Sunday June 18

Final Day Of Columbia River Cruise Adventure

We all agreed at day's end that you could not possibly have planned out a better day than today, or a better weekend for the Spokane post-cruise stay.  We were not on a time schedule for the morning - a first in nearly two weeks - and so we all took advantage of that to have a leisurely morning (though as it turned out no one slept in).  At about 11 we all met up for a couple of games of cards in the lobby then walked over to the Rusty Moose for a light lunch.  We returned to the hotel for about half an hour before summoning our Uber ride to take us to the Arbor Crest Winery.  This was located on the other side of Spokane and took about 20 minutes to get there.  But as soon as we came within view of the place we all knew we were in for a special treat as it sat way, WAY up on a cliff.  Once we got there we met our guide for the day, Angie and she showed us around the grounds.  Originally built in the early 1900s by an inventor, the views were spectacular - and the drops so steep, especially near the main house with the bridge to the "Eagle's Nest" that no children are allowed on the grounds.  We had our initial glass of wine as we took the tour.......  

Note how high we are from the river and road

On right is the main house / NOTE the bridge to the "Eagle's Nest" straight ahead
NOW NOTE the arch on the bridge how you can see down to the road - this was VERY high!

Once we'd seen all the sights and heard all the background stories (which were fascinating), we returned to our table to sample wines and share stories.  The wine was great and as you see in the photo below we were all given a "goody bag" that included a booklet (about 40 pages) on the history of the winery and the facility; a brochure about the wines; and a wine glass.  This, plus the four wines and the tour cost us a whopping......wait for it..............$14 each!  UNBELIEVABLE.  When Dan handed Angie a $20 tip for the day she was truly stunned that we'd have been that appreciative.  It must have been so our of the norm that she passed this on to us as we decided to have a glass of wine and enjoy the views before we left and the bottle of wine (over $35) was "on the house!"  What a way to spend the afternoon.  

We got back to the hotel in time to have about 40 minutes to freshen up then called another Uber to take us to our dinner reservation that I'd made about a month ago at Clinkerdaggers which overlooked the waterfalls.  When we got there and gave them our name, they asked if we'd like inside our outside.  We'd already decided that if we could get a table outside overlooking the falls we'd take it.  So I replied, "Outside and with a nice view if possible."  The hostess said, "Take the Love party to table 37 please" and the girl with the menus who was to take us there said, "OOOHHHH!"  We knew we were getting a nice table - and we were, right on the end of the deck overlooking the falls.  Here's our view to the right, and then to the left.  

WOW, spectacular.  The temperature was ideal - about 68 degrees with a light breeze throughout dinner.  The constant roar of the waterfalls was so amazing and the food was equally so.  A great way to cap off a great adventure.  We were back at the hotel by 8:30 pm and said our farewells as our flights are at 5:30 am and 6:30 am tomorrow.  It was a cruise adventure of the grandest kind!