Friday, December 28, 2001
Applewood includes a delicious breakfast in our room prices—very European, Patrick thought. Coffee, yogurt with mint sprig, cheesy egg scramble, roasted potatoes, a croissant, fresh-squeezed orange juice, cranberry juice. We visit the Korbel winery and take their free tour. The tour is pleasant and unremarkable except for the 10-minute movie in the middle of the tour which is so poorly written I wanted to laugh out loud without remorse throughout its entirety. During the movie, a man says the word "time" ominously, repeatedly, and randomly in an attempt to create a prominent theme in the story. The movie also includes nonsense such as "He is literally tasting the future," filler scenes such as video of a hand picking up dirt and letting it fall, a flyover of the winery that is alarmingly fast, more like a bombing run rather than a leisurely survey. The best thing about the tour is the free tastings at the end: we sampled four Korbel champagnes as well as a cream sherry. Lunch at the Korbel Cafe. Napped. Read in front of the fireplace: Frank reading "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" by J.K. Rowling, Patrick reading "Allan Stein" by Matthew Stadler. Fajitas at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Drinks at the Eagle where we chatted with a friendly bartender. Left the Eagle and went to Fife's where we met Michael, Mark, Brian, and the bartender Donald. Hung out with Brian (and later Ryan) in their cottage.