It’s a ways off, but I figured I’d give y’all the heads up about an event dedicated to my favorite beverage: coffee. Yes, I’m sitting here with a steaming cup of very strong Joe next to me, and thought to myself it might be nice to head to Hawaii later this year. What’s happening there? I asked myself. Well on November 3-12 there is the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival being held on the Big Island of Hawaii. The festival is Hawaii’s Oldest Food Festival (I put that in caps because that’s how they bill themselves as well). So if you’re a java junkie, give it some thought. Book those reservations now.
Cheap, But Good, Wine
Here at Gadling, some of us are into wine. Oh yeah. Nothing makes a travel adventure more wonderful after a day of hiking, cycling, climbing, whatever, than a nice glass of vino. (key word here, is “after”)
But as we’ve complained in the past, the stuff can be ridiculously expensive especially in cities like New York . But as the good folks over at Slashfood point out, there is a fine little piece over at BusinessWeekOnline, wherein wine aficionado Robert Parker picks ten wines that are all under $10. Lordy lordy, in fact, some of these precious little bottles are as low as five bucks. Slashfood breaks out the list, and I ain’t gonna steal their thunder so you can check them out or go to the article yourself.
Prosit!
Photo of the Day (8/20/2006)
A little self-serving this morning, but what can I say. I’m in Santa Barbara for a wedding, which was held at a lovely winery in the Santa Ynez valley. Great location for getting hitched. The bride and groom, friends of ours, looked great, but I took some time to noodle around in the winery itself, in the vineyard, that is, and snapped this photo of some delicious grapes. No, not the best photo I’ve ever taken, but still it’s not every day you get to wander around a vineyard.
$40,000 Lobster
Having been in Maine recently, I was rather astonished at how expensive the lobsters are there. I mean, $15 for a pound and a half crustacean in the very place they are found just seemed a bit exorbitant to me. Still, we paid the price because when is the net time you’re going to be in Maine eating lobster? Well, all that aside, I just happened to be browsing over at sister site Luxist and found this post about the most expensive lobster ever. The rather realistic looking solid gold lobster here is made from 1.1-lbs of pure 24-carat gold. It is about 13″ long with a 7″ tall. The big heinous thing is currently on display in a jewelry store in Nagoya Japan and will set you back some $40,000. And my guess is that it does not go well with melted butter.
Belgian Beer Weekend
Those who are in the know, well, they know that the best beers tend to come from a country in Europe that is neither Germany nor Austria. The best beer in the world, many say, comes from Belgium. How do I know this? Trust me. One of my old teachers was a brewmaster at a top brewery in Seattle, and everyone was always trying to imitate the Belgians.
The fact is that few other countries can boast as wide an array of distinct beer styles as Belgium, and eve if you’ve never met a Belgian in your life, chances are you’ve tried one of the beers or at least a brand that was influenced by Belgian methods.
Well, so lets say you love beer AND that you want to do some traveling to Europe in the NEAR future. You’re in luck. Because the eighth annual Beer Weekend put on by the Belgium Brewers’ Association in collaboration with the City of Brussels happens this September 1-8. We’re talking all beer all the time. Delicious sudsy goodness until you pass out. The event is free and beers are served from 48 Belgian breweries. This is serious beer fun for you and the family…OK, leave the family at home.