It's been a l o n g d r y s p e l l since our last get-together / adventure. Too much stuff going on and not enough time. But finally, we are back together and Queen Barbara is taking us to a cute little winery in Temecula for some Olive Oil & Vinaigrette tasting. Let's look at how our day played out . . .
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| Entrance to Old Town Temecula |
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| Old Town is a very popular place on Saturdays |
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| First Stop - Villa di Calabro for the Olive Oil Tasting |
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| Such a cute little place |
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| Let's go in. |
Once inside, they seated us in this pretty little area for the tasting . . .
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| So cozy |
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| Our host for the day |
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| Quite the selection of flavored olive oils and vinaigrettes to choose from |
We were each given a small container of bread cubes and what looked like an artist's palette where the flavored olive oils and vinaigrettes would be poured into so we could taste the various combinations. We were also given paper and pencil to take notes of what goes with what and suggestions of what kind of meat/veggies/fruits to use each of them on. With such a variety, the choices are endless, but we were assured over and over again that there are no wrong combinations.
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| So much information . . . |
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| Trying to take it all in |
All the combinations tasted so good and he threw out so much information, it was a tad overwhelming. And then . . . he turned us loose to . . .
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| Shop!!!! But which ones to pick? |
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| So many choices. |
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| Somehow we managed to all leave several $$ there! |
All that tasting and shopping made us super hungry, so next stop was an interesting Mexican Restaurant for lunch . . .
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"The Bank" -
At one time it was an actual bank,
now converted to a Mexican Restaurant |
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The Vault is still there . . .
Fun to look inside at the 18" thick cement walls, old files and equipment
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"The Bank" has quite a history . . . Construction began on June 27, 1913, and took about a year to complete. It was originally called the "First National Bank of Temecula", and boasts that on August 14, 1930, it was the scene of the first bank robbery in Riverside County. The robber tried to lock a young teller and the bank cashier in the vault, but the quick-thinking cashier was able to jab a screwdriver into the jam as the door was closing. The robber made off with about $2,000, and as he was trying to escape in a Model A Ford Coupe, the cashier grabbed a pistol he kept in his desk and ran out into the street, yelling for help. A local rancher who was in the barber shop across the street jumped out of the chair - towel, lather and all - and together they chased down the robber in the rancher's Buick. They caught him about two miles up Winchester Road. After a couple shots were fired through the windshield of the Model A, the bank robber surrendered. He was later tried and found guilty of first degree robbery, and served three years in prison before being paroled. The Bank survived the Depression of the Thirty's, a bank shortage in the Forty's and WWII, after which it finally shut its doors. The building remained empty until 1965, when it was turned into an Antique Shop called "Sign of the Pitcher". In 1978, it was carefully refurbished and turned into the Mexican Restaurant which will always be known as "The Bank".
But I digress. Let's get back to our story . . .
Lunch was good (how can Mexican food ever be anything but?), and there was lots of laughter and conversation around the table.
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| Lupe (our guest for the day) and Queen Barbara |
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| Carol L and Debbie |
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| Anita, Joy and Carol N |
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| Chris, Leslie & Seema |
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| Two more guests - Sharon & Robin |
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| F.R.I.E.N.D.S.around the table |
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And we celebrated our two birthday girls -
Joy & Debbie - with some yummy churros |
After lunch, we took a stroll through Old Town to look in the little shops and to work off some of the calories. We found several interesting shops, including this cute little . . .
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| Spice Merchants Shop |
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Just like the Olive Oil and Vinaigrette, there were so
many different spices to choose from. It smelled so good in there! |
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| Lots more shopping and trying to decide what to buy |
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| We left a few more $$ there. |
We walked in and out of several more shops, until it was well into the afternoon and time to head back home. But first, one last photo opp in front of Temecula City Hall . . .
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L-R: Seema, Queen Barbara, Chris, Anita, Debbie,
Robin, Leslie, Carol L, Sharon, Joy, Carol N |
Thanks Queen Barbara for introducing us to something we've never done before. Now we need to have a potluck where we can each bring a dish we've made with the olive oil/vinaigrette and spices we purchased. Sounds yummy.
