As we were slowly getting to our destination for dinner, we were still celebrating Ms. Yoga’s birthday and by this time in the afternoon, we were glad that we had borrowed the umbrellas from her hotel.  We ended up on Broad Street in Charleston at the Blind Tiger Pub.  We had only walked about seven blocks and this is my kind of town for a vacation.  Besides being the birth place of Rhett Butler, the downtown was thriving with a mix of emporiums and restaurants and bars, and they were all independents.  When we are out, I like to get the feeling of the town, the chains have to same feeling and architecture where ever you are and what fun is that?

“Blind Tiger” was coined in the late 1800’s to describe the illicit drinking and gambling establishments that were opening up, to counter the Temperance Societies and legislation, when Nanny States started permeating the scene.  In Detroit, I had always heard the term “Blind Pig” for the same type of business, and they still flourish, if one knows where to seek them.  Local lore even seems to suggest that Broad Street was home to houses of “ill repute” which may have added to the mystique of the area.  The Blind Tiger Pub that sheltered us from the rain was reborn in 2016 and as we entered the bar and the restaurant area was completely packed or had “reserved” placards on the tables, so the place was lively and popular.  It was suggested that we go to the back room with was an outdoor atrium with umbrella covered tables and bar built under an eaves and we found a spot that we could stay dry as we went to wet our whistle.

Ms. Yoga announced at the bar again that it was her birthday and she received another complimentary drink for the occasion.  My Bride decided that she would sit this round out, as she knew that eventually she would be the designated driver.  I joined Ms. Yoga and had a glass of Cambria Estate Winery “Katherine’s Vineyard” Santa Maria Valley, Santa Barbara County 2021.  This winery was created when Barbara Banke along with her spouse Jess Jackson acquired the original Tepusquet vineyard in 1986, and then with their daughters Kate Jackson and Julia Jackson have kept the family business going, nurturing cool-climate varietals ever since.  The estate cover fourteen-hundred-acres of undulating topography and an assortment of soil types.  They use four different clones of Chardonnay to produce this wine and eighty-five percent of the vines were planted in the Seventies.  The fruit is whole cluster pressed and sixty-five percent is barrel fermented with malolactic fermentation; and thirty-five percent Stainless Steel fermentation, but not malolactic fermentation.  The wine is aged Sur-Lie for five and a half-month, with twenty percent in New Oak barrels.  A golden-colored wine that offers notes of white fruit and florals.  On the palate tones of peaches, pears and a touch of lemon zest, some oakiness, but balance with a lively acidity and a short finish of some terroir.