Road leading to Mounts Winery

Mounts Winery is a very small family-run winery off Wine Creek Road, which is off West Dry Creek Road.  It’s on the way to Schlumberger Winery.  The approach to the winery takes you down a dirt road through the middle of their vineyard – a great way to set the stage.  Tasting is $5 for about 8 bottles.  Their wines are on the bold side, and we came home with a really good Cab. This winery is a really good snapshot of how more wineries used to be in the area, with a really personal touch and connection to the winemaker. They have a nice view of their vineyards in the valley below, and a couple of chairs from which to enjoy it.

View from the tasting

Mill Creek Winery Tasting Room

Mill Creek Winery is on Westside Road and can be recognized by the large water wheel beside the tasting room.  They offer two tasting lists – the select is predominantly whites and costs $5, and the reserve has more reds, and costs $10.  Visa Signature card holders get a discount.

We weren’t that impressed with their wines.  Their cabernet was good, but for us, not worth the $32 they were asking for it.  The views are nice, but like the wines, not as good as Armida’s just up the road.

Sign for Mill Creek off Westside Road

The view from Armida Winery

We’re wine club members at Armida Winery on West Side Road, so that means that we have the hardship of having to go out there every few months to pick up our latest selection/shipment.

Armida is located up on a hill overlooking Dry Creek Valley, with a lovely patio shaded by mature oaks.  There are many tables set up for picnics and for enjoying some of their great wine and their spectacular view.  They also have offer Bocce Ball/Petanque, right below the patio.

Of course, we’re really there for the wine.  Their zinfandel is what originally sold us – they consistently procuce some of the best zins in the valley.  We could try to impress you with using words like “floral overtones” or “barrel aging” or “tannins”, but all we can really say is that it’s very yummy.

Wine Tasting room at Armida Winery

Their signature wine is called “Poizin”.  Poizin started out as a blend of leftover grapes from other wines – the winemaker actually didn’t have much hope for it.  It turned out to be one of the best zin’s he’d ever made.  The owner commented it was “wine to die for” and so they turned that into their marketing slogan, namned the wine Poizin, and put a skull and crossbones on the bottle.  You can also buy a bottle in a wooden coffin, as a souvenir.

We can also recommend their cabernet, their Maple Valley Zin (actually not Tina’s Block, the more expensive one), and their Pinot Gris “Antidote” – which they also included in the shipment we picked up with the Poizin.

Balcony with tables for a picnic, Armida Winery

Wine tasting is complementary, unless you want to taste the reserve wines ($10).

Entrance to Armida Winery off Westside Road

East Shoal Bay Beach

We spent a couple days in Anguilla on East Shoal Bay Beach.  Although it is supposed to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, it didn’t impress us on that level.  The sand was beautiful, white and clean, but the beach wasn’t very wide.  In addition, during the 4 days we were there, only the first day had calm weather – the rest of the time it was raining, or windy enough that we couldn’t really enjoy the beach.  The beach goes on for a long time, so it’s possible to go for a long walk along the beach (in fact this is the easiest way to get between the different restaurants).

In front of the Allamanda Beach Club, where we were staying, there wre many loungers set up.  It wasn’t clear if they belonged to the club or to Gwen’s Reggae Bar and Grill (the cheap restaurant on the beachfront), but no one bothered us when we used them.  The beach was never crowded.

Our packs

Here is the packing list we use whenever we travel:

CARRY ON:

1. Toiletteries bags (something lightweight, portable, tough, waterproof – check out the Eagle Creek stuff here).
2. Hotel confirmations – especially for the first night
3. Passports
4. Money belt – we use a money belt that we can hide under our pants/trousers
5. Extra film/memory cards
6. Sunglasses
7. Guidebook
8. Photocopy of relevent section of guidebook for your arrival city, so you don’t have to dig out the whole guidebook to consult a map
9. Airline tickets, or electronic tickets
10. PDA / ipod / etc. (to watch movies, listen to music – remember, even if the plane has a back of the seat entertainment system, half the time it doesn’t work!)
11. Recharger for above entertainment device – especially if you have a layover, you can often find power points in airports and recharge
12. Hard candy, helps with pressure differences in the plane
13. In case you have a cold, Sudafed (pseudoephedrine) decongestant is very helpful with the pressure change in the plane which can be very painful
14. Medicines to bring:
    1. Aspirin/Tylenol (paracetamol, acetaminophen)
    2. Gravol – Dramamine – motion sickness pills. These can help with not just motion sickness, but are great for calming your stomach for any reason
    3. Immodium
    4. And depending on where you’re going.. Malaria tablets
    5. Any prescription medications – and if your life could depend on them, (i.e. asthma inhaler), have two in two different places in case one is lost/stolen
15. Thermometer
16. Travel-sized Kleenex / tissues. You can put it in your pocket, and can be used as toilet paper when they inevitably don’t have any
17. Kleenwipes (moist towelettes – great for cleaning your hands in places where you can’t easily get to a sink)
18. Alarm clock – this can be useful for waking yourself up after an airport nap
19. Earplugs – might help to sleep on the plane
20. US Cash – for emergencies
21. ATM cards. We’ve never brought travelers checks, even with all the countries we’ve been to. Check which banking network the countries you are visiting use – and if possible bring ATM cards that work with more than one (Cirrus/Plus/Star…)
22. Empty water bottle – once you’re through security you can fill it, or ask the flight attendant to fill it as soon as you get on the plane, so you’re not parched while they taxi for 2 hours.
23. Granola/energy bars, again so you can eat when you want
24. Cellphone, quad band, unlocked so you can buy a SIM chip cheap in the country you are visiting and don’t end up paying AT&T $5 a minute
25. “Cheat sheet” – Sheet with all your personal information written on it – credit card #’s, passport #’s, phone #’s, PINs for credit cards in case you can’t get any ATM cards to work, numbers to call if credit cards are lost (direct/collect call numbers – 1800 numbers don’t work outside US/Canada), emergency contact information. Print it in really small type and keep it in your money belt. Also, keep a copy online (email it to yourself)
26. Printed calendar so you know what you’re doing, when, and when your flights are
27. Pen/pencil
28. Travel blanket -In case you don’t get a blanket on the plane, or the train is too cold to sleep, etc. You can get pretty small, lightweight pack blankets. Down throws also work well.
29. Emergency spare clothes – at least the essentials – in case you lose your luggage.
30. Cheap wedding bands – In many countries, it’s good for couples, to look married (even if you’re not), without having expensive jewelery on.

Packed luggage:

1. Shampoo/Conditioner/hairspray – each in its own ziploc bag, then all of them together in a larger ziploc bag. This way, when the bottle inevitably explodes, at least it’ll only spill its contents to its own bag which you can wash.
2. Shaver/Razor
3. Pack towels/camping towels – these are lightweight, absorbent, and very fast drying towels that are great for when you don’t want to use the budget hotel’s towels (all of them) or they’re not provided
4. Soap – preferably white soap, so you can also use it to do laundry
5. Ziploc bags – great to store food for the day, wet clothes, etc. Bring a collection of sandwich sized, freezer sized, and even some jumbos.
6. Twist ties
7. Elastic Bands (rubber bands)
8. Extra glasses/sunglasses – if you lose them, say in a really big wave on a beach in Martinique, it’s really nice to have a spare pair waiting in the hotel room.
9. Eyeglasses repair kit – you really don’t want to lose a screw and be wandering around trying to fix it. You can get travel sized repair kits that are tiny.
10. Extra batteries for the flashlight and camera
11. Sewing kit (maybe someone will teach us how to sew one day)
12. Some clothes to sleep in that you don’t mind being seen in, in case the bathroom is down the hall
13. Swiss Army Knife
14. Spoon – for impromptu picnics
15. Fork
16. Jackets
17. Water bottle holders (a holster for your water bottle) – unless your knapsack/daypack has them
18. Flashlight – You never know when you’re going to hit a power outage, or have to find the bathroom or light switch in a dark hall. It’s also useful for exploring the insides of Egyptian pyramids that say they’re lit in the guidebook, but, well, not so much.
19. Nylon bag – Before we check them at the airport, we wrap our knapsacks in a large, light, nylon bag we got from REI – it keeps them clean and safe from the luggage conveyor belt
20. Power adapter for an electric shaver – even if you’re not going for that long, sometimes shavers can turn themselves on in transit and drain the battery
21. Recharger for digital camera
22. Recharger for phone
23. Power adaptor to adapt the plug to local socket. You don’t need the full on converter, as most electronic devices will auto-adapt 110-220. (check the device and it will be written on it)
24. Hats – baseball hats or sun hats
25. Sunscreen
26. Hair elastics
27. Gloves/Long johns/thermals for cold climates. Putting your thermal underwear under light travel pants/trousers is a better deal than bringing heavy pants (jeans) because it keeps you warm while still being very lightweight and it dries a lot faster.
28. Flipflops – light, and great to wear in to showers you don’t trust, or on carpets you don’t trust (i.e. all of them)
29. Tevas – or sports sandals – good for water, sand, etc.
30. Zip pants/combination pants/trousers – Two great reasons: Often the climate will change from morning to afternoon and this allows you to easily change without changing. Also, for modesty in mosques/churches/etc.
31. Compass – even if you have a GPS device, a little compass attached to the zip of your backpack is always handy
32. Bandaids (plasters)
33. Umbrella – one of the tiny ones does the trick, even if it falls apart after just one trip

Anything we’re missing from our list? Please leave us a note in the comments!

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