We did a little exploratory road trip today. We started in Bodega Bay at the Spud Point Crab Co. with a crab sandwich and a cup of chowder. (Still not sick of it.) Some of the places we drove through were spots we'd been before (Monte Rio, Guerneville…along the Russian River) but the others were new. It's a gorgeous sunny day and the drive was fun.
We stopped in Graton (or near it) at a little spot that had two tasting rooms (Red Car and Dutton Goldfield) and we shared a tasting in each one. We brought home a Chardonnay from Dutton Goldfield, and a Pinot Noir and a Syrah from Red Car. Our pourer at Red Car was from Occidental and said it was a cute town to visit. (We drove through and yep, cute!) There are a ton of vineyards around this area and the countryside is just beautiful.
In Bodega, we stopped to get three things: a photo of the church from the movie The Birds, some crab mac & cheese to go with our dinner later on, and we wanted to (okay already!) try a BBQ oyster. All along the highway there are signs advertising "BBQ oysters, crab mac & cheese, smoked salmon chowder" etc. It's kind of like seeing all the signs for Wall Drug for miles and miles…you're beaten down by the time you get there and you just need to see what all the fuss is about.
The crab mac & cheese was gotten across the street at the country store (which has a very large collection of Birds and Hitchcock memorabilia), and the BBQ oysters are gotten from the patio of what seemed mainly like a biker bar. We each had one (with BBQ sauce and butter, and a thin slice of garlic bread) and it was quite good.
Again, missed the photo of the actual oyster. Whatever.
After our oyster we walked up the hill to the church (a service was just letting out) and I managed to get a few snaps with my iPhone (left the real camera back at the Airstream, as usual).
Our neighbors brought us a couple of crabs today (Thanks Dave & Kelly!) and we may have those with a salad and some crab mac & cheese for dinner tonight. That'll be crab with every meal today. Yay! 🙂
