Paso Robles Wine Festival

My sister emailed me today and mentioned that she's driving north to visit my parents next week for the Paso Robles Wine Festival. This annual event, the largest outdoor tasting of its kind in California, showcases the many outstanding wines in the region. Paso Robles, sometimes called the "southern wine country," doesn't have the name recognition of its northerly counterparts, Napa and Sonoma (though, based on the quality of its wines, it should). But that also means it hasn't yet become the zoo of limo buses and drunk tourists that those areas have. But shhhh— don't tell anyone.

Apparently this is the first year that my parents aren't hosting a bunch of friends for the festival, so my sis jokingly invited us out to join them. Never one to pass up an opportunity for spontaneity, I immediately logged onto Orbitz to check last-minute air fares, on the off chance (okay, the really, really off chance) that I could find a bargain.

No big surprise there: $600+ per person. Would've been fun, but we'll be with them in "spirit," and will crack open a bottle of Paso Robles wine next weekend in their honor.