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Wash. Wine Country- Walla Walla?
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There seem to be a disproportionate number of womens from this area (and I think a training camp was held here) so I thought I'd check in...

Bf and I are interested in going to Washington's wine country over Labor Day weekend. We're coming down from Seattle and we're very new to the area. We are looking for a nice B&B, good food, good wine of course, and ideally 2 days of cycling through back roads and vineyards.

Where is the best place to base ourselves for the weekend? The Columbia Valley is quite large and I can't tell where we should be. Is it worth going all the way to Walla Walla, or is the Yakima Valley and Tri-Cities area alright? Any specific recommendations for a place to stay, wineries to visit? If anyone has good cycling routes that'd be awesome too.

Thanks ladies!
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Re: Wash. Wine Country- Walla Walla? [Lilac J] [ In reply to ]
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QRGirl is your best resource for this, send her a PM.
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Re: Wash. Wine Country- Walla Walla? [trailbait] [ In reply to ]
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Walla walla is great and you should definitely do it.
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Re: Wash. Wine Country- Walla Walla? [Lilac J] [ In reply to ]
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qrgirl is definitely your best resource for this. Funny enough, I'm heading out to Walla Walla tomorrow (from seattle) as I'm throwing my husband a 40th bday party at Dunham Cellars this weekend. Personally I love WW - some great riding, cute town, great food (try Saffron, Whitehouse Crawford, and the Phu place right next to Saffron...oh, and the patisserie on Colville). It's honestly a great little getaway!


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Re: Wash. Wine Country- Walla Walla? [Lilac J] [ In reply to ]
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I agree with the Walla Walla. In terms of other things to do after you wine taste, I think it is the best option. Tri-Cities next, Yakima after that. Wine choices and qualities are a bit higher in Walla Walla - they are drawing the grapes from the whole valley (i.e. the other to area mentioned too!). The other option, close to Seattle is the Wenatchee/Chelan area. Great outdoor activities and great food/wine!

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Re: Wash. Wine Country- Walla Walla? [Lilac J] [ In reply to ]
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Hello, QRgirl here , your expert on south/central Washington. You are correct there's quite a bit to choose from for wineries between the length of the Yakima Valley all the way to WW.

I live in Prosser, which is sort of smack in the middle. (A fabulous place to spend Labor Day, by the way. I'll have my crepe stand open at our Farmer's Market.) Prosser is fairly limited as far as accommodations, although there is a wonderful newly restored B&B here, Seven Gables Pensione, a really good restaurant, Wine O'clock and a lot of great wineries. The area around Prosser grows some of the bext wine grapes in the state. A lot of WW wineries source their fruit from vineyards here. The nice thing about Prosser, is the wine prices are quite reasonable compared to WW. Prosser has about 40 wineries in and around town. Riding here is fantastic as well and I would be happy to give you some of our favorite routes.

Walla Walla is a bit of a different beast. They've done an excellent job in promoting toursim and rightfully so. There are many cute restaurants and shops, high and mid-priced. The Marcus Whitman is a restored historical hotel that is right downtown and the choice of lilpups and her aging hubby. As a group we've rented a house there and if you look at VRBO.com, I think you'll find lots of choices. There are several hotel/motels to choose from as well, many within walking distance of downtown. WW has well over 100 wineries, some fantastic and some riding on the fantastic one's coattails. You'll find wine prices higher here than most other areas. Riding in the area is very nice. I'm not as familiar with routes there, but the local bike shops have a good map.

In summary: WW= higher end, higher prices, very charming yet hip smallish town. Prosser= down homey, friendly, cute, very small town (no hip factor here.)
Riding excellent in both areas.
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Re: Wash. Wine Country- Walla Walla? [QRgirl] [ In reply to ]
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Thank you! We'll be arriving on Saturday (stopping in Yakima for Fri night) and will try to swing through Prosser. I'm excited!
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Re: Wash. Wine Country- Walla Walla? [QRgirl] [ In reply to ]
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QRgirl - good thing my aging hubby doesn't visit the women's forum too often!

Lilac J - Definitely try to hit the Prosser farmer's market on Sunday if you can and grab a crepe (or five) from QRgirl and her hubby. Honestly the best crepes this side of the Alps. Just ignore the really mean looking dog they have. ;)


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Re: Wash. Wine Country- Walla Walla? [lilpups] [ In reply to ]
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Will do, will be driving through on our way home on Monday!
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