The Other Wine Country

I know everyone knows about the Napa/Sonoma area, but did you know that just outside of Seattle the town of Woodinville has over 90 wineries and tasting rooms! My college roommate is from Woodville and I still didn't know anything about this. According to her, many of the wineries are new to the area so it's basically up and coming wine area. So cool! Combine this with the craft brewery culture in Seattle and Portland and this is basically the idea place to go if you like to drink :)

On Thursday morning of our trip we headed back into Seattle to eat breakfast with Ash's dad in the city. We went to this really cool restaurant called 5 Spot in the Queen Anne neighborhood. Besides having THE best French toast ever, this place is also a cool place to visit because it changes themes every month. I don't just mean change the menu, I mean seriously changes all the decor in the place. Right now it's a Mexican theme. Wish I had a place like this near me!

After breakfast we walked down to Kerry Park where you can see a gorgeous view of downtown Seattle and Mount Rainier. Personally I think if you are trying to save money and time in Seattle I'd recommend visiting this park on a clear day over going to the top of the space needle (also cool but not free). If you look really closely in the pictures you can see the mountain but I swear in real life it's so much clearer.








On the way back to Ash's mom's house we stopped by the University of Washington bookstore so Eric and I could get matching sweatshirts. Yup, that is what happens after two years of marriage, dressing alike. Then it was time for wine and beer tasting.





Of course we had high hopes of visiting a million wineries, but we did successfully make it to (and enjoy) two wineries and Redhook Brewery. If you are wondering if Seattle has good weather for growing wine, the answer is probably not, as both of these wineries grow their grapes in Eastern Washington and just have tasting rooms in Woodinville. The first winery was called Delille Cellars. It was in a beautiful spot overlooking the view of Mount Rainier and the wine was delicious. The second winery we visited was called Gorman and also had delicious wine. I especially liked the Chardonnay, which I am usually not a big fan of. While at the second winery we split a delicious pizza from Station Pizza which is right next door. We finished the day with a trip to Redhook Brewery which was a must for Eric and I since we have visited their Portsmouth NH location multiple times. My favorite beer at Red Hook was called the Whit beer, and it inspired me to start a new note on my phone called Drinks I Loved. I constantly am asking Eric, what was that drink I liked again? Now my phone can tell me.

That about wraps up the Seattle part of our trip (except for my early morning adventures before our flight home). I'll be back hopefully tomorrow with the Vancouver stories.

Do you like to visit wineries and/or breweries? Where is your favorite?