March of this year was really busy! I had my 15K the first weekend, a weekend trip to Whidbey Island with friends, and then at the end of the month a girl’s road trip coming up! I had to turn down a girl’s trip to Boise since I had so much going on!
My friend Brandon was having a birthday, so we decided to celebrate by renting out another friend’s AirBnB house at the south end of Whidbey Island, in the town of Clinton.
We headed down Friday after work, and since March is still winter, it was long dark by the time we got to the house. We chose bedrooms, and lit up the gas fireplace on the deck for some chat and relaxation. I had a glass of wine and just chilled. It was such a nice evening!
The next day, we were up for some exploration, so decided to choose a winery to try. The first place we had planned to check out wasn’t open yet for the day, so we stumbled upon Comforts of Whidbey winery a little way down the road in Langley, WA. What a gem of a place!
Brandon and I did a tasting (Brandon was a sport, even though he isn’t much into wine) and I was very pleased with the wines I tried. They had some amazing sparkling wines! I also loved their Madeline Angevine, Siegerrebe, and Syrah wines – delicious!
After Comforts of Whidbey, we went over to the Whidbey Island Distillery. They gave us a little tour of the distillery – it is a very small batch operation, basically all being operated out of one small room, but the owner really gets into the science of distillation and created a complex, amazing still! I won’t even try to explain it, since I wouldn’t get it right; just suffice it to say that he has made some technological advances in the distillation process.
The distillery is best known for its Rye Whiskey, which contains 51% Rye and 49% Barley. I am not a Whiskey drinker (I have tried and just continue to fail to like it), so I had a little sample and declared it, “not my thing.” However, they also make liqueurs… Blackberry, raspberry, loganberry and boysenberry. These were absolutely my thing! They also had little recipe cards to make cocktails with their liqueurs – I got the raspberry to bring home.
Liqueurs at Whidbey Distillery
Along the way, a few other friends met us, so our little party was growing! We headed into Langley and got lunch at SpyHop, a brewery just a few blocks of the main drag. It was outside of normal lunch hours, so it was really quiet and the food was fantastic! I had fish and chips – yummy!
Fish and Chips with Iced Tea – Spyhop
We poked around the shops for a bit, splitting off from others as we saw something we wanted to check out. There was ice cream had by a few, and beer by a few.
The Olympic Mountains through the telescope
As the town was winding down after 5, we headed back to the house to relax and talk and enjoy some beverages. We walked down to the beach to watch the sunset. It was a nice day!
Sunday morning I made breakfast for the gang – eggs and bacon, and sliced avocado. So yummy! Then I headed down to the beach to wander – I found a huge, intact oyster shell and it posed for some photos for me. I took it home with me to decorate the garden, but sadly, the racoons at my house found it as intriguing as I did and absconded with it a day or two later!
Before we headed home the next day we headed to Greenbank Farm for a late lunch and pie! If you have a chance to have the pie at Greenbank Farm, do. You won’t be disappointed! We also poked around in the various artisan shops for a bit before saying our goodbyes and heading home. It was a nice, relaxing weekend spent with friends.
Wine and History Visited 