LIWINEDAD

  Most time, our expeditions out to wine country involve Jo driving with me doing tuck, roll, and grab into all the wineries on the pickup list for the day; however, this trip was very different (Fig 00).  We were joined by friends Mary and Pete, with the first stop being Sparkling Pointe , not for a pickup but a Lobster roll event (Fig 01) which was so good it requires a separate blog posting just for the lobster roll alone.   After almost 2 hours of gorging on good food and sparkling wine, we roll on to 3 “quick” pickups.   Raphael Winery was first up, and we grabbed our 6-bottle club selection (Fig 02).   Following Raphael, we went to Terra Vite Winery & Vineyard for a pickup, but the wine was not yet available (My Bad), so we relaxed with an after-lunch bottle of Terra Vite’s 2021 Sauvignon Blanc (Fig 03).   From there, it was on to Roanoke Vineyards for our three bottles fall pickup, but we stopped for a quick tasting (Fig 04).  Overall, a...

  If you are interested in wine, check out the New York Wine & Grape Foundation (NYWGF).   The NYWGF is an excellent site with information about everything NY wine related.   Some of the helpful material includes a set of maps of all the NY AVA( American Viticultural Area ), including Long Islands own 3 AVA’s: Long Island [ 27 CFR § 9.170 ] , North Fork of Long Island [ 27 CFR § 9.113 ] , The Hamptons Long Island [ 27 CFR § 9.101 ] (Fig 01).   The NYWGF also published an updated New York Wine Reference Guide (Fig 02) and a quick introductory video on YouTube-NYWGF . #newyorkwinegrapefnd #newyorkwine #nortforkwinetrail #northforkwinecountry FIG 01 - NY LONG ISLAND AVA MAP 2021 FIG 02 - NY WINE REFERENCE GUIDE 2022 COVER

  While Long Island remains the perfect place to live, work, and play, we still need to venture off LI to see Jack the Grandson, Bridget (Daughter), and son-in-law Stud Muffin (Anthony).  To try something different, we explored a more traditional method of traveling by train.  The travel time to Raleigh is about the same as the drive time, around 10 hours.  We opted to take a car into the city to avoid schlepping all the luggage on the LIRR.  Our jump-off point is the new Moynihan station in the old Farley Post Office building above Penn Station.  It is a beautifully done, bright, open, grand train hall and a large lounge overlooking the great hall.  The train departed on time and arrived within 5 minutes of its scheduled time; however, the return trip ran about 2 ½ hours late.  We booked ourselves into a comfortable sleeper compartment that included meals and a private bath.  A note on the cost, it was about 45% higher than Delta First class...

  We were searching for a carnivore’s feast, and Vincent’s Steakhouse came to mind.  We have been there in the past; the food is good and the pricing very moderate.  Once again, Vincent’s did not disappoint.  On the table was a basket of Jalapeno Corn Bread with sweet maple butter that paired perfectly with just the slight kick of the Jalapenos (Fig 01).  The opening round of drinks was our traditional Cosmopolitan and Woodford on the rocks, both well-made and a good size (Fig 02).  For openers, we had the Caesar Salad and the Seafood Platter (Fig 03).  The dinner Entr é es were going to be significant, so the team suggested we move over to a larger table to accommodate the food, and they were correct.   The dinner drinks arrived, and I switched out the Woodford for a Chianti (Fig 04).   The Vincent’s Mix Grill (Fig 05) was, in fact, enormous and designed for two, a detail I missed when ordering but resulted in a fine dinner the next day. ...

  A new summer, new Volleyball games to watch.  We are back at Cedar Beach in the Town of Babylon ( Google Map ) to watch the kids' Volleyball games which are becoming a summertime tradition.   The first stop, of course, is the Salt Shack (Fig 01) for a quick meal beachside (Fig 02), including Calamari (Fig 03), a Caesar salad (Fig 04), a buffalo chicken wrap (Fig 05), and drinks shared between the two of us.  Following dinner, it was game time on the beach (Fig 06) with a multitude of courts (Fig 07).  Overall, a fantastic Thursday night on Long Island.  #cedarbeachbabylon #saltshackny FIG 01 - SALT SHACK UPPER DECK BANDSTAND 28 JULY 2022 FIG 02 - SALT SHACK BEACH DINING 28 JULY 2022 FIG 03 - SALT SHACK CALAMARI 28 JULY 2022 FIG 04 - SALT SHACK CAESAR SALAD 28 JULY 2022 FIG 05 - SALT SHACK BUFFALO CHICKEN WRAP 28 JULY 2022 FIG 06 - CEDAR BEACH VOLLEYBALL 28 JULY 2022 FIG 07 - CEDAR BEACH VOLLEYBALL CLIP 28 JULY 2022

  Given all the fine restaurants on Long Island, a revisit to Majors Steakhouse in East Meadow is long overdue ( Google Map ).   Majors Steakhouse is simply good steaks all the time.   The menu is clean, short, and to the point, a one-pager highlighting all the goodness to follow (Fig 01).   As there were four of us on this visit, we opted for two different starters that were more than enough for all of us.   The Caesar Salad, a steakhouse classic, was rich and creamy with lots of crisp romaine lettuce (Fig 02).   The Seafood platter for two was replete with clams, shrimp, ½ lobster, and lump crab meat; more than enough for three (Fig 03).   The Entrees were the Steakhouse mainstays.   First, the Filet-N-Tail combines an 8oz Petite Filet Mignon and a 6 oz South African Lobster tail plated with mashed potatoes (Fig 04).   Next was a fine marinated Skirt Steak plated on a bed of caramelized onions and mushrooms (Fig 05).   Then, as our so...