Francis Ford Coppola’s eponymous wine company not long ago purchased the former Geyser Peak Winery in Sonoma County’s Alexander Valley. (Geyser Peak wines still exist. Its U.S. corporate owner recently sold the company to an Australian corporation. The new owner moved the tasting room to a different location.) Coppola renamed the winery Virginia Dare after the first American Baby.
Category: Places
Places I remember
Gift Guide for Every Occasion
Trying to find the perfect gift for that very special person? You won’t go wrong shopping at Archie McPhee in Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood. A Holy Toast maker – imprinting the Virgin Mary in your bread –could be just the thing for your devout friend. Or how about Nikola Tesla socks for that electric-car driver? Or a Mr. Bacon Air Freshener? If you’re looking for something more conservative, Archie McPhee carries the traditional Rubber Chicken.
Archie McPhee has been selling life’s necessities since 1983. If you can’t make it to Seattle, they also offer on-line shopping.
For a report on the hazards of this specialty business, click here.
Shopping at Archie McPhee can work up an appetite. I recommend going around the block for Puttanesca at Bizzarro Italian Café.
Meet Me in Atlantic City
Recently a well-know politician asked, “How can anybody lose money running a casino?”
Here’s how. Continue reading “Meet Me in Atlantic City”
Mark Twain on American Exceptionalism
Mark Twain was a resolute opponent of imperialism in general and the Philippine-American War in particular. Take a few minutes to read his report on military action against the Moro tribe in the Philippines.
The End of the Strawberry As Some of Us Know It?
In my early teens I spent the early weeks of a few summers in the strawberry fields around Portland. I say early weeks because the berry’s season in Oregon is very short. In recent years the strawberry crop in Oregon has been shrinking, a victim of the flavor-intense ripe berry’s very short life and inability to travel far. Watsonville, California, meanwhile has been dramatically increasing its berry output. The California season is nearly year-round and the berries have a long shelf life. Oh yeah, not much flavor, either.
Gravenstein apples have suffered a similar fate in Sonoma County for similar reasons, with the additional pressure of vineyards taking over every patch of ground
What WPA and CCC Did For Us
My father, born and raised in Florida, settled in Oregon after World War II. When relatives came to visit, Timberline Lodge was at the top of his list of attractions to show them. There is irony here: a staunch Republican and FDR hater, he took great pride in showing off this Works Progress Administration make-work project. Franklin D. Roosevelt, creator of the New Deal bureaucracies, came to Mt. Hood to dedicate the Lodge in 1937. Continue reading “What WPA and CCC Did For Us”