocolate malt was tasty. Trisha had the Moo Burger and Matthias also had a bacon cheeseburger. They split a banana shake made with fresh bananas. Tasty.
After that, we went back to the casino and gambled a little bit to kill time (always a potentially costly endeavor) before going to see Men In Black II. Trisha came out even on the nickel slots, Andrea lost $22 on nickel slots, Matthias abstained, and I managed to squeeze $100 out of the house playing blackjack.
Then we went to go see Men In Black II, where we gorged ourselves on more junk food including Sour Jacks, Whoppers, buttered popcorn, and peanut M&Ms. Ugh.
July 5
Having apparently not eaten enough, we went to breakfast in the casino. Trisha and Matthias had to go to a lunch function for the wedding so Andrea went to the very small town of Volcano (pop. 108). We found a nice little cafe called the Stone Rose Cafe where we had some home made apricot pie and the best scone (strawberry) either of us had ever had. There was also an antique auto show scheduled for July 6. Since we knew Matthias would want to go to the show, we knew we'd be back and we'd be back for more pie and scones!
After we returned from Volcano, all four of us went to do some wine tasting (how could we resist...). First we went to a winery called Domaine de Terre de Rouge (two pictures below) which specialized in Rhone style wines as well as California varietals. We especially liked the Terre de Rouge Noir, but of course, they were sold out of it. Fortunately, Whole Foods, The Jug Shop, and Plumpjack carry there wines.
We then went to Renwood where we enjoyed their Zinfandels (we bought 2 bottles - one of the Grand Pere and one bottle of the Jack Rabbit Flat). Our last stop was at Shenendoah (3 pictures below). One of the workers made a very audacious claim that the Cabernet Reserve was one of the best Cabernets ever made and was better than a 1995 Opus - it wasn't, but was decent enough for $25. What was more of a find was the Barbera Reserve and the Black Muscat dessert wine was tasty. Andrea bought one, two, and two (375ml) of the Cabernet, Barbera, and Muscat, respectively.
Mr. D looks constipated.
