Just A Few Highlights

Okay, so now that I’m back, I’ll mention just a few highlights. It’s hard to sum up a three week trip that covered Ashland, Portland, Astoria, Seaview, Monterosa, Olympia, Tacoma, Bellevue, Seattle, Bainbridge Island, San Juan Island, Orcas Island, Port Townsend, Leavenworth, Wanatchee, Ellenburg, Yakima, Grandview, Walla Walla, Bend, Crater Lake and Klamath Falls, but here are three I’ll definitely remember:

Crater Lake. This was taken in the middle of June. The first time I’ve seen snow in about 20 years, having lived in Austin and then San Francisco that whole time, and it’s the middle of freaking June. I will never again whine about how cold it is in San Francisco in August.

Java Jive. This place was a roadside attraction in Tacoma. I assumed it was going to be a tiny little coffee shop that closed at 3PM. Oh no, my friends. It’s a very cool dive bar, with live music and cheap beer and friendly bartenders and it used to have monkeys in a cage behind the stage until someone realized it was cruel to subject monkeys to all those Kurt Cobain wannabes.

Blackwood Canyon Winery. See that dirt-covered homeless-looking dude? That’s the winemaker and winery owner. The guy’s worth — well, he just sold off part of his land to a guy from Microsoft for about $6 million, and he owns a huge chunk of Santa Barbara where he caters parties for Oprah. But when you visit his winery, it’s just him and about six dogs roaming around the place. The guy’s super-interesting: he basically hijacked our day and took us through a complete history of winemaking, with five hours of sampling some amazing wine, including some that sells for $125 a bottle. He even paired some of his wine with food he whipped up for us in the back room. Then he walked us out to the fields where we drank some unbelievable French-style dry rosé right from the barrels. An incredible day, and a good reason to be married to a travel writer.

Playwrights Pub Nite

Last night was the second installment of Playwrights Pub Nite, our every-three-month slow-motion pub crawl where playwrights get to meet, hang out, drink beer, catch up and have conversations where you don’t have to stop and explain who Brecht is.

For reasons that I no longer remember but that I think had to do with most plays running on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, we had this one on a Wednesday, which meant that a few people were unable to make it because they either had work conflicts or are big-shot writers for Killing My Lobster and had a meeting.

But plenty still came, and the mellow environs of The Bitter End were a great complement to the evening. I got a chance to finally meet Octavio Solis, who may be the coolest guy ever. Super-friendly and interested in anyone and everyone. It was great to talk to him.

And of course, Marisela was there, Erin Bregman biked in, and even M and our housemate Jeff, who still owes me for the beers I bought him. (His trick is, he buys the first round, then suggests you open a tab, then disappears to buy a fish from a nearby fish store when the bill comes. Luckily, I know where he lives.)

Next time will be in another part of town, quite possibly on a Saturday again, probably in August. So block out every Saturday for the next four months, just to be sure you can make it. And if you are a playwright and want to be invited, don’t be shy. Email Marisela with the secret code, “I like beer; put me on the list.”