Walla Walla-So Nice they named it twice

Day 1: Roadtrippin' & Wine Tasting

Leaving Glacier was sad, but we were happy to start a few days of relaxation to begin the second half of our trip. We left Glacier at around 8:15 and started the 7 hour road trip. We stopped about 2 and a half hours into our drive at Kootenai Falls and swinging bridge for one last short hike. This was a great stop to stretch our legs...the hike was only about a mile round trip between the falls and the swinging bridge. Mark wasn’t very keen on doing it because his feet were still in pain, but he was happy we stopped after the fact.

We continued on and made a stop in Spokane, home of Gonzaga, and ate lunch at the Elk Public House. Spokane was a super cute town that I would love to go back to visit. Another town we passed was Sandpoint...it was a beach-like town that we only drove through, but it seemed like the perfect combination of sand and mountain. Once we passed the few towns that were beautiful, we ended up driving in a sea of corn fields and ghost towns for about 90 minutes. To try and find gas was a bit stressful, but I used Google Maps to help direct us where the nearest station was. We stopped at a non-commercial gas station with a little convenience store attached and I went inside while Mark tried to get gas. This particular gas station required a specific card for you to use, so he then informed me he was driving over to the gas station next door and I should walk to meet him. Well, let me tell you, I thought that was the last time I would see Mark because we seemed to be in the middle of the movie The Hills Have Eyes. Thankfully it all worked out--I got my coffee (with almond milk surprisingly) and the gas tank was filled. After exiting the gas station, we drove through an ACTUAL GHOST 👻 TOWN. Again, I’ve seen stuff like this in movies-but never in real life. It was a town with stores and buildings, but completely abandoned. The next milestone we hit was the Washington State Prison...at this point I was getting very concerned about what we were getting ourselves into. After driving a little longer, we came upon the cute quaint little town called Walla Walla.

We got to our Airbnb (which was super cute) around 4:30, freshened up, and got an UBER so we could start drinking some wine! The first winery we went to was Henry Earl Winery in downtown Walla Walla. We were not sure what to expect taste and price wise, but overall the wine tasting was pretty good. The next wineries we went to were Brown Family Vineyard and Goose Ridge Estates. Both were cute and intimate wineries that gave us a feel for the taste of the wines in the region and a feel of the culture.

After our tastings, we went to dinner at Whitehouse-Crawford. The restaurant was located in an old lumber planing mill established in the early 1900s. For dinner I got a short rib pappardelle paired with a Syrah.

After dinner, we opted to head back to the Airbnb to rest up for the next full day of winetasting.

Day 2: Syrah, Syrah, Syrah

Today was our long day of wine tasting. We decided to go to a place called Hattaways, which was recommended by our wine connoisseur at the Henry Earl Estates. The town seemed pretty empty for a Saturday, and nothing really opened until around 9AM (I know, we are early birds). Our breakfast was wonderful. We each ordered a Bloody Mary and homemade drop biscuits with a peach butter to start. For my meal, I ordered the Potato and Scallion Frittata. It was HUGE and soooooo delicious! Sadly, I couldn’t finish it all--but man I am salivating for it right now.

After breakfast, we UBERed to the wineries on the outskirts of the town. We went to Revelry Vintners first for a tasting. Next to Revelry were three wineries, including one of the newest wineries in the area. We opted to walk over and stopped at Valdemar estates. This had a gorgeous second floor deck seating area that overlooked the vineyards and mountain ranges. We then went to Va Piano, which was another great tucked away vineyard, before heading back into town. When we came back to town we decided to eat at Walla Walla Bread Company to carb up after all of the wine. After eating we went to Plumb winery and Mark Ryan.

By the time we went to Mark Ryan, I was ready to head back. We called it a night around 6 PM with our stomachs filled with wine. I am going to be honest, I have not been able to stomach a Syrah since that day. It did not sit well with me...but, maybe someday I’ll give that particular wine another chance.

Day 3: Last day of Wine

We woke up early (after getting a longggg night of sleep) to go to breakfast at the Maple Counter downtown. This is a staple restaurant in the downtown area that has been around for three generations and uses locally sourced ingredients. I ordered a Bloody Mary and the famous Apple Pancake. Doesn’t sound like anything special, but OH. MY. GOD. this thing was MASSIVE. I mean, honestly, a table of 4 could have split it and would have been full. It was certainly delicious though.

We were ready for our last day of wine tasting as we swore off Syrah for the day. Luckily, the wineries we went to had other options on their tasting menu. We walked around downtown stopping at Seven Hills, Dama, Maison Blue, Trout, & Charles Smith. Dama had our favorite wines overall. For lunch, we got sandwiches from Graze. I think the lack of water and the overkill of wine had us ready to have another early night. Not to mention, we had pretty much been non-stop for the last 12 days and our bodies needed a major break and recovery. We got a pie from Sweet Basil, came back to the AirBnB and relaxed for the evening before heading off to Mt. Rainier in the morning.

Overall, our time in Walla Walla was a good stop for us. Their food was DELICIOUS. Their wine was also good. I do not think they live up to the “Napa Valley of Washington”, but they have a great thing going on in their little town.