River Road Wine Trail Valentine's Passport

Today was such a gorgeous day in the Salinas Valley, no one could have guessed that it is the middle of winter. The twelve wineries which make up the River Road Wine Trail opened their doors with plenty of wine, food and music.  My friends and I only managed to make it to five of the twelve wineries:  Marilyn Remark, Hahn Winery, ParaisoVineyards, Sycamore Cellars and Sheid Vineyards. 

Sycamore Cellars, Greenfield

Paraiso Vineyards, Soledad

Soledad, California from Hahn Wineries

Hahn Winery, Soledad

The Santa Lucias from Hahn Winery

Fortunately, we left plenty of places to visit next year.  Unfortunately,  I forgot to take pictures of the wine.  In fact, I forgot to take pictures after the first couple of wineries........

Fresh Eating in the Middle of Winter

Winter Greens, MPC Farmer's Market

California BBQ, Soledad

On a recent trip to Arizona, I was attracted to and impressed by the following BBQ contraption, complete with dual muffler exhaust:

Babe's BBQ, Camp Verde, Arizona

Anecdotally, folks in this part of Arizona seem to scoff at Californians who move in and try to change the status quo.  There's no debating it: Arizona and California are very different. The ribs were sweet, smoky, sticky and a perfect send off as we headed back to California.

Until today, I figured that our Santa Maria neighbors had the monopoly on the California barbecue scene.  There is definite history behind the Santa Maria tri-tip barbecue, which perhaps we will visit in the future.  But today, after a gorgeous winding drive down River Road, I discovered that south Monterey County not only challenges the presumption that Santa Maria is the California barbecue mecca, it scoffs at it.

Soledad Super Bowl BBQ Fundraiser, Soledad American Legion Hall

Chicken and Local Swiss Sausage for the Cooking Crew

Soledad Bean Pot.  Yikes.

The Soledad Rotary Club and the American Legion partnered up today to  raise money for the Soledad community by selling a half-chicken BBQ lunch complete with beans, local salad, homemade salsa, local roll and soft drink.  And not just any barbecued half chicken, these babies were grilled over some serious hardwood coals.  Arriving early allowed a behind the scenes views of the BBQ crew in action (permitted as long as one stays behind the painted green line).  Fortunately, this localite scored a line pass (pair of tongs) and got the honor of handing out the chicken in the serving line. (Wait........ honor? Or hazing?)

I still haven't gotten the smoke out of my hair.