The winery serves a six-course dinner. One selects his main course, the restaurant provides everything else. Tonight we began with a savory baklava. It was extremely tasty. Phyllo dough was filled with shitake mushrooms, pistachios, pecans, and walnuts. A balsamic vinaigrette accompanied the baklava. We were both extremely impressed with this appetizer. The wine pairing with this was the Renault’s burgundy. It’s a lighter burgundy, but quite flavorful. It went well with the baklava.

Next up was a harvest chowder. This was flavorful. A base corn chowder with root vegetables added made for a delicious soup. Not a drop was squandered as we enjoyed this course.

The third course was a butternut squash ravioli with a smoked tomato puree. It was topped with chopped bacon and Pecorino Romano. I did not have high hopes for this course, but it was right up there with the baklava. This was very creamy. Two decent size ravioli made a great mop to help clean up the puree. Excellent! The wine paired with this was the Fresello. Despite being described as a semi-dry white, I found it to be sweet. I was not a fan. This was the weak link in the entire meal.

The intermezzo was a wild berry sorbet served in white wine. The sorbet was excellent; the wine could have easily been left out. It added nothing and was consumed after the sorbet.

Next was our main courses. Gert opted for the Australian Rack of Lamb with a shallot glaze. It was served with a chestnut polenta and a marscapone honey. The lamb was excellent! Gert frequently orders lamb here and has never been disappointed. Neither of us were huge fans of the polenta, but it was all right.

I opted for the Grilled Veal Rib Chop. This was served with a roasted pumpkin risotto, Maitake mushroom, and fois gras sabayon. This was the highlight of the evening. The veal melted in my mouth. The mushrooms and the sabayon were excellent. I enjoyed the risotto, as I am a big fan, although the pumpkin could have been a bit more pronounced. There was nothing left on my plate with this course either.

The Renault serves dinner European style, so the salad course was next. Both Gert and I were taken aback by the sparse plate we were presented of romaine hearts. Frankly, it was the correct amount after our meal, but it looked odd. The dressing, which is escaping me right now was very tasty. It was topped with Asiago cheese. One of my grape tomatoes was not up to snuff.

For dessert, Gert and I opted for a slice of turnip and cranberry cake. This was a play off of carrot cake. We devoured it before I realized I had forgotten to take a photograph. Sigh . . . Obviously, we enjoyed it.

This meal was delicious. The baklava and the ravioli were wonderful. Our entrees topped the starters. Dessert was a pleasant ending. We also picked up a couple bottles of wine to bring home. Gert is a big fan of the blueberry champagne and I have always enjoyed the Royal Rouge. I figure the latter will go well with the Christmas Eve standing rib roast.

This year’s visit to the Renault was as pleasant as ever. I commented on the drive home that I would gladly repeat this meal again tomorrow evening.

More photographs

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Well, Fritz and I were out looking to explore an area. We got there, but a little north of where we wanted to be. We ended up four-wheeling. The boy loved it! Of course, once we got in the thick stuff, I decided we had gone far enough. We turned around and on the way out got stuck. I was not happy. I put her in 4×4 and out we came easily. Lovely!

Anyhow, I decided we had enough of that and proceeded to go elsewhere. Saw this waypoint on the GPS and headed for it. There was a guy scoping out the water nearby. We circled a bit. Reception was unusually squirrely here. There were lots of briars. I was carrying Fritz and he became heavy after a bit. We were headed back when the sky cleared and the GPS seemed to point more accurately. I saw the tell-tale sign and we were soon signing in.

One thing about caching with a youngster is that the brush and briars I trample upon are eye level to him. He ended up with a brush mark from something. He likes roaming in the woods. So much so that when it was time to leave, he pitched an absolute fit.

I photographed the clues for the final here.

I at least now know that the fashion look that I am forced to look at every day has now hit the mainstream. Dude, pull up your damn drawers.

Sheesh.

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Autumn is made for geocaching. I love this time of the year.

I snuck out at lunch time to come over here for this cache. I passed a sign that jake brakes are prohibited on the road leading to this cache. I had never seen that sign before. Interesting . . .

Anyhow, I pulled in and parked. The trail was beautifully adorned with fallen leaves. Ah, this beats sitting around work.

Providence must have been with me as I walked directly to the cache. The cache is dry, but the O-ring appears to be shredded. Yet, it is attached and functioning.

I signed in and then walked about a bit. It was a gorgeous midday. This diversion was good for my mental health as I returned to scrambling crayfish.

The Last Word
beauty, and kindness seemed to be all the old woman knew. The people who stopped by were mesmerized by this fascinating

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Initially, I wasn’t certain if I would be able to bang all three of these out before work. I hadn’t left when I wanted to because my son wanted to play some more. He’s too cute to stop playing with.

Eventually we got our act together and proceeded with the day. After the first two in the series, it seemed trivial to run down here, which was away from work, to grab this. The cache is in fine shape at this point.

As I logged this I was able to reminisce about several other occasions at the building I stared at, one of which was our wedding reception. That’s always a pleasant memory.

The Last Word
She would speak with each visitor. Tales of love,

LCJO

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What is the saying about he who hesitates? I have not attended to the Neverending Scavenger Hunt as I should. Thus, I have lost out on many hunts. This is one such one. Rick, who I think played the game extremely well, left in November 2007. Without any warning, temper tantrums, etc. he closed up shop and moved on. He was tired of waiting for attention to the game.

Rick had several good hunts. This was one I just procrastinated on. Today in my adventures I passed Stockton and pulled in. As I approached, I passed security/police. He immediately turned around. I did not look closely; he looked like a trooper, but why would a trooper be on the college’s property? Anyhow, I got right out and explained what I was doing. He smiled and said, “Okay.”

I suspect this is one of the tinier observatories. I haven’t been in one since school. I am one of those who just doesn’t see the constellations. I’ve tried, just failed. I’ll be making another attempt soon enough, I suspect.

Anyhow, thanks Rick for the hunt.

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Well, there should be bonus points awarded for this. Here is the street sign for the intersection of Indiana and Baltic avenues in Atlantic City, NJ. Of course, AC is the town this popular game is based in.

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Pretty much every time I come to Atlantic City I swing by here. I enjoy this old lighthouse.

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This hot air balloon water tower is on the north end of Atlantic City as one comes in from the White Horse Pike. I took the coordinates from across the street. This used to be a drive-in food joint. The screens to order are still up, but the building is long gone.

This is another scavenger hunt that is identical to another.