The swimming feral pigs of the Exumas, Bahamas are one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen! Just looking at them makes me laugh. It’s just so incongruous….swimming pigs in the ocean! Enjoy!
San Francisco: A wine dinner with Jordan Vineyard & Winery at Campton Place
Guest Post from Suzanne Stavert of Adventures of Empty Nesters!
A wine dinner in San Francisco? Yes please!
Lately I have been having a blast interacting with great people on Instagram. I adore photography and truly enjoy seeing what Instagrammers (photographers) are capturing. I had a wonderfully engaging conversation via Instagram with the Campton Place Hotel in San Francisco all about our spectacular trip to the Napa Valley and my great wine and winery photos.
My new friend on Instagram suggested that we come to a wine dinner at the hotel in the “Michelin Star”Campton Place Restaurant where Chef Srijith Gopinathan would prepare a feast that paired excellently with the wine. Prior to the dinner we would be treated to a wine lecture from Rob Davis, the winemaker of the Jordan Vineyard and Winery! Craig and I are always enthusiastic about wine, outstanding cuisine and we absolutely LOVE San Francisco, so this was a very easy decision. We confirmed our seats with Richard Dean:Master Sommelier, one of only 150 Master Sommeliers worldwide. With our reservation confirmed, we were all set.
As you may have heard from me before, chefs are like ROCK STARS to me. I am constantly in awe of how they utilize various combinations of flavors, textures of ingredients, as well as visually beautiful preparations! I love learning about different types of dishes, eating them, as well as experimenting in my own kitchen. I truly appreciate the vibrant colors and the marvelous artistic presentation of each dish. I was photographing my meals way before the trend of taking photos of your food had gone viral. Craig is so patient with me when we are out at a restaurant. He always asks “Are you taking a photo of this? Is the light good enough?” Actually, I have rules about taking photos of my food in a restaurant. I only use my iPhone, no large camera, absolutely no flash, that is such a rookie move. I try to be as discrete as possible and take them very quickly. Unfortunately, many restaurants keep the light low for ambiance, which makes for difficult picture taking! Oh well, I honestly don’t need a photo of everything I eat! Really, I don’t.
Campton Place is an elegant and beautiful boutique hotel, and so welcoming! Attending a wine dinner was another new and special adventure and we were thrilled to participate. The minute we strolled through the magnificent double doors, we were kindly greeted and sent on our way to the tasting room. We arrived promptly at 7:00pm and the party had already started! Note to self: Come early!
The guest of honor, winemaker Rob Davis of Jordan Vineyard and Winery, was already entertaining the room with his compelling stories and enthusiasm. At our beautifully presented table, we were each seated with five glasses, crackers and water to “cleanse the palate”.
Rob Davis began the evening by sharing his personal journey as a winemaker. He has been enjoying this lifestyle (it doesn’t feel like a job to him) and holds the rare distinction of serving as winemaker at a singular winery for more than 35 years. That is remarkable! He shared tales of being a young man traveling with André Tchelistcheff, who was considered America’s most influential post Prohibition winemaker. The two winemakers made many trips to France to visit caves, chateaux and domaines and that experience influenced all aspects of winemaking at Jordan.
We were captivated. He is a great storyteller.
Neither Craig nor I are wine experts in the slightest, however, we are most certainly enthusiastic participants and eager learners! We tasted the five different wines and listened and learned.
We were then escorted upstairs to the exquisite Campton Place Dining Room and as we were shown to our seats, were delightfully surprised to be seated with the winemaker himself! How fortuitous! We were also seated with a friendly group of diners and oenophiles, all with a variety of talents and intriguing personal stories. Meeting and talking with our engaging dining companions was a highlight for us.
Chef Srijith dazzled us with the most amazing meal and was more than accommodating by preparing a special dish for me in place of the Beef Tenderloin (I don’t eat beef). Chef Srijith grew up in Southern India where fragrant and exotic spices were commonly used by his family. This rich family history, along with his vast education and experience was evident in every delicious bite. The food was out of this world!
The dinner was superb and with each course a new wine was served. Evidently we were offered ultra special vintages and for that we were grateful! Of all of the incredible wines we were served, the 2009 Chardonnay Jordan Vineyard Russian River Valley was my favorite and Craig’s favorite was the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Jordan Vineyard Alexander Valley, en Magnum.
And we received gifts to take with us!
I am not a restaurant reviewer or a wine connoisseur, but I do appreciate delicious and exciting food and possess a small amount of wine knowledge just to be a bit dangerous. We were not paid to attend, we were just two curious empty nesters looking for their next delightful adventure…and we found it in the Campton Place Dining Room with a glass of Jordan Vineyard Cabernet.
If you like wine and food and want to learn more, I highly recommend attending a wine dinner and especially one at Campton Place if you are in San Francisco.
Cheers,
Suzanne
Ecuador and Volunteer Tourism
Leaving Ecuador on the red-eye through Miami last Thursday to my home in Dallas, I have to admit I was quite tired. My trip to Puerto Lopez, Ecuador in order to dive Isla de la Plata (the Poor Man’s Galapagos) for the Marine Megafauna Foundation, to photograph Giant Manta Rays, was both challenging and inspiring at the same time. There were inevitable low points…after all, we were in the developing world, and one always has to brace to see harsh reality.
I stepped into volunteer tourism 2 years ago. I did a month of volunteering (diving) in Tofo, Mozambique for All Out Africa. Tofo is also the headquarters of the Marine Megafauna Foundation, directed by lead scientists Dr Andrea Marshall and Dr Simon Pierce. The Marine Megafauna Foundation has several expeditions each year, calling upon supporters and volunteers to perform “citizen science”. I planned the trip to Ecuador about a year ago, anticipating the excitement of diving with the largest aggregation of Manta Rays on the planet! I was not disappointed! I cannot even describe the numbers of Mantas at Isla de la Plata….swarms and swarms of them! It was Manta heaven! The bonuses included Humpback Whales and Mola Molas….along with a huge population of sea turtles.
Volunteering is not all fun and games. The volunteers are asked to take ID photographs of the Mantas, as they are identified by the markings on their bellies. The other volunteers had been coming for 5 years to do this, but this was my first year. It took some adjustment to the diving itself…cold water, lots of current, often with surge…conditions which are not easy. For my comfort, it takes a couple of days to get used to new conditions. Then, it took a while longer for my camera and I to adjust! The boat ride from Puerto Lopez to Isla de la Plata is at least an hour, often over choppy water. A bit of challenge for my spine, which is held together by 8 Pedicle Screws and 4 rods. As I said, this was a challenging trip, not a restful vacation.
Home base was Puerto Lopez, a small fishing village in Ecuador. Puerto Lopez is very backward, as I discovered. The hotel was nice and clean (Hotel Pacifico), but the sidewalks were crumbling, the roads bumpy and potholed, and least attractive, the town’s sewer system seemed to be a river that emptied out into the ocean on either side of the town. I skipped hanging out on the beach due to this “waste” procedure. The fishing market was also located on the beach, lots of dead fish and sharks laying around, not very attractive, or fragrant.
Oddly enough, there is an incredible Italian restaurant in this town. I cannot remember the name of it now….Bella..something. Excellent, amazing food. The Whale Cafe was also a favorite. The food in town is, for the most part, starch and fat. And don’t ask too many questions about the food’s origin. I avoided beef while there, mostly eating fish. I did not become ill, so it seemed to be a good strategy. I cannot express how tired of rice I am….and plantains. Not sweet plantains with sugar and cinnamon, these are served as we serve potatoes. Often, they felt like rubber. No thanks.
The dogs of Puerto Lopez are enough to break anyone’s heart. I heard that the people love puppies, but when the puppies grow up, they get thrown out on the street. There are so many dogs…some healthy, some not. I had a pack of 3 I fed on a regular basis, and I would have loved to bring them home. It was hard to see, day in and day out, all of these animals with no one to care for them. While in Puerto Lopez, we saw a Humpback Whale adult mired in fishing net, a turtle in a net (we were able to free it), a dead turtle which had fishing line around its neck, a dead hammerhead in a net, and a Manta Ray with a steel hook about 2 cm from its brain (also saved). The developing world is not especially caring about animals…the poverty is so deep that its citizens are mainly concerned with feeding themselves. The Machalilla National Park of Ecuador is not supposed to be fished for 2 miles out from the island, but the fishing boats were a menace on a daily basis. I worried about getting hooked, the boats were zipping over our heads constantly, making for potentially dangerous conditions. Hopefully Ecuador will start enforcing the park’s protection….Whales, Mantas, Turtles are worth large dollars in tourism. But not if fishing boats are putting divers at risk.
Volunteer Tourism is not about “vacation”, it is more about serving a cause, regardless of what that cause is. It is a working trip…the diving off Isla de la Plata is hardly relaxing! The diving in Tofo, Mozambique is not relaxing either. One must be very careful…if there is an accident, help is a very long distance away. So why do it? I do it for two reasons, one, because I care about these animals and want to participate in their conservation, and because I enjoy the challenge (even when I doubt myself). We are destroying our earth, plain and simple. I have chosen the ocean and its creatures as my number one philanthropic focus. I support other causes as well, but my main focus is on the ocean.
So! Where to next? Well, I have decided to join Marine Megafauna’s January 2016 volunteer expedition to Komodo, Indonesia! For now? I plan to continue adventuring far and wide, and diving as much as possible! My motto is “do it while you can, don’t wait!” What are you waiting for?
Fab Photos Friday: A Wrap Up of Isla de la Plata, Ecuador!
I have spent the last two weeks as a volunteer diver in Ecuador. The diving here can be tough, and it is not easy to get out to the sites, either. Luxury is not available in Puerto Lopez. But I thought the boat was as comfortable as I could have hoped for, and the hotel is nice and clean. It has been an incredible experience, diving with the scientists of the Marine Megafauna Foundation, and with the dive company, Exploramar. I will talk about my experiences here in a future post, but for now, enjoy the scenery!
Tam’s Drama on the High Seas in Ecuador!
Tam’s Drama on the High Seas in Ecuador!
Here I am, in Ecuador, on a volunteer dive trip, and it is drama after drama around here! Isla de la Plata, Educador is one happening place! [Read more…] about Tam’s Drama on the High Seas in Ecuador!
In the Ocean, Not all Entanglements End Happily
A Humpback Whale Fluke is unique and used to identify the animal.
In the Ocean, Not all Entanglements End Happily
Don’t you love seeing whale and animal rescues on YOUTUBE or tv or the news? I know I do. Like the one with the whale that was freed and thanked her saviors by giving them a breaching display for over an hour? Not all of these stories end happily, though. In fact, most of them don’t. [Read more…] about In the Ocean, Not all Entanglements End Happily