The Cole Family Chronicles: March 2011

So last week Andrew and I got to go on vacation...for the first time ever. Cameron got to go with his "Drinny" to CO to visit his Uncle Chris and Aunt Sally and Reagan spent the week with her godparents in Pittsburgh PA.
We headed up to Pittsburgh Sunday morning. It was an uneventful trip, Reagan didn't sleep as much as I would have liked, but over all it went very smoothly.
We spent Sunday afternoon and evening visiting with our friends. It was a wonderful evening. However, in the middle of the night I got sick to my stomach, it turns out that I picked up the "lovely" stomach virus that Andrew had on St. Patricks day. Not fun...especially since Monday we were heading into the city and having dinner at "Eleven" at the Chef's Table.
I slept most of morning and then we headed to the hotel. It was a wonderful little place called "The Priory". It really was an old, priory, so it was quaint and full of antiques. I rested and then we got ready to go to dinner.
Dinner was lovely. I only ate about two of the eight courses, and just had one bite of the rest, but everything I tasted was superb! Andrew hate everything I wasn't able to...so in all he had 14 courses! My favorite thing I had was a gooseberry soup with pineapple verbina sorbet...AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! I also got to try a quail egg and foi gras. (There will be more about the dinner in my food blog...sometime tomorrow!)
The next day we got up and headed to Ohio, to our bed and breakfast. It was such a pretty ride! While driving there we found the quaint little town of Chardon. We found a great little antique store and spent a few hours going through it. Andrew got a pair of cufflinks that matched his suit perfectly. We also looked at a few pieces of furniture but decided to sleep on the decision to purchase.
We got to our bed and breakfast in Painesville and had a short time to get ready before heading to Cleveland for the opera.

After a "harrowing" drive in Cleveland....(they don't like to mark certain streets and we ended up driving in a bus lane)...we made it to the performance. We saw Don Giovanni. It was very interesting because the set and costumes were very modern. Not what I expected...but the voices were superb! I found myself so caught up in the music that I would forget to read the subtitles, but didn't really miss anything!

The next day was our "down" day. The weather wasn't great...it was sleeting/raining the majority of the day, so we headed back to Chardon and went back to the antique shop and made two purchases.
The first is a Victorian chair.

The second is a wonderful nightstand...right now it is in our dining room as an "occasional" table....which I like saying better than "nightstand"!

Thursday was our day to tour the wineries. The lady who gave the tour was extremely knowledgeable about the area. Her family was the first to arrive and settle down. Since Andrew and I both love history it was a very enjoyable afternoon. We went to five wineries. Our favorite was the first one. We arrived and it looked like an old run down place. But "Archie" the man in charge was extremely personable, and loved sharing his knowledge with us. After a rustic style lunch, which he paired with some of his wonderful wines, he took us down to the wine cellar. It was cold and damp and you could smell the wood from the casts. He made sure to point out the black mold he "imported" from France. If the mold was healthy then the wine would be good, and the mold was extremely healthy!
He was one of the first vinters in the area. He was told by scientists at the university that it couldn't be done, but he sure proved them wrong! My favorite wine that we tried was his Reisling, which is kinda funny because I am more of a red wine drinker than a white.
Each winery had its own feeling. Some were more polished, while other more rustic. We ended up picking up a bottle or two at each winery and now have a case of Ohio wines!

On Friday we packed up early and spent a few hours at a local coffee bar before heading back to Pittsburgh. Reagan was very glad to see us when we got there! Apparently she was a little angel all week. She really enjoyed playing with their dog Gunner.
We spent Saturday in the strip district of Pittsburgh. It is the coolest place....lots of little food shops from Italian, to Asian to Mediterranean. They even had a butcher who sold exotic meats such as ostrich and alligator! We headed home with a couple of pounds of ground lamb...not as exciting as alligator, but still very tasty. We also got to go in a Penzey's spice store...it was wonderful! We came out with a couple different kinds of peppers and some mustard seed...I have decided to start making mustard! Reagan's favorite part was the seafood market. They had big tanks of live fish that caught her attention. We had lunch at a small polish deli. It was really good and we found out that Reagan loves kilbasi!

We got home around 2:30pm on Sunday. Cameron was waiting for us, and very excited to tell us about how he got to ride on a snowmobile and go sledding! It is nice to be home! Tomorrow we got back to normal...whatever that is!