retirement activity

A fun luncheon with our granddaughter

/ Roadtirementvintage / 29 Comments

Things worked out great for us to have a fun luncheon with our just turned ten year old granddaughter. As her school was out this week Sher and I could take her out to lunch. This has become somewhat of a tradition with her when we visit family in Austin.

Our daughter-in-law recommended that we dine at Mandola’s Italian Kitchen. There are several locations of this Texas original chain. We picked one reasonably close.  Our granddaughter had been there before, and approved of this choice for lunch.

Well stocked dessert counter, one of two!

Wine bar, vacant for the lunch crowd.

 

 

 

 

 

Not only is the food menu extensive, but in addition you’ll find wonderful desert counters and a well filled wine bar. You order your meal at the counter, pay there and get your order number sign. Drinks and tableware are self serve with plenty of take home containers also available. Once seated you are immediately served a traditional basket of fresh bread with olive oil sprinkled with spices for dipping.

Fresh warm bread with oil for dipping

That’s a lot for a kid’s meal!

Our meals were brought to our table in a very short time. The presentation was good and portion sizes were quite impressive. Our Granddaughter ordered the chicken fingers and fries. She got three huge “fingers” plus a stack of fries. There was enough there for an adult meal.

Loaded chopped Italian salad bowl

Gnocchi with meat sauce

Sher thoroughly enjoyed her Italian salad overflowing the bowl with greens, fresh mozzarella, green & black olives, and tons of other delectable veggies. I really liked the Gnocchi with meat sauce. (Little Italian dumplings with a tomato sauce of beef, pork , garlic and veggies).

Main dining area decorated with soccer club flags

While the meal was very good and filling, what made this lunch special was the fact that we could share it with our granddaughter. Time with family is so precious. When family is far away it makes time intervals between visits seem way to long! The pandemic sure messed up our travel plans, and hopefully we’ll be able to spend more time with our scattered out kids and grandkids even more in the upcoming months.

 

More on the Bent Oak Winery

/ Roadtirementvintage / 13 Comments

We had a great tasting experience the other day at the Bent Oak Winery. Located in what apparently is an older commercial strip building, the winery has a rather small entrance lobby, but it opens up in length in the tasting room.

The entrance lobby

Another view of the tasting room

 

 

 

 

A variety of seating is offered. There are traditional tables and chairs, high tables with barstool type seating and several couches with coffee tables for your glasses. Our seating consisted of a beautiful heavy wood picnic sized table with individual cushioned bench seats. Our hostess, Joan, was a most helpful and friendly sommelier. For a tasting of five different wines the Bent Oak presents each one at a time, with sufficient time between pours to enable a true appreciation of each wine, leading to a very relaxing experience.

One of our pours.

The tasting list

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our tasting of whites started with the ’18 Chardonnay CA Chalk Hill, followed by the ’19 Viognier TX High Plains. The 3 reds led off with the ’18 Pinot Noir Reserve CA Russian River. Next came the ’19 Sangiovese TX High Plains. We finished our tasting with an exquisite ’19 Aglianico TX High Plains.

Joan took our picture! See the actual oak branches on the walls? Bent oak, that is…

We enjoyed a bag of handmade sweet/spicy pecans for munching between our samplings. Across from us sat a couple of nice young men. We enjoyed talking with them, discussing what varieties of wines we enjoyed the best. Joan was taking part in our conversations, adding wonderful and informative details. Sher and I decided on a bottle of the ’18 Chardonnay CA Chalk Hill and a bottle of the ’19 Aglianico TX High Plains to take with us. As part of our tasting, we both received a complimentary wine glass with the Bent Oak logo etched on the glass. We will most likely go back here while we are enjoying our time in the Austin area.

 

COVID booster and 2021 flu shots

/ Roadtirementvintage / 61 Comments

This is what Walmart uses for shots. It’s an “Inject-Safe barrier” that sticks to your skin and they poke the needle through the thin film in the center of it.

More than 6 months ago Sher and I received our second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Within the past few days the Moderna half dose booster shots became available for those of us over the age of 65, as well as others depending on heath concerns and other conditions.

Our local Walmart almost immediately had booster shots available either by appointment or walk in basis. We decided to go there as we had received our first two full strength doses there. Simple visit, walked in, had about a 5 minute wait. We also got our flu shots at the same time.

Two weeks from our receiving the booster it will be fully effective. Just in time for our trip to Austin. Yes, we’re going back to traveling, visiting our oldest son, daughter-in-law and our 9 year old granddaughter. We’ll soon be bringing some posts from Texas.

Skip Rock Distillery Snohomish

/ Roadtirementvintage / 41 Comments

One of the last places we took in before our return to Indiana was a local distillery in Snohomish. The Skip Rock Distillery is known for its premium quality liquors. Their diverse product line includes two kinds of potato vodka, three award-winning rums, several whiskeys and an assortment of fruit liqueurs.

The street view

Some of Skip Rock’s award winners

 

 

 

 

 

The tasting room in downtown Snohomish is just off of the 1st Street main shopping area. The old brick building houses the street level shop and the actual working distillery. Our host told us that a remodeling project is coming, which will include a full cocktail bar.

Tasting menu

Six flights ready

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our son-in-law’s parents have also joined us and all of us visited the tasting room. We all had a flight of four samples. It was quite the experience having samples of everything from fruit liqueurs to gin to potato vodka.

Where it all happens

All thoroughly enjoyed the new tastes to our palates. In addition to tasting we did among us purchase some of the fruit liqueurs. These small local distillers are such a treat for several reasons. Normally, like Skip Rock, they produce premium products. In addition these small local businesses are the lifeblood of the town’s economy. We enjoy supporting local businesses.  Here is Skip Rock’s website.

A fun wine and beer walk

/ Roadtirementvintage / 27 Comments

We had a most enjoyable wine and beer walk at the Mill Creek Town Center this evening. There were 10 stations, most had three wine samples, a couple had different samples of beer.

The Mill Creek Town Center is an upscale shopping and entertainment area. It includes restaurants, shops, banks and art galleries.