Newsletter .. Wine & Wineries Planning A Visit Shopping

Monterey County Events Newsletter
May, 2000

Feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends. To modify your subscription, see below.

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Free Tickets to Jazz in June
• Smooth Jazz Spring Concert Series
• Grand Opening - Riverland Vineyards
• Grand Opening - Joullian's Tasting Room
• Anniversary Open House - Paraiso Springs
• Celebration of Chocolate & Wine - Hahn Estates/Smith & Hook Winery
• Artichoke Festival
• Great Monterey Squid Festival

• More Events
• Weather Forecasts
• Allergens
• Editor's Note - - I invite you to be 7 again!
• Past Issues

It's so difficult to select events to list here -- there is such a variety! I encourage you to pick your favorites from the full list: http://gomonterey.com/events.html

This is only some of the wine related events (except for the Artichoke and Squid Festivals). In case you can't decide, we'll help you:

Free Tickets to Jazz -- June 3

(EDITORS NOTE: These tickets have been claimed. Please see future issues for other free opportunities.) If you will be in Monterey on June 3, we have 3 pairs of tickets to give away to hear "Pieces of a Dream" and "Slim Man" at Riverland Vineyards in Salinas Valley. Concert takes place outside on the winery grounds in front of the Tasting Room. Gates open 1:00pm. Event time 2:00pm. Tickets are completely non-refundable and non-transferable (NO TICKET / NO ENTRY). Picnics allowed. BBQ, snacks, wine, soda, juice and water will be for available for sale. No outside beverages permitted. Coolers will be inspected. No video/audio recording of artist performances allowed.

THESE DATES ARE NOT TRANSFERABLE. Please do NOT apply if you will not be in the Monterey area June 3, 2000.

We will mail one pair of tickets to the first 3 e-mail responses (click "Reply") that include a *name* and *mailing address*.

I'm sorry, we will not be able to respond to everyone, only the winners will be contacted.

Please read our privacy policy: http://winecountry.com/w3c/privacy.html

5/7, 5/13, 5/21 and 6/2 Smooth Jazz Spring Concert Series
The month of May will be lively! Sandy Shore Productions is bringing 4 major jazz events to Riverland Vineyards in the Salinas Valley. For those of you who do not wish to drive, there is a luxury bus leaving from the Embassy Suites in Monterey; it includes wine and music throughout the trip. For more information about these concerts and other upcoming jazz events this summer, please visit http://www.smoothjazz.com/ or call 831.649.1223

May 1 - 6 -- Riverland Vineyards Grand Opening
Riverland Vineyards, Home of Mystic Cliffs wines, Wine Tasting Room Grand Opening! Watch for more details of Gala Grand Opening Events! Fee: complimentary wine tasting Time: 11am-5pm Phone Number: 831-675-8838

May 7 - 13 -- Grand Opening of Joullian's Tasting Room
Celebrate the Official Grand Opening of Joullian's New Village Tasting Room. Joullian's Village Tasting Room resides in the Joseph DeMaria building of classical design, located 1/2 block south of Carmel Valley Rd at the entrance into the Carmel Valley Village. Our tasting fee will be waived for the event. Location: Carmel Valley. Fee: No Charge Time: 11am - 5pm Phone Number: (831) 659-8100

May 13 -- Paraiso Springs Anniversary Open House
The public is welcome to celebrate with the Smith Family the 7 years since opening their tasting room in the vineyard. Light hors d'oeuvres, music, complimentary tasting of selected varieties. Fee: Complimentary Time: 11:00 am - 4:00 pm Phone Number: 831/678-0300

May 14 -- Celebration of Chocolate & Wine
Hahn Estates/Smith & Hook Winery Present A Very Special Mother's Day - Come and enjoy the pairing of Fine Wines with Chocolate Creations by Chocolatier - IsaBella Zanger Chocolates. Join us in the Tasting Room, located at 37700 Foothill Rd., Soledad. Fee: None Time: 11am to 4pm Phone Number: (831) 678-2132

May 20 - 21 -- Artichoke Festival
Come to Castroville, the self-proclaimed "Artichoke Center of the World," and sample endless culinary combinations of this delicious vegetable. Live bands, cooking demos. 10K run, parade, field tours, artichoke eating contests, car show, arts & crafts and fantastic food. Benefits local charities. Near the Castroville Community Center, Castroville. Marilyn Monroe was the first "Artichoke Queen". Fee: Before May 10th $5/$2, After May 10th $6/$3 Time: Sat. 10am-7pm, Sun. 10am-6pm Phone Number: (831) 633-2465

May 27 - 28 -- Great Monterey Squid Festival
Enjoy calimari prepared in more ways than you can shake a stick at, plus crafts and entertainment. Monterey County Fairgrounds. Fee: Call Time: Call Phone Number: (831) 649-6544 or (831) 649-6547

For more events in the Monterey area for the rest of 2000 please look through our extensive Events Calendar.

For weather predictions, choose the San Francisco area: http://www.weatherplanner.com

If you are sensitive to trees, grasses, weeds and molds see what might be blooming here around the time of your visit by looking at the web site of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology : http://www.aaaai.org/nab/west.stm
Select "San Jose (Station 2)," it has more recent data. Use the graph feature at the bottom of that page, input today's date 2000 (i.e. 4-1-00) and you'll get a graph of the last 12 month's activity. Click on a bar of the graph to see what was active on that date. Pack tissues ;-)

If you receive this newsletter you already know Monterey is an incredibly beautiful place: around every bend in the road is another spectacular view of the Pacific and local hills.

Sometimes we plan our vacations like packing our suitcase: just ONE more thing (stuff, stuff) until the hinges stretch or the tab rips off the zipper.

Remember being 7 years old when everything was interesting? For example, if walking were boring you would skip, or walk backward, or makeup games with the lines and cracks in the sidewalk, or hop on one foot laughing.

I invite you to be 7 again!

1.) Rent a bicycle or bike-tram (seats 4 people) at one of the bike shops on Cannery Row, and slowly bike along the bike path that runs along what used to be the railroad tracks. The bike shop should be able to supply a backpack. Your next stop should be to buy a sandwich and drinks. Pack a windbreaker, the bike shop will supply you with a helmet. Wear it. It's the law besides, it's common sense.

The bike path begins in the north in Marina but I recommend you get on it in Monterey and head "south" toward 17-Mile Drive/Del Monte Forest, south of Pacific Grove.

Be on the lookout for walkers and children, which tend to bolt in unpredictable directions. The etiquette is to announce "On your left," and to pass to the left. Keep in mind that some people are dyslexic and may step right in your way! (The brain is a complicated thing!)

There is no purpose in this, just "be" in the open air with the Bay arrayed before you with the occasional Sea Otter in the kelp, or fluttering Monarch Butterfly like a flighty gem...

2.) Another strategy to just "Be" in Monterey is to - for one day - leave the street map behind and TRY to get lost.

You really can't get too lost in the Monterey area, the Pacific is on the west and Highway 1 is on the east.

But I invite you to wander around; driving slowly is perfectly acceptable, the locals are used to it, you may get a few hand signals from passing motorists but it's their unique way of waving.

And keep on the lookout for beauty! It will surprise you everywhere: you crawl up to a stop sign, turn your head and wow!

There is the Bay from a stunning angle, the sand dunes and coast hills framing the picture; or you'll notice flowers growing on dirt sidewalks; or a neighborhood street that suddenly detours around a stately pine. And look! every house is built differently from its neighbor!

It IS important to drive carefully while looking at the houses and views, slow is good.

Monterey is a beautiful place and I invite you to come, even without an itinerary.

We encourage your feedback, please send your comments to our newsletter editor, Karla Noyes: mailto:editor@gomonterey.com. Suggestions of topics you would like to see in future issues are welcome.

If this newsletter has been forwarded to you and you would like to SUBSCRIBE please visit http://www.winecountry.com/forms/news.html

To UNSUBCRIBE from this newsletter, send an e-mail to mailto:announce-request@gomonterey.com With the following information in the BODY of the message: unsubscribe your_username@your_ISP.com Use your own e-mail address and make sure that 'unsubscribe' is the first word on the line. You will be taken off the list immediately. Thank you!

For information on advertising in the Monterey County Events Newsletter, please contact Jamie Roth at mailto:jamie@freerun.com or (831) 333-9145. Please refer to the Monterey County Events Newsletter.
Or visit our web site at: http://www.gomonterey.com/general_info/contact_us/index.html