Travel,Wine and Cuisine by Christopher J Davies

Vineyard Room at Albert Shafsky B&B We recently visited Eldorado Wine Country in California for the purpose of creating a feature story in Wine Country International ® magazine. This region is nestled between South Lake Tahoe and Sacramento off Highway 50. The main town is Placerville, California, formerly called Hangtown during the Gold Rush years. Placerville is a quaint and friendly town with a 10 block business district, containing a historic hotel, great restaurants, antique shops, art galleries, a cheese shop, chocolate shop, winery tasting room plus even a Mel’s Dinner. Located just across the highway, a block from a pedestrian bridge is the Albert Shafsky House B&B. It’s a fully restored, small property that is full of charm and well-appointed decorations. The bedding is superb and sheets may be purchased. One of my favorite aspects of staying at any Bed & Breakfast is the breakfast. And co-owner Rita Timewell proved that Mo...

Harvest America 2009 By Christopher J Davies Harvest is a vintner's celebration of the culmination of a year's hard work. It marks the transition period in the winemaking cycle from vineyard to cellar. In physical terms, it is the process of picking ripe grapes from the vine. This past week, Darcy and I had the pleasure of visiting the Napa Valley where Harvest is already in full swing. We were honored to attend the 43rd Blessing of The Grapes at The Robert Mondavi Winery. Margrit Mondavi and Director of Wine Making, Genevieve Janssens hosted the event for friends, employees and a handful of press. Monsignor John Brenkle of The St. Helena Catholic Church presided. Afterward we all enjoyed a delicious lunch overlooking the vines! Margrit Mondavi with grapes We stayed at the lovely Wine Country Inn , located in St.Helena. This place is awesome! We stayed in a private cottage overlooking a lush vineyard. Every afternoon they host a delicious wine tasting with tons of snacks. The s...

Caveat Emptor: "Let The Frequent Flyer Beware" Story and photo by Christopher J Davies We all know that caveat emptor is Latin for, "Let the buyer beware". This phrase should definitely be used when comparing frequent flyer programs and airline policies for redeeming a "free" ticket. As a member of several frequent flyer programs, I am outraged over the hassle and cost that some airlines put me through. I feel like a number of my most-frequented, so-called "classic" carriers have totally turned their backs on me, the customer. Last month, I needed to fly from Denver to New York on two back-to-back weekends. Rather than be penalized with hiked up rates for purchasing tickets at the last minute, I decide to cash in some "free" tickets. The two experiences I had illustrate the drastic difference between a larger carrier and one of the “low-cost” carriers. Flight on May 1, 2009 via United Airlines #558 For my first trip, I decided to use 2...