Friday, February 04, 2005
willows wino
Greetings from Willows, CA.
The goal today in my drive south was to reach Redding, CA. When I made it there around 5 pm I decided to keep going until I couldn't take it any more. My new goal became Santa Nella, where there is nothing much but a lone Pea Soup Andersens' hotel, restaurant and BAR. I have always wanted to throw back a few in the vaguely Bavarian-themed Pea Soup Lounge. Sadly, I couldn't possibly have made it, as my time calculations would've had me arriving around 10pm, just as the bar would be closing. (I called and checked)
Instead I wound up in Willows, which isn't all bad. I have free high-speed internet in my room, not wireless as promised by the plastic banner out front but it'll do. The one thing that really sucks about my room is that the TV is off to the side of the bed instead of at the foot, but after adjusting both the furniture and my position in bed it will be fine. I tried moving the bed itself but it seems to be attached to some sort of ancient hydraulic-type system. I didn't do too much poking around back there-- ignorance of what's lying behind my hotel bed is my only hope for semi-blissful sleep.
It's quite funny that I ended up here in Willows, because I actually was thinking about this town today but forgot the name. On my drive/move up to Seattle in April, I stopped here to pick up some KFC to eat later in my train-car room in Dunsmuir, about 90 minutes north. While at KFC I asked the chicken handlers if there was a liquor store nearby, as I had learned that neither the restaurant nor 'bar car' would be open at my beloved Railroad Park Inn in Dunsmuir, where I was planning to stay. Turns out there was a liquor store right across the street.
I walked in and there was a line of migrant worker types waiting to get their Bud Light rung up. I wanted some wine, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a dark, paneled room near the back with dusty wrought-iron wine displays. And as I poked around in there, I was even more pleasantly surprised to see all these reasonably priced, fairly decent wines. They even had quite a few Australian/New Zealand wines, which I love. But here's the best part: business was not booming in that particular department, as indicated by the cobwebs and dust. So all these okay wines had been sitting there on the darkened shelves, literally gathering dust for who knows how long... in other words: cellared! At their original low-rent prices! I think I bought six bottles.
So I was thinking about that place today and meaning to keep my eyes open for shitty, out-of-the-way liquor stores. And it wasn't until after I checked in here and went wandering around Willows that I located that very same store. Perhaps I told too many people that story from my drive up, because the selection was not as good. But I still got some really great deals on what I hope will turn out to be really fantastic wines. A 97 Mondavi merlot for 8 bucks is nothing to sneeze at... even if it is covered in dust.
The goal today in my drive south was to reach Redding, CA. When I made it there around 5 pm I decided to keep going until I couldn't take it any more. My new goal became Santa Nella, where there is nothing much but a lone Pea Soup Andersens' hotel, restaurant and BAR. I have always wanted to throw back a few in the vaguely Bavarian-themed Pea Soup Lounge. Sadly, I couldn't possibly have made it, as my time calculations would've had me arriving around 10pm, just as the bar would be closing. (I called and checked)
Instead I wound up in Willows, which isn't all bad. I have free high-speed internet in my room, not wireless as promised by the plastic banner out front but it'll do. The one thing that really sucks about my room is that the TV is off to the side of the bed instead of at the foot, but after adjusting both the furniture and my position in bed it will be fine. I tried moving the bed itself but it seems to be attached to some sort of ancient hydraulic-type system. I didn't do too much poking around back there-- ignorance of what's lying behind my hotel bed is my only hope for semi-blissful sleep.
It's quite funny that I ended up here in Willows, because I actually was thinking about this town today but forgot the name. On my drive/move up to Seattle in April, I stopped here to pick up some KFC to eat later in my train-car room in Dunsmuir, about 90 minutes north. While at KFC I asked the chicken handlers if there was a liquor store nearby, as I had learned that neither the restaurant nor 'bar car' would be open at my beloved Railroad Park Inn in Dunsmuir, where I was planning to stay. Turns out there was a liquor store right across the street.
I walked in and there was a line of migrant worker types waiting to get their Bud Light rung up. I wanted some wine, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a dark, paneled room near the back with dusty wrought-iron wine displays. And as I poked around in there, I was even more pleasantly surprised to see all these reasonably priced, fairly decent wines. They even had quite a few Australian/New Zealand wines, which I love. But here's the best part: business was not booming in that particular department, as indicated by the cobwebs and dust. So all these okay wines had been sitting there on the darkened shelves, literally gathering dust for who knows how long... in other words: cellared! At their original low-rent prices! I think I bought six bottles.
So I was thinking about that place today and meaning to keep my eyes open for shitty, out-of-the-way liquor stores. And it wasn't until after I checked in here and went wandering around Willows that I located that very same store. Perhaps I told too many people that story from my drive up, because the selection was not as good. But I still got some really great deals on what I hope will turn out to be really fantastic wines. A 97 Mondavi merlot for 8 bucks is nothing to sneeze at... even if it is covered in dust.
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