Our
first stop of the day was the Columbia State Historic Park. After a short delay, we met our guide who gave
us an overview of the history of this community. We learned gold was discovered here in early
1850. By 1852 more than 150 stores, shops, saloons, and other business enterprises
were operating in Columbia. We also learned the town had burned twice over the
years.
Several
of the surviving buildings house currently operating businesses of several
types. The ladies (and some of the guys)
enjoyed checking them out to see what was there.
One
of the most popular was the saloon complete with a bowling alley. We learned
bowling was quite popular.
Several
of us decided to have lunch at one of the restaurants, the Columbia Kate’s
Teahouse. Let’s just say the men had a hard time finding a manly meal, but
being gentlemen they did stay and struggled through the feminine food
choices.
Ask Wayde about his fancy iced tea.
Oh by the way, the desserts were out of this
world.
Our next stop was Ironstone Vineyards. While we were waiting for our tour to begin, Rae Ann gave a short piano concert. It was wonderful to hear such beautiful music.
After several tasting stops on previous days, it was refreshing to
have a two hour tour hearing about the complete winemaking process.
The flowers and landscaping entering the
winery were outstanding.
The
44 pound Crystalline Gold Leaf Specimen was quite a sight. It is considered priceless.
We
then went outside to see more of the grounds and the “work in progress” mining
history museum and mining equipment.
We
finally entered the wine caves which housed some of the barrels of wine.
The caves have also been used for weddings, concerts, parties, a Halloween Spook
house and Christmas concerts.
Thinking
we had seen everything, there was another beautiful garden area and amphitheater
where they have many concerts with both local and professional musicians. The proceeds from some of the events are
given to the local FFA and 4H to continue their work in the community.
It
was then time to WINE TASTE! Or rest our feet.
Many
of us went to the Marisolio Tasting Bar which is an Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar
store. They have 30 varietal and flavor fused olive oils, 25 naturally flavored
balsamic vinegars, and lots of other goodies, such as seasoned popcorn, gourmet
mustards, olives, spices, and candies. We were given instructions and told to
enjoy ourselves. It was interesting
tasting the different products.
A
few of us went to The Spice Tin. This
shop had just about any spice you might want.
They had 1 oz. packages for those items where you only need a
little. Nice if you wanted to experiment
with your cooking.
Submitted by: David and Susanne Malone #12
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