First few months of 2016

Catching up here . . . via quick notes on various events in opening months of 2016 . . .

1.  Per earlier post:  enjoyed EPG's company well into January; lost K prior to 12/31 but to a good cause.

2.  O'Connell visit at end of January, fun as always.

Dinner with DJ and "Debbers" at 706.

The ladies claim they had a fine outing (sans gentlemen).

3.  PJ and I enjoy an overnight in downtown Phoenix for Valentine's Day.  Kimpton - per usual.  First-time restaurant for dinner - Province - they did a very nice job.  Phoenix Public Market.  Great/seasonal weather, wandering around downtown from hotel up to Roosevelt Road and beyond.

Seems to be our only photo from Valentine's Day?
Oh well, you can see that it was a lovely evening
(per view from our hotel room).

4.  PJr and I participated in Arizona Musicfest in late February (after taking last year off) - Carmina Burana - PJ still in throes of bad cough so has to miss out but several fans are able to attend, nice gathering afterward at Bootleggers.

MusicFest (courtesy NOC Instagram feed)

5.  PJ and I repeat last year's Tucson B&B weekend - really enjoy the southern AZ sights, the Tucson restaurants, the relaxed wandering.  Nice.

Just hanging around in downtown Tucson.

6.  PJ and I had a great trip to Virginia in mid-March to visit Kerry, Luis et al; some notes and photos are posted separately.

7.  Next-gen folks threw a really quite excellent 60th birthday party in late March for PJ and me at the end of March; some notes and photos are posted separately.

8.  Opening Day baseball courtesy POC.  Zack Greinke did not dominate. But we had a fine time.

POC shepherding Mark Grace onto the field for Opening Day introductions, as
shown on video board.  Opening Day, always fun.

Pregame preparation is essential.  EPG able to stay on just a few days after 60th weekend.

9.  CPG and I were in a performance of Honegger's King David with ASU Choral Union (and other groups) at the end of April; PJ and Dharma attended (once logistics were straightened out).  The work has a number of nice moments and we stopped for a bite afterward at the Parlor, a fine evening.

10.  PJ and I enjoyed a great trip up to San Francisco to visit Patrick; photos and notes are posted separately.

11.  Lovely Mother's Day (May 8) - NOC, CPG, PJr treat to brunch at Richardson's, then Dharma (with some assist from CPG) treats to excellent dinner at her apartment.

Richardson's brunch crew.

Beautiful evening for a walk - here we are at Steele Park.

Visiting EPG

Viansa - our first stop after the airport.

PJ and I visited EPG up in San Francisco - our first time since he's relocated there, long overdue.  Delightful visit, EPG packs in lots of good stuff; here's what happened -

We enjoyed seeing Jason again after quite a few years (Viansa) . . . 

Friday, 29 April 2016 - Patrick and Jason (a U of A pal that we've met previously) picked us up at the airport and drove us straight up to Sonoma.  Gorgeous weather.  Tasting, photos at Viansa.  EPG then had thought that Benziger would be a good winery to visit (what with the tour and all) - not knowing this was the favorite of PJ and me, as noted here.  The winery grounds are pretty amazing; it's fun to ride along via the tractor and see what's up; and the tasting was quite nice.

Benziger = a lovely spot in Sonoma.

Benziger perhaps just a bit hurried because EPG had gotten a difficult patio lunch reservation at Girl & The Fig on the Sonoma square (not knowing this also was one of our favorite Sonoma spots - we seem to think along the same lines - which I suppose isn't surprising), and we certainly didn't want to blow it.  Charcuterie, salad, mussels, Pliny the Elder on tap, beautiful day on the patio.  After which we wandered the square a bit; Jason treats to a tasting at Bryter; return trip to SF where we drop him off, then head up to EPG's apartment.  Which we see is well stocked with our favorite food/beverage treats.  Enjoyed the view; made it down to Heche for dinner; Five Crowns later on.

Saturday 30 April 2016 - we start walking; coffee stop at Spike's; nice breakfast at Squat & Gobble on the patio; a bunch more walking (our favorite vacation activity, especially when (as here) the weather's perfect and the town is endlessly interesting to look at).

Magnolia Brewery doing good work.  And open  for business in the morning.

Haight-Ashbury!

EPG and I split a flight at Magnolia as we wander the storied (at least to persons of our generation) Haight-Ashbury district.  Enjoyed the 60s/70s shops even if perhaps aimed a bit at tourists just like us.  Then we pick up rental bikes - this worked really well! - wander a bit through Golden Gate Park, the Presidio - and then the main (biking) event - crossing the Golden Gate Bridge.  OK I can see that a lot of folks do this and it's not that difficult etc. - but I find it pretty amazing to think that we can bike across, pause and enjoy the views, etc.

PJ and EPG taking a short rest from biking . . . 

Halfway across.  Perfect weather, amazing views.

Made it!  Reviewing our work on far side of the bridge.

The bike ride ends in Sausolito; lovely lunch overlooking the water at Barrel House; while we wait for our table PJ finds a just-right pair of sunglasses.  Ferry ride after a bit of waiting; disembark after some bike-disentanglement efforts; drop off bikes and wander around the pier.  Next:  a walk to 21st Amendment brewery - enjoyed the flight and snacks, a lot, and came away with t-shirt and tasting glasses courtesy EPG and PJ.  Back to the apartment; eventually we go to Flour+Water for our 10:45p dinner rez - I can see why EPG likes the place (and why getting a rez is a challenge).  Head back to the apartment after the Sorento stalls in a painted-lady district.  This was a full day!

Looking back - on our biking-way to Sausolito.

Sunday 1 May 2016 - breakfast at Reverie Cafe; lots of walking from there; visit the DeYoung and wander through (including something we've not previously visited - the top-floor observation area); much more walking; this part of town is quite lovely; back to apartment and enjoy hanging out on the patio with a rather amazing charcuterie/beverage combination.

Barrel House - pleasant + lunch in Sausolito.  Views!

Onto Zuni for their roast chicken dinner (tasty plus plus); Shane had joined us.  Easy walking distance to Symphony Hall where EPG had arranged tickets for a performance of Faure's Requiem - one of my very very favorites, I listen to it constantly (and run on about it at some length here) - and it's not just any tickets that have been arranged, these seats are located in the first row immediately behind the chorus - we look over their shoulders at their music and see them following the conductor - we were a bit worried that it was organ accompaniment rather than the symphony but that turned out to work really well - mixture of professional and volunteer chorus members - just a wonderful performance.  Which we told the choristers as they walked off.  Memorable.  (We even liked the contemporary opening work - the composer was part of the performance via his on-stage laptop - something of a meditation on space and distance based on early 20th century Dutch telephone company interns stationed in East Indies - nice.)  Then it's onto Martuni's - we settle into a table and Shane treats to some beverages while we play multiple Five Crowns games and listen to theater types sing along with a piano player.  For a long time.  Another ridiculously full/fun day.

Symphony Hall - a memorable performance of a favorite work.

Monday, 2 May 2016 - after standing in line a bit, a pretty wonderful breakfast at Tartine - croissants, banana creme pie, coffee - unique.  Followed by a bunch of walking (with a couple stops in the furniture mart district); we arrive for our tour at Anchor Steam brewery.  Surprisingly interesting - it has a longer history than I knew; didn't realize the "steam" reference alludes to a cooling technique from the old days; we liked several of the beers quite a lot, the "Mango Wheat" being most interesting.  Which I wouldn't expect for that style.  We wander the area a bit and find a place for lunch; then swung by the "Galvanize" shared work space and took the CSuite tour with Rodrigo; back to the apartment a bit; down to Delfino's for dinner (we liked the place, a lot); back for sipping, view-admiring, Five Crowns, etc.

Anchor Steam - interesting story, good tour, fine product.

Tuesday, 3 May 2016 - EPG has some work to do in a.m.; PJ and I wander down to Spike's for breakfast; deal with AAA on the Sorento, do a few work things of my own, and we pack.  Take the slide down the hill(!); lots of walking through interesting neighborhoods (with some territory now becoming familiar); excellent lunch at Nopalita's; then some more walking (including swinging by the Painted Ladies, which we since note constantly in SF stock photography); back to the apartment where we hang around on the patio and review the long list of fun stuff that happened in these quick days.  Uber to airport.

Hilly area very near Patrick's apartment - we heard neighborhood kids making
use of this slide, and we didn't miss our own opportunity.

Sorry to leave EPG, happy to see what he's built/building there, delighted with our adventures, looking forward to the next time.

Wandering SF on our final day ("Painted Ladies")

60th birthdays (observance weekend)

The next-gen was kind enough to host a quite-fine weekend for PJ and me for our 60th birthdays - the fun started on March 23 and I'd say lasted until the first few days of April (when EPG headed back to CA).  We're pretty sure it involved lots of planning and not a few $$ - we were grateful.

In addition to travels by EPG and K&L, Cecilia visited from Minnesota for several days.

Key activities (in addition to general socializing):  wedding venues were checked out on Thursday-Friday; small-group birthday dinner at 706 on Friday evening; large-group birthday party at PJr/Nedda's place on Saturday evening; road trip to Tucson on Monday.

Not sure how it could have been nicer.

Dinner at Grassroots - Wednesday, March 23

Pig's Meow (March 24) (scene 1)

Pig's Meow (March 24) (scene 2)

Checking out potential wedding venues (downtown warehouse #1) (March 25)

We liked the Croft quite a bit (March 25)

Lovely birthday dinner at 706 - great menu, couldn't have been nicer.  (March 25)

PJ, Cecilia and I did a bit of hiking at 40th Street (March 26)

60th birthday party (scene 1) (March 26)

60th birthday party (scene 2) (March 26)

60th birthday party (scene 3) (March 26)

60th birthday party (scene 4) March 26

Four Tumacacori visitors (March 28)

Tumacacori National Monument; Mexican gold poppies (March 28)

We wander down to the Santa Cruz River on a lovely morning (March 28)

Stopping by San Xavier del Bac (scene 1) (March 28)

San Xavier del Bac (scene 2) (March 28)

The local ladies launder and changes clothes on this statute of the BVM (San Xavier del Bac, scene 3) (March 28)

One more statue (because I love looking at them) (San Xavier del Bac, scene 4) (March 28)

Tasters at Pueblo Vida Brewery (downtown Tucson (March 28)

Bowling excursion at some old-timey lanes in Sunnyslope neighborhood.  Very fun - partly because
scores were higher than expected in most cases.  And particularly in PJ's case.  (April 3)

Bowling (scene 2) (April 3)

Visiting K&L

Felt long overdue - but we made it back east to visit Kerry and Luis.  Very fun throughout.

Awaiting lunch at the DC market.

Some things that happened:

Friday, March 11 - travel day; our typical smooth passage; K&L pick us up at the airport.  PJr happens to be in town for some bond lawyers' conference; we meet him at their apartment and head out for a little house-hunting with the betrothed couple.  This was fun - the housing situation in the Virginia neighborhoods differs quite a bit from what we see in Phoenix, to put it mildly.  Houses of course are much older; a great deal of similarity in core properties in these neighborhoods, with variance introduced by subsequent "additions".  We enjoyed seeing this.  Later:  short walk to a SW restaurant near the apartment; Richard Frank joined.  Back to apartment for nightcapping.

Taste-testing at DC Brau.

More testing (DC Brau).

Saturday, March 12 - a very fun marathon.  Our group of six (K&L, Christina, PJr, PJ, me) travel to some downtown market via Uber - fun to browse, nice spot for lunch.  Onto a quite-fine local brewery - DC Brau - meet up with a few folks there.  Fun chatting and sipping, they are doing good work.  Onto another bar - this one German-themed - meet up with additional folks.  We are consistently impressed with the really high-quality folks K&L are friends with - and that so many of those folks made an effort to come out and meet us even though it involves giving up a big chunk of their weekend - such a nice group.  Steve & Carrie Jackshaw!  We are at the German place for quite a long while, chatting and sipping and enjoying a wonderful afternoon; then we test a few possibilities for dinner and end up late at an Italian place.  Fun day.

DC Brau, scene 3

Sunday, March 13 - K&L travel downtown with PJr and me to the National Gallery - always a treat - featuring Greek/classical era, lucky us as this sort of thing is unfailingly interesting.  Then it's time for L, PJr and me to track down some Peruvian chicken and discuss current campaign events while doing so (at the level of "they took our jobs" a la South Park alien episode); shortly thereafter PJr heads to the (Baltimore!) airport for his return flight.  In the evening, we travel out to visit Pedro and Maga - who happened to be hosting the Naples next-gen crew (Gustavo, Gonzalo, Gabriela) that we had enjoyed meeting back in November.  Pedro and Maga are wonderful hosts, it was great to see them again after too-many years (last time was this trip, I believe).  They also remembered our upcoming birthdays - cake and singing!  A lovely evening.

"German" bar, scene 1 . . . 

German bar, scene 2

Celebrating # 60 with Pedro, Maga and family . . . nice!

Monday, March 14 - L to work; K takes us to the French breakfast-place down the street; then we travel out into the Virginia countryside - this was quite excellent, and also brand-new territory for us.  Did a tasting at some winery; then lunch at The Red Fox Inn (est'd 1728, they claim) in the lovely little town of Middleburg .  Beautiful place, really good food - K and I split the Virginia peanut soup, as should be done here; yum throughout.  And then K bought me a Red Fox Inn polo shirt (it being birthday #60), I like it quite a lot.  Great outing, we would enjoy seeing more of this part of the world.

Birthday boy with K at winery.

Back to the apartment; K&L have thoughtful suggestions for my birthday dinner, and we make a rez.  But there are intervening circumstances as the five of us (K, L, Christina, PJ, me) while away the late afternoon into the early and not-so-early evening:  Five Crowns games (complete with our introducer, Christina); a pretty amazing charcuterie board (all my favorites); some pretty wonderful beer selections; and excellent wine hauled back for us by K&L all the way from Italy.  Not surprisingly, my birthday afternoon/evening was flying by rapidly in a remarkably pleasant fashion; I eventually (though reluctantly) requested that we cancel our dinner reservation because I didn't want to break up the apartment fun; so later on we had a bite at a local place.  Birthday #60 was a great one!

Birthday boy with K at Red Fox Inn.

Tuesday, March 15 - sad to say, this was our last day.  K takes us downtown; we decide to visit the US Botanic Garden - very near the Capitol; something not previously visited; should be on the list.  The place was featuring orchids - which was interesting indeed - but we enjoyed the whole site.  Took a photo near the under-construction Capitol building; then K surprised us with a trip to Cafe Belga in DC (pleasant memories from our last trip).  Interesting beer flight, quite-wonderful mussels; L carved out work time to join us.  (Not to mention that K carved out a bunch of time for us throughout.)

The nicest b-day celebration - at Arlington apartment with our hosts - 

And then it pretty much was time to head to the airport - sad to be saying our goodbyes.  Though at least we knew we would be getting together very quickly in Arizona.

United States Botanic Garden.

Belga Cafe - whiling away some time while waiting for our lunch.

 

PJ made it into a picture - after Botanic Garden, prior to Belga Cafe.

We really loved this trip - we benefit from lots of effort, great planning by the hosts.  Lucky stuff.