Get on the Next Plane Out to New Orleans, the New Food Capital of the World

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Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200!

We have just returned from a 5 night trip to New Orleans and we are extremely happy and cannot wait to share our experiences with you. Our faith in the hospitality industry has been restored. The entire trip was a joy and wonderful.

I would like to start by congratulating our favorite airline Delta for the professionalism of their crews. Getting to NOLA was difficult. There was horrible weather from Texas to the east coast and all flights were delayed or canceled. In the end it we had a 6 hour delay in flying to NOLA due to bad weather. I was impressed with how Delta handled the situation. For one thing I finally through experience learned why I need the Delta App on my phone. It worked flawlessly. As my flights changed, were delayed, or were canceled the App constantly updated. I called an agent to change flights but before the agent could do anything the operations center notified me throughout the App that re-bookings had already taken place and everything was very accurate. We got to NOLA 6 hours late but safe with only one brief episode of above average turbulence.

At the Jacksonville airport all of the lounges were full, so closed to us, so we went to Shulas Restaurant in Terminal A and had a great dinner with outstanding service. It was obvious despite being extremely busy that the manager and staff worked very well together. The food was well prepared and delicious. A great respite while waiting.

The Troubadour Hotel

We arrived late, tired but alive, and our 5 Star Accommodations could not have been better. The friendly helpful reception desk met all requests within 1 hour. Housekeeping met all requests and had supervisor check with us to make sure. Rooms and bathroom very large and comfortable. Few amenities in room and they could use more electric outlets but understandably it is an old hotel. No pool or spa but Roosevelt pool and spa are one block away and available at same fee charged to Roosevelt guests. We were just so impressed with how helpful and caring the staff were and able to assist us. I highly recommend this hotel and for us the price was extremely reasonable for what you received.

The Roosevelt Hotel

Our friends stayed here and it is a famous and old hotel also and is part of the Waldorf Astoria operation. It is very fancy and trust me you pay for it. Our friends rooms were nice but to us very small. The pool and hot tub area on the roof were OK and we had fun there but the hot tub did not have massage jets and was not that hot which I prefer. Both the Troubadour and Roosevelt are both Hiltons and have Hilton Honors perks and are 2 blocks from Canal Street and 4 or 5 blocks at the start of Bourbon and Royal Street.

Restaurants

The Gumbo Shop is one of our favorites. They have been in their current location for decades and our server had been there for 17 years. We fondly remember the excellent gumbo they serve along with a variety of gumbos. They also have a selection of Creole dishes you seen pretty much every block in NOLA. Everything was cooked to perfection and we were so impressed we purchased multiple copies of their cookbooks, hot sauces, and spice jars to take home and share with others. We will return and highly recommend it to you.

Galatories is another long term restaurant in NOLA that has been there for decades if not a century or more. We had a wonderful lunch and I had fresh line caught Pompano, my favorite fish, cooked beyond perfection. They have a great wine list and an extensive menu. It is another place we will return to again and again. Highly recommend for lunch or dinner

Antoines is the oldest continuous service restaurant in the USA since around 1840’s. Classic Creole and Cajun dishes with lots of taste and great preparation and presentation. Service was wonderful again and a highly recommended place. It would have been our #1 place but after Revolution dropped to #2 in a tie with Galatories.

Restaurant R’evolution
777 Bienville Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
504-553-2277
Highly recommend Server Travis

“Restaurant R’evolution is the epitome of diverse tastes and flavors, the Holy Grail of dining experiences, my magnum opus. Your overture begins” Chef John Folse

I can only verify and repeat what Chef Folse has said about his restaurant in New Orleans. I can confirm it is one of the greatest meals of my life up there with what must be similar the two Three Emperor Dinners in Paris in the past. It was an epic exploration of the highest achievement in the Culinary Arts. We started off with an assortment of appetizers and the two that stood out for me was a poached Lobster salad that was just divine followed by A5 Japanese Kobe carpaccio which I have never seen anywhere and it just melted in your mouth. For dinner many of us shared Chateaubriand that was prepared perfectly and again melt in your mount flavor and tender cut with a fork. It did not hurt that we accompanied our meal with four outstanding wines and thank you to Tom for the reds, all 100 point stars described below. Service by Travis was impeccable and the highest service possible. Nothing was left to chance. Dinner was a well conducted symphony and I cannot wait to return soon. Again the best meal ever in the past number of years. Definitely #1.  Notice the happy diners!!

2008 Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

To me there was an excellent bouquet and flavors of chocolate and cinnamon that followed through on the taste. The wine was well balanced with a firm body and good acidity.

98 points Wine Advocate

One of the few wineries to make a 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve that eclipsed its 2007 counterpart is Anderson’s Conn Valley. A spectacular effort that is as black as a moonless night, this full-bodied wine boasts abundant aromas of creme de cassis, camphor and subtle oak presented in a voluptuously textured, full-bodied style with terrific richness and depth. Great intensity and opulence as well as a layered mouthfeel make for a remarkable wine that should age for 20-30+ years. (RP)(12/2010)

94 points Vinous

Fresh ruby-red. Musky blackberry, cassis, tobacco leaf and dark chocolate on the nose. Like liquid silk in the mouth, conveying a lovely impression of sweetness and shamelessness to its currant, dark cherry and cigar box flavors. Not outsized but dense, concentrated, smooth and lightly floral, with a firm-edged finish featuring substantial fine-grained tannins that eventually dust the front teeth. Wonderful subtle savory depth and complexity of flavor. (ST)(5/2018)

2007 Dominus Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend

What an exceptional wine. The nose was exceptional and gorgeous with a floral presentation especially jasmine. I felt the body was a light body complex with berry flavors. There was a berry taste and it frankly remiinded me of some screaming eagles I have had. It also had a lingering long great finish. As Lee Iaccoca has said if you can find it buy it.

100 points The Wine Independent

A blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot, the 2007 Dominus has a deep garnet color. After a swirl or two, it explodes from the glass with notes of crème de cassis, blueberry preserves, stewed plums, and rose oil, followed by touches of Sichuan pepper, cinnamon toast, and forest floor, with a hint of crushed rocks. The full-bodied palate reveals an incredibly firm, yet approachable, structure of ripe, grainy tannins and bold freshness to support the dense, multilayered, slowly evolving black and blue fruits, finishing with a whole firework display of spices, floral notes, and minerals.

99 points Wine Advocate

Deep garnet in color with a touch of purple, the 2007 Proprietary Red Wine flaunts wonderfully expressive, vibrant blackberries and black cherries scents to begin, giving way to black raspberries and redcurrants with touches of Indian spices, potpourri, chargrill, sage, espresso, unsmoked cigars and tilled soil plus a waft of cloves. Medium to full-bodied, the elegantly styled palate offers tantalizing restraint with a firm frame of very fine, pixelated tannins and compelling freshness, finishing very long with an invigorating lift. Although this wine will handsomely reward a further 5-7 years in cellar, it can offer a lot of pleasure now but will need a couple of hours of decanting. (LPB)(8/2018).

2013 Lokoya Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder Napa Valley

No question the darkest, blackest pitch black wine I have ever had. Highly concentrated and extracted with a balanced nose and taste. For me it had a ton of dark chocolate. Still full of fruit and to me mild acid. It will continue to age wonderfully and sent exceptionally well with our Chateaubriand.  I love most Mountain vineyards in Napa.

100 points Wine Advocate

A wine offering notes of grilled steak, steak tartare, beef blood, blueberries and blackberries galore...This 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wine is utterly profound, and while the scoring system ends at 100, if I had to pick a single wine that may have been my favorite of all the tastings I did in Napa, this could have been my pick. Full-bodied, rich, with incredible integration of its component parts of acidity, tannin, alcohol and wood, the wine is lavishly built, has compelling purity, richness and density, and a finish, again, that rivals that of the Howell Mountain, being close to one minute in length. This wine will be certainly approachable young, but last 30-40+ years. (RP)   (10/2015)

97 points Vinous

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder is the most finessed of the Lokoya Cabernets. Powerful, incisive tannins provide the backdrop as this regal, towering Cabernet shows off its distinctive personality. Pine, menthol, wild flowers, sweet red berries, pomegranate and blood orange are laced together in a vivid, crystalline Cabernet with a very bright future. The 2013 gets better and better with time in the glass. Even today, though, it is simply magnificent. (AG) 97+(10/2015)

2022 Paul Pernot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Garenne

Yes, sometimes I exaggerate but not in this case. Clark and I did spend a half day with Paul Pernot at his home and did barrel tastings in his cellar under his home in 2012. He to me is one of Frances greatest wine makers. I love his wines and I have loved the Clos de la Garenne which is not a common one. So when I saw this on the menu I had to have it for dinner. The wine tonight was a fruit bomb. Lots of honeysuckle and pear on the nose and taste, very complex. There was moderate acid which is typical for this vineyard. The finish was medium but still there. To me the oak was slightly high and now days even France is lowering the oak print in their chardonnay’s. Paul Pernot has run the domaine since the 1950s and is easily in his 90s, but he's still spry. Speaking very little English, he is often assisted by his two sons who both are heavily involved in the running of the domaine.



93 points Jasper Morris

Pale colour with a light green tint. This has flesh and grip while the fruit style is not without elegance. The mineral acidity plays very nicely at the back. This wine has considerable potential. (12/2023)

K&L Notes

Bill Nanson Burgundy Report: "‘Always a little more power here’ – the clos shared with Magenta/Jadot. Planted in 1956…Lighter, extra floral component to this nose. Lighter but also wider and more mouth-watering. There’s finishing ‘pop’ of flavour that still has some oak – but what delicious wine”.

For a detailed review of many of Paul’s wines see this web site:

https://onethetrail.klwines.com/on-the-trail-blog/2024/1/19/paul-pernot

Available by the glass for dessert at Revolution

2008 The Royal Tokaji Wine Co. Essencia(only the second time I have seen on a wine list in my lifetime).  We had this specific wine last year on the Queen Mary and it was a spiritual experience.  I also gave a full bottle to my friend Tom for his 60th birthday that I found stuffed behind a shelf in the back of the room at Sam's Wine Warehouse(Now Binions) Southside Chicago.  A case of this original wine was given to Catherine the Great of Russia yearly in tribute so she would not invade Hungary.  It is the highest quality Tokaji wine in the world and many will say the greatest sweet wine in the world.

Chateau D'Yquem Sauternes in multiple years by the glass, always a treat!


New Orleans Creole Cookery was our choice for Mothers Day Brunch and again a wonderful dining experience, again with Creole and Cajun dishes. My favorite where was a the charbroiled oysters which to me were the best oysters we had during our trip. Excellent service and again highly recommended

Two Chicks Breakfast and Lunch

One block from The Roosevelt and The Troubadour no question the best breakfast place in town with outstanding attentive service and great well and properly prepared food and large portions of your classic American Breakfast. Almost too much food. Very friendly engaging staff.

MS RAU

Owned by Bill Rau and his family since early 1900’s a museum, art, furniture, jewelry store with some of the rarest finds on the planet that most of which are for sale. One example is Napoleon's desk from St. Helena. We had a personal tour by Bill that was great and everyone is welcome to visit. The things for sale will bankrupt most of us. One of his customers purchased a 2 million dollar painting while we were there. He had an original Degas I was interested in but I do not have enough stuff to mortgage to afford it. His jewelry is to die for, some of the most beautiful pieces I have ever seen. Do your self a favor and visit. It takes about 2 or 3 hours just to catch the basic stuff.  You will see their ads daily in the New York Times.

Observations

Everyone we met, served us, spoke with us were 100% polite, kind, helpful and caring. It has been a long time since I felt this cared for. I guess they don’t call it the Big Easy for no reason. The city just had such a positive vibe that I have not seen as much around the world since COVID. Service everywhere was outstanding and attentive.

It was somewhat interesting but almost every creole and Cajun restaurants menus were to me identical with the same items, gumbo, shrimp creole, barbecue shrimp, etc. Frankly we tried a couple of them and the dishes and to me all of the food was outstanding but all the recipes to me were pretty close. I would say pick one or two and just stick to them and none of the others will be much different.

The roadways and pathways and sidewalks were all pretty much like Europe some worse than others. Uneven pavement, pot holes everywhere including the side walks, nothing repaired or modernized. It is obvious they have no funded improvements to infrastructure for some time. Wear good solid walking shoes and if gait challenged maybe carry a cane for balance.

NOLA should be visited late autumn to early spring. From mid May to end of October heat and humidity is brutal. Our last trip in September we could never get our hotel room cool enough and outside was like walking in a hot sauna. Our mid May trip was better and comfortable. In the South there is a thunderstorm with lightening somewhere daily. You need to be prepared that any flights in the South will be delayed significantly so plan accordingly. It helps a lot if you have lounge access to wait in a more comfortable environment. Pay attention to your airline app and monitor it constantly for gate and departure times. Our most recent trips both the Delta and United Apps worked perfectly and kept us well and accurately informed. We were able to stay home longer before leaving for the airport because of immediate updates on our flights through the apps.

Bourbon Street

Like all of us I was once young and adventurous and had no problem staying up all night drinking on Bourbon Street and dancing the night away. That ship sailed a long time ago. I no longer go and frankly I recommend you avoid Bourbon Street all together anymore. We were there at 6 PM and already it was full of sick, passed out, rough looking individuals with human liquids on the streets and police every 2 feet. Frankly today after 6 PM the place is dangerous. We could not get an Uber from Antiones as it is on a side street to Bourbon and the Uber app required us to walk out of the French quarter to catch an Uber. The Uber restricted area is about 10 square blocks around the Royal Sonesta Hotel. To confirm how dangerous a few years ago when we stayed at the Royal Sonesta as we enjoyed our breakfast we watched the streets being cleaned to wash off the blood where 10 people had been shot at 2 AM that morning from a bad drug deal. Our Uber driver told us they are not allowed to enter the area after 6 PM. That kind of entertainment no longer appeals to me and Clark is very happy. Royal Street parallels Bourbon street and is much more sedate and has some of the best shops in town, example MS Rau. So go to Royal Street in the morning and early afternoon and have lunch but leave the area in general before 6 PM. If you have reservations at some of the top restaurants in the area if you cannot walk get an Uber or Taxi who will drop you off but after 6 PM you will have to walk a couple of blocks to exit the French Quarter to catch a ride back.

 

 

 

Bad Review Ritz Carlton Bacara Santa Barbera California

First an apology. I have not published any new articles for some time now. It is because I have had no new travel or dining experiences worth writing about. It goes along with my basic philosophy which is to provide you with information on exceptional, spectacular, worth you time experiences in wine, travel and food at a reasonable cost, or rarely experiences you should avoid. So arriving in Santa Barbara, California I was provided with a wealth of information to share with you some good, and sadly some bad. We came to attend the Chaine des Rotisseurs Mondiale weekend at the Ritz Carlton Bacara for the Jeunes Sommeliers Final Competition to select the Sommelier of the USA will attend the World Sommelier Competition in Europe representing the USA. Sixteen years ago we attended the same event here at the Bacara and were overwhelmed as to the luxury and world class food and service we experienced. For the past 16 years we have considered the Bacara one of our top 5 destinations in the world so were highly excited to return now so any bias I may have had would be positive.

The Ritz Carlton Bacara

One of my favorite books is "You can't go home again" by Thomas Wolfe. A large part of my life was coming to peace with the fact that as much as I fantasized as to how wonderful places I had been and lived were so great I had to learn to accept that when I returned years later it simply was not the same place I remembered and too many times the reality of today was that those places had changed for the worst and were nothing like I wanted to remember. Very sadly we are highly disappointed on our return to the Bacara. It is not what it was 16 years ago. The good news is the physical plant, buildings and architecture, and grounds continue to be beautiful and compelling. Other than that the place has gone down hill.

To begin with there was a serious lack of dining venues. My understanding from discussions with some resort managers is the hospitality industry as a whole is doing away with room service, fine dining, and any kind of up scale food service and instead concentrating on banquet services and low end dining venues with very limited menu selections at fairly high prices for what you get. Example a $30 hamburger or a $26 Pina Colada or a $48 breakfast buffet and all of them ++ and I should say for parties of 8(think families with small children) a 26% service charge the highest I have ever seen. They say they lose money on food and beverage especially room service. How the Bacara loses money is beyond me at those prices. All the bean counters do is concentrate on the bottom line of every venue. Instead of looking at the bottom line at the end of the year for the venue as a whole and a list of happy complimentary customers who appreciate the good service and great dining options the company higher ups decide to only concentrate on the big ticket items like gala dinners for 200 people at a company function. We live on an Omni Resort that has publicly stated as far as they are concerned they would offer no dining options on property. To their credit on check in they provide you with a list of nearby restaurants to go to for meals. The evening we arrived at the Bacara there were no available dining options for dinner other than limited room service as they were involved with a large corporate event that for all intents shut down everything. When staff was asked what alternatives they might recommend they stated "We don't know please hold why we ask someone else? In addition we had breakfast one morning that for two people was over $100 and had to complain to the manager as my wife's meal was never delivered to the table. Excuse me? Coming from a high end Ritz resort. To me unacceptable.

There was a serious lack of attention to detail. Our first night after arrival we tried to turn on a lamp only to find out the bulb assembly area had broken loose and the bulb and wires were hanging down. We wanted to use the coffee machine only to find the water reservoir with a crack in it. We requested special bed linen procedure due to a medical condition and just prior to bed on returning from a walk they completely ignored our requests. But what was most alarming was every day we were there even after explaining the situation to the housekeeper in the room they just ignored us and refused to follow our requests, despite this being less of a comfort option and more of a medical need. Again too many small things which pointed to a lack of care and attention to detail. When were they going to replace a broken lamp, once someone got electrocuted? It seemed that no one communicated concerns or areas that needed attention and certainly did not reflect the kind of attention you should expected based on the price they were charging. It was clear communication that management is more interested in making money than taking care of their customers which is a 100% deal breaker for me and mine.

I am more than willing to pay high prices for outstanding products and service. My experience is you get what you pay for and I expect to receive the service paid for. But at some point prices become completely offensive and have no relation to what you are receiving. I believe today it is because today's managers are following what I have been told is the Harvard business model which is to charge whatever the market will bear and you will eventually learn how high you can go when people stop buying your product. This is in contrast to what I believe should the model which is what I call the Henry Ford model which is produce and make the best high quality product at the lowest price possible making a reasonable profit and make money by selling millions or billions of units of your product. It took a while but I finally reviewed their better wine list and the wine prices were the highest I have ever seen and to me offensive. In general you did not receive good value for the prices Bacara charged. In comparison today we love Pelican Hill in Newport Beach, California whose prices are as high or higher than the Bacara but the food, beverage, and service, even at a higher price, provided us with great value and we can't wait to return to Pelican Hill and hopefully it is a place we can come home again without being disappointed.

It is my opinion that staff was unable to deliver service because their hands were tied by managements policy and procedures. It is obvious every staff person has been trained to say at the end of their conversation with you to say ":And if there is anything you need please do not hesitate to ask and we will take care of it immediately". It was very frustrating to speak with staff and have them tell you they could not help you and then tell you to go ahead and ask again for anything. It was maddening and obvious that management had no intention of the staff being authorized to do something different other than to tell you please ask for help over and over. We asked for housekeeping cleanup between 9 and 10 AM and vacated the room so they could do it. We returned at 11:30 AM and they had not been there and the rest of our stay showed up later in the day usually when we were trying to take a nap. Staff was friendly and available but in the end lacked any authority to actually help you. Here is an example of what we expect. We arrived at the Grand Hyatt in Tampa years ago late at night and worn out. We were going to get room service but nothing on the room service menu appealed to us. We called the front desk and explained the situation and they said let us bring all of our restaurant menus to your room and you can order anything from any menu and we will deliver it to your room. Forget the Bacara doing anything like that, they might lose $20. I can tell you to this day we have driven 100 miles out of our way to repeatedly return and stay at the Grand Hyatt Tampa which we highly recommend to you. The Grand Hyatt staff is empowered by management to care for their guests and make on the spot decisions to solve problems for their guests. Our experience is that the Bacara does not, but trains the staff to always say “Please call us anytime for anything and we will take care of it immediately”.

One small insult was when we checked in a hold was placed on my credit card at check in to guarantee payment. This is not unusual as most hotels today do this but it is usually a modest amount so far in my experience. What was insulting is the entire stay plus in my opinion an excessive additional amount was added to I assume cover 3 meals a day at inflated prices again to guarantee payment that of course would not be charged at check out if not used. But ask yourself what message does this send. I received the message we are primarily interested in full payment or guarantee of same at the start of your stay and we do not trust you and frankly don’t care because what is important to us is the money and not you. In the end we were terribly disappointed during our stay at the Bacara and have no intention of every going there again and recommend everyone else stay away. I have seen comments on Trip Advisor where I note multiple terrible and poor reviews echoing my comments. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

Santa Barbara Wines

I am also sorry to report that I have no specific Santa Barbara wines to recommend to you which was one my intents for this trip. I will say in general the Samsara wines are ones to try. They are of course good and great wines. My primary problem with Santa Barbara wines is with style more than anything. As a general observation I found all of them somewhat higher in acid than what I like. It makes them food friendly of course but to me due to the higher acid presentation they tend to me to be less complex. I also am highly biased towards Burgundy Pinot’s and have yet to find a Pinot from elsewhere that I can recommend other than the Del Dotto Pinot’s from Napa that I have found compelling this past year.

Coming up soon!

Clark and I are off to New Orleans for a long weekend for food, wine, and fun. Right now we have reservations at Antoine's and Revolution. We will be staying at the 4 star Troubadour Hotel just down from the Roosevelt Hotel. So hopefully I will have some good recommendations for NOLA soon. Stay tuned

Napa Valley 2023, the Next Frontier

A Shout out to Dave Del Dotto and his Family and Team

I was honored to attend my first Del Dotto White Truffle Dinner and it was a once in a lifetime event. Nothing but the highest quality food and wine available. But what made the weekend most special was talking with Dave and meeting and talking with his family. The entire family, Dave, Yolanda, Desiree, and Giovanni are 100% passionate and committed to making the greatest wines available today. For decades Dave has led the way with innovation in wine making striving to find that secret sauce that will bring tears to your eyes when you drink his wines. I heard a story that when Dave first moved to Napa to make wine he ask around how people were making wine and often asked “why are you doing it that way, why not try this other way” and the answer was “we don’t know, it is just how it has been done around here for years and we never even considered any alternative methods”. Where Del Dotto’s wine greatness lies is Dave stepped up to the plate and did the unthinkable, something different. And what differences. His marquee Cab The Beast over the past 10 years has been rated 100 points by the most famous wine critics year after year. A bold, and yet well balanced Cab with massive body and fruit and nothing overwhelming. The jury may be still out, but Dave has developed different algorithms to carve various patterns inside his aging barrels. Obviously, what is being changed here is the amount of surface area in contact with the wine in varying amounts to determine is there an “ideal” surface area of wood that will give just the right and best wood flavor to the wine and not be overoaked, a common criticism of many California wines. Having tasting the wines you can distinguish differences many of which are a step above wines in common uncarved barrels. A year or two ago fires tainted many wines in Napa and many wine growers threw the grapes away. Dave kept and put into barrel his fire tainted wines to see what would happen. I tasted them last year and thought they were good, but I like smoke, many do not. What is interesting is that he decided with full transparency to bottle and sell the wines and the vineyard sold every bottle. People other than me felt those fire tainted wines must have been good enough to purchase and enjoy. Over the course of the weekend one wine stood out and that was the Del Dotto Family Reserve St. Helena Cabernet. It is no secret I prefer mountain Cabs. I tasted in barrel the 2021 and purchased them. At lunch Dave showed up drinking a 2012 he shared with us and it was spectacular. We then somewhere over the course of the weekend had I believe the 2014, 2017, and 2018. All were spectacular and consistent and one of the best Cabs I have ever had. So someone somewhere is telling me something, buy all you can get of the Reserve St. Helena Cab. Dave also shared with me from his library his 2005 Del Dotto Pinot Noir made with DRC La Tache clones. What a spectacular California Pinot! The nose was massive and surprising (from a Pinot that is now almost 20 years old). No question absolutely the best California Pinot I have tasted in years. I also high recommend their Del Dotto Sparkling Rose. I purchased more cases this trip and my largest purchase from Del Dotto historically is their Sparking Rose which is full of fruit and sparkle and very well balanced. I served it at the Holiday party for La Chaine de la Rotisseurs Amelia Island and everyone raved as to how great is was, and sadly, not that many knew about it but they know now. I am looking forward to returning to Del Dotto Vineyards in the future and recommend you put it on your bucket list and make it your first stop in Napa. I am also proud to say that when Dave joined us for lunch he immediately asked questions regarding our recent extensive travels. When I asked him how he knew about it he told me he reads my blog and likes it. So for all of you who read my blog it now has the Dave Del Dotto seal of approval and thank you Dave for your kind words and hospitality.

Carter Vineyards

We enjoyed a morning tasting with owner/vintner Mark Carter of Carter Vineyards. They have been making wines for decades and they have multiple leases on specific blocks of the famous Beckstoffer To Kalon which was one of the original Cab vineyards in Napa as well as vineyards surrounding said famous vineyard. To date they have produced nineteen (19) 100 point wines a clear outstanding achievement. Mark has also started making wine from more economical vineyards as the price to make wines from Beckstoffer To Kalon is going through the roof. In the end I found the wines to be bold, powerful, yet well balanced and juicy fruit making them hedonistic wines. We purchased some of the “Haze” for our cellar at home.

2021 Carter Cellars “The Haze” My number one choice from Carter and what I purchased. It is sourced from the Fortuna Vineyard in Oakville and has a very deep purple color and the nose and taste is super concentrated. There is a lot of tannin here so it will age well. I found it to be well balanced with a full-bodied finish. It drinks great now and will age well for years.

2021 Carter Cellars “Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard” This wine and one after, the Three Kings, demonstrated how these wines although being very similar can be very different as they had very different flavor profiles. My first thought with the Missouri Hopper was chocolate and a very complex tannin backbone. Despite lots of tannin and complex flavors it had a very nice velvet mouth feel which is always a plus.

2021 Carter Cellars “Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard, The Three Kings” My first smell and taste here was of spicy cinnamon. Totally different from the Missouri Hopper. Again a great mouth feel and like the Missouri Hopper the winemaker noted complex spices in the wine which I agree. I also felt this was more feminine of his wines. Just a little more finesse and hidden secret softness.

2021 Carter Cellars “Carter” Not my favorite. I detected some bitterness at the back of the tongue which I’m not a fan of. This wine is 100% Cab so I suspect without blending in a little Merlot that might explain some bitterness. It is a blended wines from their different blocks but still 100% Cab.

2021 Carter Cellars “Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard, La Verdad” A very, and maybe over, powerful wine. The winemaker notes it is a low production wine from their original block of stressed wines on the Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard. The color was black ink. Fruit forward it still has massive tannin and body. The winemaker calls it muscular which I find to be an understatement. Think of this wine bench pressing 200 pounds everyday and you get a clue as to it powerful muscular nature. I would not doubt this wine to improve and age well for decades and could last 100 years easily.

2021 Carter Cellars “Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard, The OG” Coming from clone 337 from the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard to me the nose was tight as was the taste but it did have dark seductive fruit both on the nose and taste. Mark calls it dense and ethereal. It sort of sucks you in. Again a very bold powerful wine yet very well balanced and very rich also. I found the fruit here more sweet detecting a minimal amount of residual sugar that only I seem to be able to pick up on in these massive Cabs. To me it demonstrates the fruit backbone and speaks to how sweetness, even undetectable, can improve Cab.

2021 Carter Cellars “GTO” One of Carter’s marquee, and most expensive wines we were honored to have a taste. There was not much on the nose but the wine is very young and tannic. Yet the mouth feel was very nice and the balance was perfect. I noted that it seemed to be a perfect wine. For the price, if you have the money, buy it,  but as I continue to age, despite drinking wine, I have no room to store this monster and enjoy it in 10 years at this price point($650). I just figured the “Haze” was pretty close and I could drink it now and have more bottles for the same price. The old QPR(Quality Price Ratio). I predict in 10 years the GTO will be an epic wine.

Bouchon by Thomas Keller In my opinion the best way to enjoy Thomas Keller's cooking without breaking the bank and going to sleep during one of his marathon 6 hours or more multiple tasting menus. I have now lost count how many times I have eaten here but the food is spectacular and the prices are reasonable and the wine list is good with some reasonably priced value wines. I had the mussels in a saffron sauce (to die for) and one in our party had fresh trout he raved about. Frankly, it is probably the best place to have a leisure lunch in the Napa area.

Press Napa Valley One of the hardest places to get a reservation in Napa and well worth the effort to eat there. The food is innovative, tasty, surprising, colorful, works of art and I could go on. The wine list is extensive and prices are beyond unreasonable in my opinion. I highly recommend you take your own better wines and just pay the corkage. You will end up better in the long run. Service and atmosphere were very good. Reservations are essential, you can go here to see the menu and make reservations if you are in town: pressnapavalley.com, exploretock.com. If it were not for the ridiculous wine pricing on the menu, it would rate a top 5 for me.

Morlet Vineyards Luc Molet is another Napa Valley wine genius. A very large portfolio of both white and red wines with a French flair. With multiple 100 point wines it always a pleasure to taste here. Luc stopped by and he is the consummate gentleman and warmly greets everyone. He is passionate about making wines, something he inherited from France I assume. I really like his late harvest sweet wine and have purchased it. This trip I purchased a few bottles of his lower priced Chardonnay and his Pinot Noir. It is unusual for me to purchase Pinot Noir outside of Burgundy as to me in California and Oregon winemakers are trying to make Pinot like Cab, big, powerful, and tannic. I am happy to report this trip I had more than one Pinot where that was not the case and Luc’s Pinot this year is a good example. To me it presented a taste profile honoring Luc’s French heritage, hence I purchased it. It is a great tasting to attend and if you buy wine the tasting fee can we waived.

Wine Soapbox Somewhere around 1990 plus or minus we did our first trip to Napa and Sonoma to taste and learn about wine. My first introduction to wine came from two places my brother-in-law, Bob Currie, a well know wine buyer and judge who was a contemporary with Robert Parker and had served on wine judge panels in France, and Kistler wines. I had read about Steve Kistler and was intrigued by what I read and assumed he must be making some exceptional great wines. So the first trip I thought maybe I will just drop by and have a visit. It took 12 hours to find him, with 3 kids in the car. His old production facility had been on top of the Oakville Mountain, not a fun drive, but after searching for hours he was no where to be found. We must have stopped at every wine shop and restaurant in the valley at the time asking how we could find him. Eventually someone sent us over to Sebastopol where he had moved and we drove up to his facility as it was closing and it was obvious he was still unpacking. I naively stated I was there to buy wine and the staff started laughing. As they explained Kistler wines were sold out before they ever got put into the bottle. But the staff was impressed with my effort, put me on their mailing list, and eventually I became one of their largest buyers. For what it is worth another example of my persistence is close to 20 years or more I tried to get on Kongsgaard wines mailing list only being placed on it this year.

So I was bitten by the wine bug and returned the next year leaving the kids at home. It is hard to imagine but back then Napa and Sonoma were not crowded. I would start on highway 29 driving north stopping at every vineyard and tasting their offered wines usually 2, maybe 3 different wines. I seem to recall doing 30 vineyards in a day and the next day we went to Sonoma doing the same thing, and the day after we went to Mendocino, another one of those fun trips driving across the mountains. The good news about Mendocino is there were only 5 or 6 vineyards at the time, Navarro, Wente, and Roederer as examples meaning no way was I going to do 30 vineyards that day. The bad news was I got car sick driving across that black snake mountain. I have never returned.

I called those tasting trips combat tastings. As Napa/Sonoma grew, and I got older the number of tastings per given day went down, I now follow rule number one when in wine country, or at least say that is what I am going to do, which is do only one(1) tasting a day. Awake to a leisure breakfast, go the vineyard around 10 AM, have a nice lunch say at Bouchon, and then take a nap. Dinner at a fancy place every 2 or 3 nights and burgers at our rental place the other evenings. Hot tub before and after dinner. Combat tastings are over, I cannot do it anymore. Plus one(1) tasting a day is not what it seems. Take Del Dotto for example. You enter his caves to taste and hours later you emerge completely worn out with palate fatigue. I can never remember how many wines we taste in those caves but it is probably close to 20 and sometimes more. Still a lot of wine to taste, I am just not driving up and down highway 29 anymore and did I mention the traffic on highway 29. No lie you can sit on the side of the road for 20 minutes trying to go into traffic waiting for a break because there is none.  The cars are constant all day and most of the night. Del Dotto is not the only vineyard who will let you taste almost all the wines they make. Morlet does the same thing, Carter we did 7 or 8 wines. All of this takes time, mental energy, and I know no one has any sympathy here but it is also physically challenging to taste that much wine. Another rule you really need to follow is to taste and spit. I have seen too many friends drink every drop in the glass(they abhor wasting good wine) in a tasting which is usually only an ounce or two and at the end of the tasting walk out drunk. It happens. Taste, spit, and pace yourself.

In the same vein at my age multi-course wine lunches and dinners now wear me out. As you age you eat less food. Restaurants in Napa do not have a senior blue plate special anywhere. It is full tilt dining or nothing. All that rich wonderful food starts to cause indigestion and discomfort, so again you have to pace yourself. I get it, so many wonderful places to enjoy and visit. It means more trips or moving out there. I have to cut back or get sick so I am at a point where there is no choice.

I have addressed this with my France trip this year but you need to discipline yourself when buying wine. First thing you know you have been there 3 days and you are shipping 20 cases of wine. What are you thinking. Where are you going to store it. When are you going to drink it. Again, I get it, so many great wonderful wines and so little time and money. I am trying to taper my wine buying addiction by instead of buying a case buying 3 bottles. It isn’t easy. Like I said I am trying. I was successful at Carter, I only bought 3 bottles.  Not so much at Del Dotto.

Talking with wine makers and owners I came to an understanding, maybe not accurate but just my opinion, but wine selections and inventory as well as prices are both going up rapidly. There is a huge push to do not only single vineyard wines, but single cluster wines. At the same time everyone wants to move to “organic” or “sustainable” or “biodynamic” wines. I am skeptical of the differences or whether or not the wines taste better but like it or not the industry is going in that direction. Because so many people move to Napa and think they can make the next 100 point wine, the demand for grapes is through the roof and in Napa the cost of harvested grapes to make one(1) bottle of better Cab is $100 just for the cost to buy the grapes. Lots of wine makers I know have trouble buying grapes from the growers and the growers now want a piece of the action so growers are now demanding prices that compare to what the wine maker plans to charge for the wine. Add marketing, delivery, transportation, fertilizer, etc. and you can see the future. At some point my capitalist friends need to understand this model is not sustainable.  At some point the price that people can afford or are willing to pay will plateau and they will quit buying. Or like me, us old folks will just fade away.

South Beach Miami Part Deux!

I apologize for no recent articles. I am trying to catch up. For your enjoyment here is our latest trip to South Beach Miami with some specific top shelf recommendations and places not to be missed and some of the best Miami has to offer. I will try and get more articles out over the holidays.

Marriott Stanton South Beach

I am pleased to highly recommend Marriott Stanton South Beach to my readers and friends. Clark and I along with our neighbor Mary having rested from our previous 8 trips this year decided the travel bug was again raising its ugly head so we decided on a short weekend road trip to South Beach Miami. Last year we stayed at the Lord Balfour only a block or two from the Marriott and would have stayed there but the Marriott Stanton had a weekend staycation rate that was compelling and being a Marriott Elite customer I felt it would be a better deal and it was. What was most impressive was the staff dedication to superior and second to none customer service. In the recent past I have complained regarding the lack of customer service everywhere. Not at the Marriott Stanton. It was obvious that upper management had set a high standard of service demanding it be met. Every staff member made sure we were provided the highest level of service. Check in was enjoyable. Housekeeping agreed to our requests and provided everything we asked for the entire trip and we never had to ask again. The valet made a point of knowing us and helping our disabled friend, made sure our car was provided without delay, provided water, etc. Every staff member while we there regardless of position each time they saw us they thanked us for staying there. We spent two afternoons at a wonderful pool and hot tub and we had attentive pool attendants and servers who set up our pool lounges, took our orders for food and drink, and checked in every 15 minutes or so to make sure if we needed anything. Overall it was one of the best Hotel experiences we have had and all of us have committed to return soon for another short staycation in the future. We thank and congratulate the staff and management for setting and providing the highest standard at South Beach.

Santinori by Georges

We love Greek food and I recently wrote regarding Milos in NYC. We read I believe on Trip Advisor that this was one of the top dining places in Miami and we must agree. The food was great Greek recipes and the service was second to none. We started with a large wonderful Greek salad tossed and served table side. Then came the Greek prepared Lamb Chops that were tender succulent and as tasty as they come. Next came whole fish Branzino again served table side for 3 people with Greek lemon potatoes that was beyond outstanding. I also had added a side order of Florida Lobster as I love the Florida kind and it was prepared perfectly. We were totally stuffed but made sure we had room for homemade Baklava which was great. Overall the food was what we expected plus. We have to admit the dining room was especially noisy but it was so because the restaurant has a tradition and allows for special occasions diners to celebrate by breaking plates and glasses saying "OPA!". We also say "OPA!" to an outstanding dinner.

Osteria Del Teatro

For decades our favorite restaurant in Miami and specifically South Beach. Last year we dined at their new place which they had been at for around 6 years. Again this year they decided to move again farther north and their new décor is much more casual and younger. They have the same owner and chef and continue to source the U2 prawns from South Africa, what they now call Jurassic prawns, so I was happy to see that and as usual had one as my appetizer. They have been in this new digs now for only one month so they had a few “opening day” adjustments. Service was a little slow and the food was good but maybe not as well prepared in the past. But I gave them a pass because in essence it is a new place and there will be a period of adjustment for everyone. I will continue to look forward to returning again soon.

Prime 112

It has been years since we had dinner here and this trip the place did not miss a beat. The food and service continues to be top notch and the joint is jumping as they say. They continue with the Jurassic Baked Potatoes the size of an NFL football and the Steaks are perfect in every way and they continue to serve A5 Japanese Kobe and were one of the first establishments to offer it decades ago. Every dish here is monstrous so for 3 people we ordered one of everything and it was plenty enough food for us all. Our favorite dish was the deviled eggs topped with caviar and made with a white truffle sauce. They were requisite and I can still taste them. Dessert was a 2 mile high banana pudding freshly made we could barely eat half of it. They have an immense wine list with the prices to match and there were a few reasonable wines I would have been happy with. We brought our own wine and paid $75 corkage per bottle which is high but when compared to the mark up on their wine lists you come out much better bringing your own wine.

Big Pink

Restaurant is owned by same group that owns Prime 112 and is a block away from the Marriott Stanton so very convenient for a quick breakfast or lunch. We had a very good breakfast there with all of your standard Breakfast fare. Maybe a little pricey but in my opinion worth the price.

Isabella Lincoln Road

Had a spectacular lunch here. Service was top notch and the food was wonderful. The dessert was to die for. They had a good reasonably priced wine list. It is primarily an Italian Mediterranean restaurant with plenty of fresh regional dishes. We had a very nice and fun time here and I highly recommend it.

News Cafe  

News Cafe has reopened and is located in the 800 block of Ocean Drive so they are now open in a new location a little north of their old location. We did not make there for breakfast but it is a South Beach icon and in the past a great place for breakfast. We hope to go back our next trip.

Alaska, the Final Frontier

I insisted on taking this cruise with my entire family primarily to get my 2 grandson's somewhat acqainted with the area hoping they will return years from now as adults. Alaska is a bucket list place. The country, the resources, and the wildlife are immense. It is nature at its best. It does not compare to the Rocky Mountains as the mountains and landscape here is double anywhere else. Man continues to encroach on this environment but the country is too big for mankind to scar it that much though it tries. What you see here enriches and calms your soul. You experience the purple mountain majesties in the depth of your soul like no where else. You really get to see whales, eagles, seals, bears, glaciers, from the comfort of your ship or car. And just for fun, you are warned every 10 feet to beware of bears. Even the bathrooms had bear warnings and instructions in them.  I walked down one path and every 20 feet saw a pile of bear scat knowing full well I was being watched. This was my second trip after my first one 30 years ago. I should not have waited so long. Next time I think I may want to fly into Sitka and spend a week or two in town. The people were super nice and there is plenty to explore and do. Time will tell.

No question the highlights of this trip were the Hubbard Glacier, Sitka, and Ketchikan, with Haines an honorable mention.  Even in a big ship we got really close to the Hubbard Glacier and witnessed cavings.  It happened that at lunch we viewed the Glacier right out the dining room window and it was a wonderful view.  I have way too many pictures to sort through.  Both Sitka and Ketchikan are surrounded by the Japanese Current which like the Gulf Stream bathes the islands in moderate weather.  We were told Sitka only had 18 inches of snow last year and the temperature was in the 20s and 30s only 2 weeks during the winter.  In the summer the temperature was glorious.  Sitka has a good airport so we are considering next year just flying into Sitka and spending a week or so.  The people were friendly and helpful and there is plenty to do there and lots of places to visit.  Likewise, Ketchikan has a lot to offer and would warrant a prolonged stay.  There is a huge amount of infrastructure being built and the city population has exploded.  Again, there seems to be plenty to do there and surrounding areas to visit.  I went to Haines because the Alaska Eagle Preserve is there only to be told the Eagles are not there until November.  I was totally confused as during my last visit 30 years ago in June, I remember thousands of eagles being there.  No idea about the disconnect.  We did see 2 eagles in the wild and got pictures but nothing else.  Haines has expanded some since my last visit but it is still a sleepy peaceful hamlet in Alaska worth visiting and the out areas offer some great drives and views.  But you can only get there by water so fly in somewhere else and take a ferry there.

You can never go wrong traveling to Alaska and if you have not done it yet please plan on a trip.  Cruise ships are ideal for a first-time visit hitting all the high points.  Once acquainted planning on longer trips on land should be a priority.  One thing we have yet to do that I want to do is go into the interior on one of the train excursions and go to Denali Park and try and see Mount McKinley.  It is something to look forward to.  Alaska is an immense experience and will change you during your visit.

Norwegian Cruise Lines, Norwegian Sun to Alaska, the Good and Bad

Embarkation Day/Disembarkation

Getting on board was probably one of the easiest of any cruise I have been on. You get in a line that is constantly moving and you go check in with one person who takes your picture and checks your boarding pass and passport and you are done. Once you get on the ship the line in our case went right by our muster station for emergencies and we checked in completing the requirement to report to your muster station. It was all quick and painless. The only downside was even though the line was constantly moving and going forward, the line was long and it took about 20 minutes of walking to get on the ship. Then the real fun began. What they don't tell you is your room is not ready yet and you have to "hang out" somewhere before you can enter your room. Because we now carry light and don't check big suitcases we had to carry our carry-on for hours. You get to go and sit down for lunch which we had planned to do, but we still had lots of time waiting for our room. The bottom line is like most hotels today your room will not be ready until 3 PM so you need to be prepared for that.  Disembarkation was similarly painless.  You packed your bags and walked off the ship, again with a long line but always moving.

The Room

There is no nighttime to speak of in Alaska during the summer. Sunset is late and sunrise is bright and early. There is a funny story here.  They had a spectacular sunset off the back of the boat so I was there taking pictures with my daughter waiting for the sun to set.  And I waited.  And I waited.  It then dawned on me, up here the sun never sets in the summer so the dozens of pictures I was taking were all the same.  Oops!  So we insisted on an interior room much to the chagrin of our family who could not understand with our financial ability why we would not want to be in a suite. On our last trip some 30 years ago we taped aluminum foil to the windows so we could block out the sun. Our cheap interior room met our needs this trip and was surprisingly comfortable when compared to other bigger rooms and rooms with a balcony were not that much smaller. We slept well as there was no light contamination and it was a little easier to control the room temperature. We had such a good experience we decided for the most part in getting interior rooms even on the luxury cruises. Other than sleeping you don't really spend that much time in the room and even with a balcony your views are still restricted so if you want a really great view you will find yourself up on deck to see the best views.

The Food

Food was marginal. There were some great items and some you could not eat. High points were sauces and desserts. I commented the first day they must have a dedicated pastry chef on board and they did and he has been on the same ship for 22 years. You could tell, the desserts were spectacular every day. I also loved the sauces made fresh and assumed they had a dedicated saucier on board though I never confirmed it. In general, the meat selections were very good. Sometimes tough but always very tasty. The Italian specialty restaurant La Cucina was our best dinner on the ship both for quality of food and service. In the French specialty restaurant, Le Bistro, the food was very good but the service was a bust, and making reservations there was BS. We were severely restricted on the time of our reservations which did not meet our needs yet when we had dinner ½ the place was empty and there was no reason they could not have accommodated our requests, demonstrating poor customer service they rigidly stuck to their talking points from a wound up cupie doll. Service was so bad for the first time in my life I went to the purser's office and demanded my automatic gratuity be reduced for essentially nonexistent service in the food areas. One example. They had fresh sushi one day, which was good, but no soy sauce. I had to ask a server, and then a manager 3 times to provide soy sauce, and after a long wait in my opinion they came out with the smallest bottle of soy sauce I have ever seen. It was like 4 ounces. In minutes 4 or 5 people emptied the bottle leaving everyone back at square one, having to chase down a server or a manager to restock the soy sauce. It was insane. I had to do the same thing with cream cheese for bagels. On multiple occasions, we had to find the manager and complain about the lack of service. In at least two cases the managers apologized profusely and brought us multiple extras to appease us when all we wanted was for someone to offer service and deliver food and drinks in a timely manner. It got so bad with drinks we finally refused to order food until after they served drinks totally confusing the servers. They acted like all they wanted was to take your order and get you out of there as fast as possible with no regard to having anything to drink with your meal. I do feel cruise lines need to change their operations which basically segregates beverage servers' and food servers' functions. In the French restaurant, they only had one beverage server and we were told up front they could not serve drinks in a timely fashion. Too bad, we waited until drinks were served prior to ordering which resulted in us being the last ones to leave the restaurant.  In another situation, we ordered a bottle of Champagne to have prior to dinner, and communication between the food and beverage server had to be bad as the wrong bottle was brought to the table.  By the time they found the right bottle we were finished with dinner and canceled the order.  One of the better food venues was the hot dog and hamburger place off the back of the boat.  We usually ate lunch there and they had great burgers and dogs, especially the dogs.  We have found we get no advantage to the drink packages as we just don't drink that much anymore and the drinks covered under the drink packages generally are not what we would drink anyway.  One example, currently I am drinking Chopin Vodka for martinis as it is pure potato vodka.  But on the ship, they were $19 plus gratuity and not covered.  We drink a fair amount of sparkling water and probably should have preordered that package as the price may have been less.  My adult kids did very well with the drink package and from what they tell me because they purchased it way in advance it was not much more than what I eventually paid for our soft drink package.

The Amenities

WIFI was expensive and spotty. When it worked it worked fine, and when it didn’t it was nonexistent. Our room price included 150 minutes which frankly met my needs but you have to be careful and make sure you log out every time you use it or you will waste all of your time. Two members of my family did this on the first day and had no time left without buying more at a very high price. At the ports there was always some place that had good WIFI available so if you wait to get off the boat and use local WIFI at a restaurant or business you are generally fine. You only need the boat's WIFI on sea days. We did not use the Spa as the prices again were in our opinion ridiculous for what you got. Their hot tubs were OK, especially the one by the kiddie's pool, and were hotter than what I have experienced on other cruises. The entertainment was OK. I saw a couple of shows and they again were OK. We watched a couple of movies in our room we had not seen before.

The Out Islands

If you have been on Carnival Caribbean Cruises you are familiar with the one-day out island experience. The Cruise company owns a small island and you spend the day there at the beach and usually having a cookout. Well, the cruise industry has taken this to a new level in Canada and Alaska.   Covid changed everything and Alaska cruises made lemonade as a result. The Coastline of Alaska is littered with abandoned lumber yards and canneries. Cruises purchased these areas for pennies on the dollar, built a dock, and renovated the area building shops and restaurants for tourists to visit. Some stand on their own like Hoonah, Alaska(Icy Straits); others are 5 to 10 miles out of town like Ketchikan. In Ketchikan, it is a huge facility and they offer free shuttle buses to town but not before having you walk through a mile of shops for tourists to drop a few dollars. You have to also believe the cruises save a lot of money in port charges in these areas. We actually found the one at Hoonah to be quite lovely despite being told there was nothing there. We found a lot of better holiday gifts there and stocked up. It also had great views. They also had great internet as compared to the ship. The main downside was sometimes the shuttle to town took 20 minutes or more but you also got to see the surrounding area and scenery while riding into town.

Excursions

We did not take any excursions off of the ship. The prices in our opinion were ridiculously high beyond reason and the rules and numbers did not work for our family. No more than 6 in a party, no children under 8, etc. Even online I could not find excursions that appealed to us. But we did fine in this regard. While online I found a site that rented large SUVs for large families in Haines and the family was able to spend the day exploring the out areas of Haines. In Sitka, we did even better buying tickets for the "Cool Bus" which was a joy and one of our best discoveries of the trip. The owners do a 1-hour loop around Sitka and actually operated on an "on Call" service. If you finish an activity early call them and they pick you up and take you to your next place. We ended up doing 4 activities in a day that individually would have cost over $200 per person with the ship excursions being offered and the "Cool Bus" fee is $30 a day per person all inclusive (https://visitsitka.org/member/sitka-rides). In Ketchikan, there were dozens of individual operators at the shuttle shops more than willing to pick you up right now with your group at substantial savings over the ship.  I highly recommend in Sitka using the "Cool Bus" you visit both the Fortress of the Bear and the Raptor Center.  You can easily do both in a half day.  Both facilities have multiple wild animals to view and photograph that they are caring for and the staff at both places were highly professional, motivated, and instructive on what you were viewing and how to deal with these animals if you happen to come up on one during a hike.  Their websites are listed here:

http://www.fortressofthebear.org/

https://alaskaraptor.org/

The biggest advantage to our Norwegian Cruise was it was the least expensive trip we have taken in two years.  Overall we had a memorable and great family trip and met most of our goals.  I wished the food service and quality were better but in reality, for what we paid we got good value, and making the right choices made a lot of difference.  I suspect I would be OK with another Norwegian cruise though I would do as best I could with due diligence prior to booking.

Visiting Seattle, Washington State

This was my first trip to Seattle staying for a couple of days. In the past, I was just passing through and 30 years ago en route to China, I had lunch with friends downtown only. I remember that lunch as having great fresh seafood and a calm peaceful experience. I can tell you those days are gone. Downtown is now chaos especially the closer you get to the Public Market. Everything is very overcrowded. A large number of seafood places are there, but the food at best is marginal now and mostly fried and served with french fries. Nothing special. 

The homeless situation

I have recently been to NYC, San Francisco, and Miami but Seattle is the first big city I have seen lots of homeless people. They seemed to be on every street corner, 2 and 3 at a time. There were also plenty of mentally ill people walking around and surprisingly to me lots of physically disabled people with no safety net or help offered. There were stretches of slum areas downtown. You would have a nice store and then 3 or4 boarded up with graffiti all over the outside. And finally, obvious drug addicts walking around. So for a supposedly rich city, Seattle seemed more like the other big cities you read about with obvious serious problems including retail theft.  The entire time we were there the news was reporting constant retail theft. So far the worst I have seen. 

At the end of our stay, we finally had a decent dinner at The Capital Grill but I was very disappointed in the dining scene. As stated most food was tourist burgers and fries. Maybe I did not look hard enough but around the Public Market forget about a gourmet meal. When we go home we will stay near the airport, SEATAC, and we know there are some great places there, but for this trip that is a 30-minute drive and something we did not want to do. 

Shopping is also scattered around. There are many top-shelf shops but they are not in one specific area downtown and walking from one to another be prepared to walk through a dead area. I insisted on using Seattle as my start and ending point for an Alaska cruise as our last trip to Vancouver was traumatic but comparing the two now I can say for ambiance, food scene, and shopping, Vancouver is much better than Seattle if you want to spend a couple of days in town before a cruise to Alaska.

Palihotel Seattle Washington

The main benefit of this hotel is its location. It is a couple of hundred feet uphill from the Public Market which is a large complex of vendors, restaurants, and various shops. You can walk there in a couple of minutes. In addition, it is only a few blocks from most main attractions. You are about 3 blocks from Metro stations as well as the monorail that takes you directly to the Space Needle. The rooms are comfortable and housekeeping is adequate. However, there is no storage in the rooms and you need to bring what is necessary to charge electronics. The major downside and the main reason I would not recommend it is the very poor and uncaring customer service. From the check-in clerk to the day manager no one seemed interested in helping. Checking in was painful. At noon daily our key quit working because no one chose to pay attention to detail and program the computer that we were there for 3 days. One aggravation after another with the front desk staff not helping much. As I said you cannot beat the location but sadly customer service like the rest of the Nation is nonexistent.

DoubleTree Hilton at SEATAC Airport

No question the best hotel we have stayed at near SEATAC over the years. A fairly elegant facility with full amenities including a good hot tub. Good shuttle to the airport and good service from the staff though during our stay reception was clearly understaffed. We will use this as our go-to hotel in the future at SEATAC.

Roasters Restaurant

Directly across the street from DoubleTree by Hilton so very convenient and within easy walking distance. We actually planned to stay at the airport an extra night to eat here. It is a very full, busy fun place and both times now we have eaten at the bar as there is usually an hour wait for a table and the bartenders are a bunch of fun. They excel at meat and in the evening serve the 12-hour roasted prime rib that they are known for.   I had it again and it is beyond succulent. They also make their own bourbon that I have found to be excellent and sadly other than buying a bottle there and packing it in checked baggage no way to get any home. So I guess I will need to fly back soon to have another glass.  https://www.sharpsroasthouse.com/