The Delayed Visit Happened

My friends scheduled to visit a few months ago finally made it-no more COVID-19 or work delays. To say we hit the ground running is an understatement. We may have surpassed Henry VIII in gluttony and alcohol consumption over the weekend.

They booked the brutal 7 a.m. flight out of Burbank (California,), so obviously, they were bleary-eyed when they boarded for Seattle. While in the Seattle airport connecting to Walla Walla, John ran into a shop, and his phone's magnetic wallet became detached. Luckily, Alaska Airlines customer service called to let him know they found it. His blood pressure normalized, and my visitors were ready to celebrate.

Our first stop was Graze to pick up sandwiches and salads, then the Mark Ryan tasting room. We laughed so much our stomachs hurt. The tasting host augmented our flights of wine with other bottles they thought we should try. Then we decided dessert should be a bottle of sparkling wine. A well spent three hours, until I got home and realized I'd left my phone.

Next, they checked into Hiromi's House, Waitsburg's premier vacation rental, before going to The Royal Block for more wine, oysters, and poetry-the perfect appetizer for our next stop at American 35 for wood-fired pizza. We unanimously decided water was the ideal drink to complement our pizza!

We took an ambitious walk around town on Saturday morning, including Ten Ton for coffee. Then, we hit the road again to Valdemar Winery for more wine and food, but first, we quickly stopped to pick up my phone. At Valdemar, we ran into one of my Waitsburg friends and a group we'd met the night before at the Royal Block.

After gorging ourselves while enjoying the spectacular view, we drove to my coop garden, where we picked corn, tomatoes, and a few watermelons. After that workout, we needed liquid sustenance, so off we went to Grosgrain Winery for another bottle of sparkling wine and more ogling at the view.

We had reservations for dinner but decided we were too tired. Daniel came to the rescue. He cooked a Pho/Ramen for us, and again, we polished off three bottles of wine. However, there were four of us this time, which seemed a little less guilt-inducing.

We hit the streets again on Sunday morning with an ambitious walk to Ten Ton for more coffee and conversation. Then, on to brunch in Walla Walla, where I left my sunglasses on the table. Luckily, someone turned them in, and it was all good again.

We headed to Tranche Winery, where we ran into the group we'd met at Royal Block and then Valdemar. We tried to decide who was stalking who. No decision was made, so we drank more wine.

That was the only wine tasting that day, which left us time to shower and drive into Walla Walla for dinner at Hattaway's and start the wine "winddown" after polishing off two more bottles of wine.

Monday, after another ambitious walk to Ten Ton, I made breakfast. The beverage of the day: coffee. Then, it was time for my visitors to return to Los Angeles. They packed a few ears of the corn they'd picked, some showing in John's luggage. When the TSA agent asked, and John confirmed it was corn, the agent just shook his head and said, "That's a first."

A great time was had by all. And all phones, wallets and sunglasses are with their rightful owners!