Dawny and I shared a room at the rental house and
neither of us slept well. Dawny woke up
around 4am and went out for a very early morning walk. I ended up getting out of bed around 5am and
needed coffee ASAP. Our rental didn’t
have a coffee pot so Dawny and I went in search of a Starbucks. We ended up at the same Safeway we had been
the night before so we also got some items for a fruit salad to tide us over
while we waited for the others to wake up.
We were going to have breakfast at this restaurant
called Bacon & Eggs but by 9am on a Saturday morning, the wait was already
30 minutes. We consulted Yelp again and
set out on foot to a different restaurant called Maple Counter Café. They had a slightly shorter wait time and you
could sip on coffee while you wait.
While the service was really slow, the coffee was
delicious and the food was really yummy.
We headed out on foot towards the Farmer’s Market stopping along the
Tourist Center along the way. We were
able to score some free wine tasting cards and see some cute little kittens.
The Farmer’s Market was small but lively.
Phoenix’s parents had given us a recommendation to
visit Canoe Ridge Vineyard, which was not in the downtown area. Since we had the free tasting cards at
another winery outside of downtown the search began for some wine tasting. We got on the wrong stretch of US12 and ended
up further away from our destination.
Danielle knew of a winery that came highly recommended in the area we
had gotten lost in. We found our way to
Foundry Vineyards which is known for their delicious wine and their art exhibits.
The Walla Walla wine region tends to be very heavy
on the red varieties, which are my least favorite wine. At Foundry Vineyards we tried two different types
of Chardonnay, one from a steel barrel and one from an oak barrel. I could instantly taste the different and
much prefers the taste from steel barrel.
I did a quick search for the location of Canoe Ridge Vineyards and found out it was just a block away from Foundry
Vinyeards. That was good to know. Of all the red wines I have tasted in my
life, Canoe Ridge Vineyards had the smoothest and the best tasting. If it wasn’t $40+ per bottle, I would have
taken one home with me.
Our free tasting cards were for Revelry Vintners,
which was the smallest tasting room but had the only sweet wine I tasted the
entire weekend. I ended up buying a
bottle of their Rose so I could come home with something from the Walla Walla
wine region.
After many wine tastings, we needed some food and a
nap! We headed back to the house rental
for both. After waking up at 5am, the
nap was much needed if I was going to try and party-it-up with the Walla Walla
late night crowd later in the evening.
Once place that had come recommended for Walla Walla nightlife was The Red Monkey, which Danielle had heard about.
The Red Monkey had a killer deal where you could
get a cheeseburger and a beer for $9.
The beer even included Guinness, which I was able to get with nitro. Both Kate and I got the cheeseburger special
and I got some sweet potato fries.
Danielle ordered some pizza rolls and we all shared.
A short walk was a bar called Fat Cats Tavern &
Grill but that ended up being more of a locals bar and far off the beaten path
so we didn’t stay long. We had heard several
times that if you wanted some good live music and dancing that you should go to
Sapolil Cellars. There was a $5 cover
charge after 8pm so we slipped in just before then hoping we could avoid the
cover charge.
Within just a few minutes of surveying the crowd,
we could quickly tell why the locals kept directing us to this place. I’m pretty sure we were the youngest group in
the bar. Even the live band was in the
senior citizen age range, but was still pretty good. Once we found out that sneaking in before the
cover charge won’t allow you to stay for free, we moved to another recommended location,
Marcy’s Bar & Lounge.
At this point we were almost 100% sure there was no
actual nightlife in the small town of Walla Walla. Since several locals said it gets "pretty
hoppin’" after 9pm we were determined to stick it out and see if that was
true. We ordered a drink and sampled
some delicious pastries/desserts from the Colville Street Patisserie across the street. As it turns out, both Danille and Kate went
to school with the owner Dave Christensen.
Dave wasn’t there but Danielle was able to meet his wife Tiffany. We LOVED the desserts.
Once the clock struck 9pm, we asked our waitress
why the town was pretty dead. She
thought it was due to the cool temps, rainy weather and Whitman College
graduation. I guess we will just have to
take their word that this small town really does come alive during the evening
hours.
On Sunday morning we woke at 7am so we could get to Bacon & Egg early. Our waitress at
Marcy’s the night before told us that if you show up at 8:01am that you will
have to wait for a table. We parked at
7:20am only to find the restaurant didn’t open until 8am. WTF?
We walked to Starbucks for some coffee and watched the door of the
restaurant. About 7:50am, Dawny spotted
somebody go inside. We came to find out
that there was a whole line of people INSIDE the restaurant and after we joined
them the line continued to grow behind us.
The waitress wasn’t kidding. By 8:15am there was now a wait for a
table. Wow. I would like to say it was because the food
was amazing, but sadly, I was underwhelmed.
Phoenix tried a Café Correcto since our waitress the night before had
recommended it. It came in the tiniest
glass you ever saw and consisted of two shots of espresso, bourbon, and a sugar
cube. It stunk and Phoenix said it didn’t
taste very good. Kudos for trying it
though.
With that, our vacation came to an end. We loaded up and made the four hour drive
home (gaining an extra hour which made it even later). We had so much fun and I am so happy I was able
to have this time with my friends. We all
have busy lives but if we don’t slow down we won’t make any new
memories. Thank you Kate, Danielle,
Dawny, and Phoenix for sharing this weekend with me.
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