The Good Life

Ms. K and I spent Saturday in Santa Barbara. We left early and rambled around Red Rock. It was a perfectly clear, warm day. We picknicked by the water's edge and almost made it to the SB Reservoir, only we had a date with a winery.

It took us about thirty minutes, in Ms. K's amazing jalopy, to get to the Santa Ynez Valley. My Aussie friend Martin Brown has recently opened a winery with his brother Michael. I met Martin through one of my oldest and dearest friends, Kristina. She came down from the Bay Area to work at the winery for the weekend.

I know what you might be thinking. Pregnant woman? Wine tasting? I actually tried most of their wines and simply spit it out after each sample. Apparently this is the appropriate way to taste. (Although I have not found any hard evidence to support it.) It seemed to help me critique the wine, as I could concentrate on the flavor and my palette remained sharp.

The M. Brown label Shiraz (1998) was one of the best, we all agreed. I cannot wait to serve it to friends. Martin has offered to provide wine for G's art opening!

On our way back into SB we swung through Cold Springs Tavern. Cold Springs is an old stone shack on the edge of the Los Padres Forest. It is a favorite of both bikers and college kids. An acoustic set was going and we felt right at home.

We finished the night with dinner at Roy. I highly recommend Roy, in my opinion it is one of the best restaurants in SB. All entrees come with soup, salad, vegetables and potato latkes. Ms. K is one of those excellent travel comrades. She is game for anything and you never have to worry if she is having a good time. Over dinner she got into an intense discussion with a Professor of Plant Biology.

My fearless Attorney and part-time Girl Scout Guide!

Posted by Molli at April 22, 2002 08:25 PM