eurotraveller

I live in Portland and had never made it out to Walla Walla but I have tasted soooo many great wines from that region so I decided to head over there with 3 girlfriends that live in Hood River. We were excited about our adventure to explore the bounties of Walla Walla and drink some teeth staining reds!

My report will contain my impressions of the wine, people and ambience as closely as I can remember. My disclaimer is that I was libating and I will not be held accountable for misinformation! Thank goodness we had a designated driver!

We had originally considered the Mark Whitman but I think the only room they had available was close to $300 and would probably not have fit 4 of us comfortably. We did stop in to see the Mark Whitman Hotel. Wow! It is gorgeous! Apparently when they remodeled they tore down the false ceiling and uncovered the beautiful wood pillars that you see today. We were relieved that we didn't stay there because it felt like a library crossed with a morgue. Very somber and formal. I am sure it is great for the older generation but we 30-40 somethings would have felt like kids that had to be quiet in church.

I then googled and found The Walla Walla Suites Hotel. Their website is a bit deceiving but it seemed to good to be true because the prices say "starting at" $125. When I called I found out that the 2 bedroom unit would have run us close to $400 per night! We are talking Walla Walla here (no offense), NOT New York City!

We got on VRBO.com and ended up finding a very cute 3 bedroom house with a hot tub for $260 per night. With taxes and cleaning fee it ended up being about $360 per night. The Fat Duck Guest House was very charming, very comfortable beds in each room, fully equiped kitchen and a nice hot tub on the back deck. It is in a very residential neighborhood that was not quite walking distance into town. We all decided we would be happy to stay there again.

On our way into town we stopped at Woodbridge Winery. This is a nice winery with some really fantastic wines! The pourers were fairly friendly but were soon overwhelmed the hoards of people that unloaded from a bus. Unfortunatley, this bus seemed to be on our tail for a lot of our tasting experience.

Right next door is L 'Ecole N. it is an old school house converted into a wine tasting room. Very cute and the pourers seemed bored out of their minds. Wine wasn't terribly memorable and that can't be blamed on drunkeness because it was only our second stop!
We then passed through town to taste over at the airport area. These wineries are all very basic, no frills tasting rooms. We stopped into Colvin, Cougar Crest, K Vitners, Tamarack Cellars, Dunham Cellars and Five Star Cellars. The two that stand out for me are Colvin and Cougar Crest. The Colvin Carmenere has bee one of my favorite wines for some time. Absolutely scrumptious!
We were immediately turned off by Dunham. As we walked in the door there was a door person collecting the tasting fee like a bouncer would check i.d. This did not leave us with a positive impression of the experience there although the wines are decent.

At this point it was time to take a break so we headed back to town in search of our rental house. We settled in, ate some cheese, crackers and grapes and then headed back out for round two.

Our next stop was North Star Winery. This is a beautiful little winery but the tasting room staff was very stuffy. Beautiful little area to sit and share a bottle of wine outside. Don't remember much about the wines at this point as I was well on my way to a beautiful wine buzz! As long as I have a designated driver I drink the entire taste.

We attempted to visit Reininger but they were closing early.

Ahhhhh... we were all very rosy cheeked and bright eyed by this point so we decided to check out beautiful downtown Walla Walla!
What a nice surprise this little town is! It carries the distinction of having one of America's greatest main streets and I can see why! Each store front is clean, interesting and beautiful. I was marveling at how cute it is!

We were pretty wined out by now so slipped in 26brix for a cold beer. The food that was coming out of the kitchen looked great but I was cooking up a big meal back at the house so we will stop by for dinner another time through.

We also wandered into Salumiere Cesario. Now this little gourmet grocery would be more in place in Italy or Paris but I was delighted it was right in Walla Walla! They carry gourmet cheeses, meats, bread, wine, salts of all kinds and other delicacies. I highly recommend a stop here if you get a chance. It is located between Rose and Main St on 2nd Ave.

We headed back to the house, had a nice meal and reflected on our wonderful day in the Walla Walla wine country.

The next morning we went back into town for breakfast. We decided on The Coffee Connection but regretted our choice. Can you say "upsell?" The owner/server upsold on every item we ordered. I asked if the side plate of potatoes was large and he said yes, indeed. He asked if I wanted onions on them, which I did. When the plate came the amount of potatoes was no more than what is served in a small McDonald's hash brown patty and it was about as appealing with about a tablespoon of sauted onions on top. These are the kind of shredded frozen hashbrowns that come in a big plastic bag at your grocery store. Yech!
To top it off, when we received our bill we noticed that he charged each of us an extra .75 for the measely onions! Didn't care for this place and wouldn't return, mostly due to the upselling on everything.

That is the end of my mini trip report.
Please let me know if you have any questions!

Kate101

Sounds like a pretty good time.

My son goes to school at Whitman, so we will be there next weekend for Parents Weekend. It is a charming town.

We've got reservations for 26brix. I've heard it's great.

happytrailstoyou

Walla Walla is short on good places to stay.

I stayed at the Best Western, which is run down.

The Comfort Inn is new--I'll stay there next time.

Restaurants are "small town" and expensive. There is supposed to be a good place to eat in nearby Dayton, but I've never eaten there.

eurotraveller

I disagree that the restaurants are "small town" in a figurative sense. 26 Brix was lovely and the food beautifully presented. It is the type of restaurant that I could imagine right here in the Pearl District in Porltand.

There are a few other nice restaurants that we will be checking out on our next visit.

Although there aren't many hotel options, there are many options available through www.vrbo.com, which greatly expands the availability of good places to stay!

Kate101

We ate at the Whitehouse Crawford Restaurant last year and it was fantastic. Although I must admit, the more I think about the name, the more it bugs me.

happytrailstoyou

Thanks for the 26Brix tip.

If I'm ever in Walla Walla and feel like spending $19 for a pork chop $28 for salmon I'll know where to go.

eurotraveller

Well, happytrails, you can just stick you McDonald's for their $3 burgers then. ;-) When I am on vacation I like to treat myself to nice meals and I would gladly pay the prices for the kind of food 26brix seems to turn out.

BTW, 26brix was packed with a wait of about 30 minutes so they are obviously doing something right.

happytrailstoyou

Ou contrair, eurotraveller.

I treat myself very will, and I don't eat at places that make me wait 30 minutes so I can pay them $28 for a piece of fish.

Rather I go to the theater, opera, ballet, and travel several months a year. I'm off to Hawaii at Christmas and I'll be in Italy for a few weeks in the Spring.

Please don't think badly of me because I know how to cook a pork tenderloin.

eurotraveller

Happy, Wha?!?!?! Who said I think badly of you because you "know how to cook a pork tenderloin?!" I didn't even know that until now. ;-) I don't think that is the point at all. I am a great chef but I certainly am willing to pay for great food!

I guess I just don't understand why you are critical of great restaurants that you have never eaten at.

I don't know why it matters but since you stated your future travels, I will too. I head to the foodie city of New Orleans tomorrow and then I am off to the foodie country of Argentina in three weeks followed by Uruguay.

I enjoy Walla Walla. It sounds like it just isn't your cup of tea! No harm, no foul!

Cheers!

kauai_aka

eurotraveller - your tr was most entertaining and my kind of trip! most of my close girlfriends live in the mainland so i always look forward to meeting up with them, they have great ideas. our last trip we did the spa thing in palm desert.

hmmm, wine tasting?

and yes, always good to have dd handy.

eurotraveller

Oops! I typed my report fairly quickly and noticed a couple of typos so please overlook them.

Kauai, I am glad you enjoyed my report! I recommend Walla Walla for your next girls get-away on the mainland!

I had dinner last night with 3 girlfriends and we decided we will head back in February for a b-day celebration for one of the girls!

Cheers!