Sunday, September 21, 2008

Winthrop Anniversary Trip...Is There Coffee and Yarn in Winthrop?

Headed over the No. Cascades Hwy. 20 to Winthrop, WA for our anniversary getaway. We'd been there before so knew where to go. We stayed at the Freestone Inn in Mazama, WA. This is our back deck. We had a King suite with a wrap-around deck which was great!
Another view from our deck looking out onto the lake...

On a much needed walk around the lake looking back at our Inn...

And of course knitting on the Everyday Cardi sleeve. Had to get a shot of that!
The interior was well done and had alot of pine and metal accents. The fireplace, which we didn't end up needing. It was a nice 86 degrees the first day!
We headed into town for all our meals and browsing. Winthrop has its own flavor, with alot of the historic store fronts and a cowboy feel.
We ate at the Grubstake one morning and had amazing omelettes, and homemade bread and strawberry jam, and these wonderful lattes. I had to ask what brand the coffee was. Much more on that story later!!
But first, I had to go see the ONLY store that carries beautiful yarns in the whole area! The Ashford Gallery located right in downtown Winthrop in the Purple Sage Building did not disappoint. Owners Don and Sara Ashford, both artists, run the shop. It is filled with custom pottery, ceramic sculptures, wearable hand-dyed art, weaving, silk painting and quality yarns. I had my eyes on this Queensland Collection Kathmandu Aran merino/silk/cashmere blend yarn and ended up getting some of the gold tone for my stash!Sara is also a spinner and uses natural dyes in her items. Many local artists also provide dyed and carded fiber for spinning available for purchase in the shop.It was a pleasure meeting Sara and viewing her artistic family's items. And such a joy to know that there really is yarn in Winthrop! Not your Grandma's yarn, either!

Now...on to the coffee story. The coffee that captured our hearts while on our stay was this great brew from a local roasting company called Blue Star Coffee Roasters and all I can say is "Wow!"... If you ever get over the pass and visit, you MUST try it! They are located in Twisp, just a quick drive down the road from Winthrop. Their shop was very clean and friendly, and while we were there we got to greet the owners, their happy dog, and hear the new local radio station announce the "dance break" and advertise this wonderful coffee company. I had to get a shirt! What can I say? I am a fan! Many of the shops and restaurants feature this coffee. And you can get it online. We might just have to do that. There IS coffee in Winthrop after all! It ruined me forever over and above Starbucks! We purchased a bag of it on our last morning as we got our Blue Star latte at the Mazama Country Store....and now you know after all that coffee what will happen to me!?On the way to our first big dinner, we saw fields crammed full of deer. We had to be very careful driving on the highway at dusk and night as they would try to cross the road. Many drivers are unaware and speed through the area...but we kept a close watch. The Sun Mountain Lodge is a highly popular destination spot overlooking the Methow Valley. We were unable to get reservations to stay here due to two other events booked the same weekend, but we did come here for dinner our first night.

Though some overcast weather, the views were still spectacular! Our table faced the windows so we had sweeping views of the hills. And here's my salad! Arne's dinner (above) and mine (below)...Of course delectable!
Full and happy....but wait!

There's more! A personal size chocolate cake with chocolate ganache! The next night we were celebrating my Birthday! Yes, all in one week. So Arne had eaten here before and loved it. It is a quaint and lovely place right in downtown Winthrop called the Arrowleaf Bistro.We forgot to take pictures of the elk (Arne's) and my beef entree...but we did get a Birthday pic of me with my chocolate bread pudding with blackberry sauce...I did share! Oh, and we enjoyed a french press of decaf Blue Star coffee to have with dessert, of course!
Our last morning we ate at the Mazama Country Inn for breakfast since the restaurant at Freestone Inn is currently closed.

We couldn't have asked for a better trip! Here's to the next 25 years! And now the diet begins!

7 comments:

Erin said...

Oh my gosh! Everything was just beautiful! I'm so jealous of the neat little quaint places you were able to visit! I wish we had more stuff like that here. And you better believe I'm going to be ordering some of that coffee online!

Jeannine said...

oh my......I am drinking some Blue Star right now. We are trying it in the French press. I probably won't sleep tonight! Can you smell it from there??

Erin said...

oh that's just not fair!!! ;-)

Jeannine said...

OK, so we are trying to get the ratio and the grind right on the coffee since we are so used to using our "pre-measured" Stasrbucks pods in our machine...but we'll get it! It is a fabulous place to visit, yes indeed!

Anonymous said...

for good coffee (or at least my way): level (or heaping) coffee scoop, WHICH IS 1/8 CUP, per 2 cups of water. So on the water line on the pot, if you are making to the 6 line, put 3 scoops of coffee!

your trip looks awesome...how fun!!

Jeannine said...

Yeah we are trying to do it in the French press and get the fine-ness of the grind right so it isn't too weak. It is about like you said -a heaping spoon and 2 c.water. We aren't using an "auto-drip" maker with it so far,but we could later if we order more. The trip was fabulous!! Yay!

Beatriz said...

Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday (late)!! I can only imagine how good Blue Star coffee might be. Glad you had a good time. Here's to 25 more years.