Yakimania

Sadly, I did not get much in the way of vintage finds while I was visiting Washington. I had to make room in my luggage for these:

This is the result of our day of wine-tasting in Prosser and Zillah with Chris' parents and his sister, Sari (and a few bottles from our one-day trip to Hood River, Oregon earlier in the week) . His other sister, Sue, was kind enough to watch the kids while we were out for the day.

There are actually a few bottles missing from that picture. I can't even tell you what kind of wine I bought at the last three wineries we visited. It could have been Boone's Farm with a fancy label for all I knew. I was just too buzzed to care. Toward the end of the day, I remember slurring my words and complaining to one of the winery employees about the annoying liquor laws in Pennsylvania. (We can't buy wine or beer at the grocery store. We go to the "beer distributor" for cases of beer, the "packaged goods" store for a six-pack and the "wine and spirits" store for wine. And we can't even get wine shipped to our state from any winery.) I'm sure I sounded like a valley girl.  After we drank some of the wine and gave most of the bottles to friends in Seattle, we ended up bringing five of them home with us. 

By far, my favorite winery was one that we visited while Chris and I were allowed to escape for one night (without kids) to Hood River. We stopped at Maryhill Winery, which is a mile down the road from the Maryhill Museum. They are both on the Washington side of the Columbia River. Here's a photo of the museum from the Oregon side:

Talk about the middle of nowhere! You can't imbibe too much at the Maryhill Winery...one wrong move on the way home, and you'll end up in the river. But, boy, all of their wines were just delicious. The stunning view didn't hurt, either. With all of this wine talk, you probably think I'm a wine snob. I'm not by any means! Wine-tasting is one of my favorite parts of visiting my in-laws. It is fun to pretend like I really taste the charcoal, loganberries and chocolate in a tiny sip of pinot noir. And I love listening to my father-in-law, Jim, ask the same question at every winery, "Now, what is the residual sugar in this wine?" Who cares?! Just drink it!

Oh - and I missed Deb by just one day. She was in Prosser on Thursday giving the Hogue Winery tasting room an extreme makeover. We were in Prosser on Friday. It would have been great to meet her!

My mother-in-law, Mary, did bring me to a few antique stores and yard sales in Yakima. I love that they have yard sales on Fridays out there. We rarely have them on Fridays here. Another difference I noticed is that people have no qualms about selling their underwear at yard sales. UNDERWEAR! What the hell?  I'm not talking cute Victoria's Secret panties with the tags still on. No...I'm talking big used satiny white granny panties. And a few threadbare boxers thrown in for good measure.

Thankfully, I packed well and did not need to buy used panties for a quarter.  Here are the few things that I bought that were small enough to carry home:

Mary was nice enough to buy me the vintage red & white tablecloth at one of the antique stores, and I bought the green-handled melon baller, the pink/white tablecloth with matching napkins and the invalid feeder. Yes, that's the white ceramic thing. The small silver tray was an excellent yard sale find given to me by my sister-in-law, Sue, for display in Maeve's bedroom. It is hard to see, but it is engraved with the letter M.

We stopped by one of the shops where Mary and Jim sell their antiques. It is called Antiques, Etc. If you are ever in Yakima, you have to go there! The little cottage is PACKED with stuff. Five rooms on the main floor, the entire basement, the front porch, and the front and back yards. It is mostly antiques, but there are a few new country primitives things, too. They have every type of antique you can possibly think of...from outhouses to birdhouses. I only wish that I had a place like this to sell my stuff!

Take a look at those original built-in cabinets. Hey - that stack of picnic baskets looks awfully familiar!

Here is the owner, Marie (trying to hide from me):

 

Unfortunately, Antiques, Etc. does not have a website. If you ever get a chance to stop there, make sure you mention that you saw the store on my blog. Marie will get a kick out of it. But she might ask you to explain what a blog is. 

Comments

[Farmerswife]

Welcome back wino! Glad to see you had a fun time.

[Kim]

oooo, that sounds wonderful!!!! I LOVE wine. I'm from PA & every time I visit, I complain about the liquor laws. Yeah, I'm a wino too :)

[Carrie S.]

I say, sometimes, it is much more prudent to make room for wine than vintage. Sometimes...

[tammy g.]

oh, you and your booze, ha-ha...glad you had a nice time away.

Speaking of underwear...I was at the thrift store last week rifling through the old sheets & this man comes in & starts going through the drawers next to me. The drawers are filled with old bras, slips & stuff like that. He just kept going through them & touching everything...very odd. Reminded me of a call I got years ago after our garage sale (I was a teen) - the pervert man started telling me he went into our bedroom & was touching our underwear...ewwwww!! Creep!

[Rosemary]

Looks like you had a great time!
That little antique place is so cute.
Have a great weekend and enjoy your wine!
Rosemary

[KIM from Florida]

Hey Girl
Sounds like you had a great time...I just wanted to let you know that in Cochoranville there is the cutest little shop like the Antiques, etc that you went to they do have booths that you could rent or you could take your stuff to my familys consignment shop they sell lots of accessories...I made a PROFIT of 65.00 dollars last month and that was only on 4 items....just check it out Consign-It Furniture in Kennett Square...thanks for the great blog

[Charmingdesigns]

Looks like a great Antique shop. Love Hood River wine, Im from Oregon...little greener then where you were.lol Love reading your blog! Laurie

[Helen]

Ok Colleen....I just happen to run into Mary and Sari Saturday at a yard sale and mentioned "fresh Vintage" blog...One of my fav's! Yes, they smiled as I asked do you know a young women who went to a yard sale and found grannie panties on a Friday? Needless to say I love your Mother-in -law and Sari too. We'll all be at the American Primitive's Show August 11th...Fantasic!!! Your friend from Yaki-vegas...Helen

[linda t]

Do you know what I noticed? The pussy willows in the large vase!! Oh my, do I miss them!
Great pics!

[Debbie]

By far, the funniest sentence in this post is your father-in-law's comment at every winery, "Now, what is the residual sugar in this wine?" and your thoughts, "Who cares?! Just drink it!" Oh, so true! I would've chimed right in with you had I been standing next to you. Stop with the chatter. Just drink it! Ha...I can't stop giggling...my eyes are watering...ok...on with the show! The granny bloomers? Yeah, in this neck of the woods we like to refer to them as parachutes. Seriously now. Try it the next time you see one and you'll be truly amazed by this remarkable discovery.