The NorCal6: Sacramento Grilled Cheese Festival, 4.29.23

 

You know ... it's a wonder The NorCal6 even made it to the Sacramento Grilled Cheese Festival at all last month.  (What with my accidental cancellation of the original tickets purchased and their re-acquisition.  What a cluster ...)

But we made it.  And, for the most part, a terrific time was had by all.

The Fest, an annual gathering of all things grilled cheese, was strung out over the course of a weekend.  Saturday featured UNLIMITED samples of specialty grilled cheese sandwiches, craft beers, regional wines, desserts and more for those 21 and older while Sunday was the family friendly day where the food samples and drink were available for individual charge, not the free-for-all of the day prior.

 

No ... I don't know why Grant feels the need to announce
he's #1 in many of these photos ...

Grant, Kelly, Missy and I got in an hour early courtesy of V.I.P. passes and Pete and Laurie joined us shortly thereafter.  Street parking was relatively easy when we got there.  I can only imagine how strained the parking situation got as the event got close to go time.

Held at Southside Park in downtown Sacramento, you couldn't have asked for a better location.  It was pleasant, sunny and never got too hot over the course of the thing.

And, oh ... the comestibles they had coming out the booths!  Let's highlight a few, shall we?

There was a BBBJ, a blackberry bacon brie & jalapeño grilled cheese concoction from Bella Art Works that was surprisingly tasty.  Additionally, this same joint featured the Mother Clucker, breaded chicken, provolone, cheddar and honey mayo.  Damned good stuff.  Two particular sandwiches from Rancho Rio Bravo Catering - the Cowboy Up (smokehouse brisket, smokey cheese, TexiCali blackberryy red wine & cracked pepper) and the Wranglers Roundup (smoked pulled pork and cheese with duck plum cranberry sauce) - were exceptional.  

I didn't get the chance to grab two specific sandwiches I was looking forward to from Sacramento Pop Up Truck: The Crustacean (a lobster and Gruyère grilled cheese) and The Surf And Turf (a brisket, lobster and Gruyère creation).  There was only so much you could get to as the day wore on and the crowds increased in size.

But one of my favorites was a French onion grilled cheese sandwich that came with a side of French onion soup.  There were two vendors featuring French onion grilled cheese so I'm not sure which one I got from who but, whichever one I got my hands on, was the right pick.  It was outstanding.  And I wish I would have gone back for seconds.

But, you have to understand, there wasn't just grilled cheese on the menu.  There was beer tasting as well, raising this little get together to an entirely different level of affair.  It was a grilled cheese festival and brewfest, too!

Yes, my beard is black. That's an entirely different post ...

At Ease Brewing Company, Great Notion Brewing, Morgan Territory Brewing, Track 7 Brewing Co., Boring Rose Brewing Co., Sierra Nevada Brewing Company - Chico were some of the breweries present along with a few more I don't recall.

And, if that wasn't enough of a good time, there were distilleries in attendance as well handing out tiny sample shots and signature cocktails as well!  Humboldt Distillery, J.J. Pfister Distilling Co, River City Brands, South Fork Vodka to name a few.  It was J.J. Pfister Distilling which had a very, very tasty rye whiskey sample I gravitated to a a time or several.  I even got Grant to give it a try.  And he didn't dislike it, a bit of a surprise there.  (Grant? Not a rye guy.) And once Pete and Laurie got there, Pete was drug here and there to give the various samples a try, too.  The girls were drinking some foo-foo sweet pink grapefruit vodka punch refresher from South Fork Vodka that wasn't too shabby.  Even Missy was digging on it ... and she doesn't like grapefruit. 

Needless to say, with all the food being munched on and all the liquids swigged, we had a pretty damned good time ... enough so we all concluded we'll be headed back next year. 

In conclusion, I may have had a little bit too good a time at the festival.  But what's a little frivolity among friends?  Even loud ones like me? 

As the saying goes (a recent one I've come to embrace):

Next up?  Our house ... were there's gonna be a Bunko Party with a Mexican food theme ...

Makin' Friends

I was stopped at a traffic signal.

And I wasn't.

See, I was positioned just before making my way into the left turn lanes of a particular signal, still in the single lane prior to being able to make my way in either of two turn lanes. But with heavy traffic backed up so I couldn't quite make it into the lanes, there was nothing I could do but hold tight and wait to move forward. Even then I figured I wouldn't make the next green signal - there was that much congestion.
 
Finally, the light turned green. Still, nothing I could do until the vehicles ahead of me got their acts together and crept forward. And then, all of a sudden, I was able to move.

Prior to accelerating, I engaged my left hand turn signal and slowly proceeded forward. Suddenly, the vehicle behind me honked furiously at me. Seems I wasn't moving fast enough for the driver, but there was nothing much I could do about.

Physics, you know. "Two objects can't occupy the same space at the same time." Basic schooling.

But it wasn't quite that. It appeared, in retrospect, I not only wasn't moving fast enough for the car at my rear, but I had unintentionally pissed her/him off even more as the one turn lane s/he wanted to turn in I was turning in ... slowly. Too slowly, as was the fact of the matter.

The car - with a woman driver I noticed - honked once more as she zipped past my right side, all the while glaring at me. No matter.

As it turned out, I did make that green light ... and, coincidentally, pulled up behind her at the next light. I saw her continuing to glare at me in her rear view mirror.

As it turned out, she was headed in the exact same direction as I was. I tailed her for about another mile before turning in the same driveway as her. I saw her park and shoot lasers at me as I passed. I contemplated waving, but decided I'd "made her day" enough already.

Caught in the traffic of trying to get a parking space, I witnessed her at my rear right side through my mirror; she had not only parked, but made her way toward me by foot in order to snap a picture of my car such that she was able to get my license plate.

Good for her. What she intended on doing with it I had no clue. Kind of a "he said, she said" thing.

But if it pissed her off such that she was not only in a more of a hurry than she already appeared to be (Had I made her late for an appointment?) yet still had enough time stop and snap my picture? Then my job (unintentional though it might have been) was done. It wasn't like I was consciously trying to get in her way or impede her in any manner. Traffic and all that, y'unnerstan' ...

Then again ... some people are just naturally born bonehead drivers and it's all about them when they drive.

In the meantime: This guy? He's making friends (and enemies) wherever he goes. 

.......... Ruprecht ( just can't  STOP makin' friends)

You know? I wonder if that woman could have possibly been Donna Chambers. ... naaaaaah ...

Friends Who Get It

... meanwhile, during a real, live exchange ...

Michael: "Nothing says "tolerance" like sitting through a meal with likeable songs *BLARING AT YOU* … with zero bass."

Chuck Duncan: "I hate tinny sounding music!"

Michael: "I think you missed the part where I mentioned *IT WAS BLARING AT ME* Chuck."

Chuck: "WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE BLARING TINNY MUSIC!"

Ivey West: "SHUT UP YOU'RE ALL GIVING ME A HEADACHE!"

Chuck: "WHAT?"

Ivey: "HUH?" 

...................... Ruprecht ( STOP yelling, already )