1.22.11 Boston Weekend

Glenn and I headed up to Boston to see his family and celebrate a belated Christmas and Happy New Year. We flew into Providence. We were surprised and impressed with all the changes. The airport recently completed a renovation so now all the rental car counters and garages are attached to the terminals. It was so nice not to have to walk outside.


We headed to the Harbor for lunch at Anthony’s Pier 4.

This place is seriously old-school: framed black and white photos, waiters in tuxedos, 20 year old chairs and butter sauce on top of butter sauce. Glenn was pretty excited about the picture of Joe Dimaggio and Buddy Orr.

The food was hit or miss, but the view and the service were excellent. It was a fun afternoon.

After our lunch, we headed to our hotel, Hilton Back Bay to check in. We got a nice room on the Hilton Honors Floor. Then we grabbed a cab back to Seaport World Trade Center for the Boston Wine Expo – 2,000 wines weren’t going to taste themselves. And we had a super fun crowd with us.

This event was spectacular. It was overwhelming, but so much fun. The wines were grouped by country of origin so we really got to see the different styles. Glenn perfected the "Stick out your Arm" technique.

The Dow Ports from Portugal were the highlight. We also had some very nice Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand and Chenin Blancs from South Africa. We were surprised how good some of the Greek red table wines were. The best winery overall was definitely Clos de Val. Here were some of our favorites:

• 2009 Ten Sisters Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand)

• 2008 Trapiche Oak Cask Merlot (Argentina)

• Mionetto Organic Prosecco (Italy)

• 2006 Bellinghan Dragon’s Lair Shiraz/Mourvedre/Viognier

• 2008 Clos du Val Chardonnay

• 2005 Clos du Val Stags Leap District Carbernet Sauvignon

• 2006 Trefethen Family Vineyards Merlot

• 2008 Achaval Ferrer Finac Mirador Malbec

• 2006 Carpoli

• 2009 Vermentino

• 2009 Oyster Bay Pinot Noir

After the Wine Expo, we headed to Back Bay for dinner at Turner’s Seafood House. We got a nice high table in the bar and had a fantastic time. The food was excellent, the drinks were excellent and getting to catch up with two of Glenn’s good friends was so much fun. Luckily – much of the Back Bay is connected through shopping malls so we were able to walk back to the hotel in heated comfort.

Sunday morning, we got up and headed to the Pour House for breakfast.

 Great bar with the perfect menu for a day after the Boston Wine Expo. We walked the malls a little bit and the headed back to Providence for our flight. Overall, a fantastic weekend. But it's always good to come home.