Mornington Peninsula Wine Tour

Today was Leilani's last full day in Melbourne so I took the day off work so we could go on a wine tour of the Mornington Peninsula.  Our Wine Tours Victoria driver picked us up in the city and we got to spend the day with a lovely group of ladies from all over the globe.  We drove out of the city through St Kilda, Elwood and the bayside suburbs along Beach Road before joining up with the Nepean Highway.  It was a really nice drive and amazingly my first time on Beach Road.  I also now know where to find the Brighton Beach bathing boxes, which I have never seen in person before.  Our first stop for the day was up at Arthurs Seat State Park for morning tea at the summit.  On the drive up we stopped for some pictures of the peninsula at one of the outlooks then had our tea/coffee and a piece of fruitcake on the park benches.

The first winery we visited for the day was T'Gallant.  Known mainly for their Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris wines, we got to taste a wide variety of what they had on offer:
- Ophelia Sparkling Pinot Noir/Chardonnay Vintage 2008
- Grace Pinot Grigio 2012
- Imogen Pinot Gris 2013
- Holystone Rosé 2012
- Cape Schanck Pinot Noir 2013
- Cyrano Pinot Noir 2013
- T'Gallant Pink Muscato 2013
- Romeo 2013
- Odysseus Nebbiolo 2012
My favorites were the Ophelia Sparkling Pinot Noir/Chardonnay and the Imogen Pinot Gris.  Lei was intrigued by the different flavor profiles of the wines and asked some technical questions that I think secretly thrilled our server.

Next we went to Montalto Vineyard and Olive Grove where we got to sample both wine and olive oil.  The olive oils were very tasty and I especially liked the lemon infused one and their Chardonnay Estate verjuice.  Once again we got a variety of wines to taste:
- 2013 Montalto "Estate" Riesling
- 2013 Pennon Hill Pinot Grigio
- 2013 Pennon Hill Rosé
- 2012 Montalto "Estate" Chardonnay
- 2012 Pennon Hill Pinot Noir
- 2012 Montalto "Estate" Pinot Noir
- 2012 Pennon Hill Shiraz
- 2013 Pennon Hill Moscato
The reds had a peppery taste and I really liked the Montalto "Estate" Pinot Noir, as well as the Moscato, which Lei has gotten me into while she's been staying here.

For lunch we stopped at the Merricks General Wine Store where we had a quick tasting before sitting down for our meal:
- Sparking Moscato 2010
- Merricks General Wine Store Pinot Grigio 2012
- Quealy Tussie Mussie Pinot Gris 2013
- Quealy Pobblebonk 2012 Field Blend
- Baillieu Rosé 2013
- Baillieu Pinot Noir 2011
- Quealy Rageous 2013 (Sangiovese, Shiraz & Pinot Noir blend)

My two favorites here were the Quealy Tussie Mussie Pinot Gris and the Quealy Rageous, which I had a glass of with my lunch.  We moved from the tasting area to a table and began our lunch by sharing the Merricks general platter that contained a house made kitchen charcuterie served with toasties.  We then had our choice of mains and I got the beef and ale pie on a pea purée with leaf salad, which tasted fantastic.  I also got to sample Lei's chicken which was also yummy.  It was a nice and relaxed lunch stop and great opportunity to chat with the people in our tour group.

We then hit the road for our final winery of the day, Dromana Estate, which featured four different wine labels to taste from:
- Mornington Estate 2012 Sauvignon Blanc
- Mornington Estate 2012 Pinot Gris
- David Traeger 2013 Verdelho
- Mornington Estate 2012 Chardonnay
- Dromana Estate 2012 Chardonnay
- 'i' range Sangiovese 2013
- Mornington Estate 2012 Pinot Noir
- Dromana Estate 2012 Pinot Noir
- David Traeger 2009 Shiraz
- Dromana Estate Non-Vintage Ascuitto
- 'i' Range Late Harvest Arnesis
I really liked the Mornington Estate Sauvignon Blanc and the Dromana Estate Pinot Noir although by this time I think my taste buds were over it since we had sampled so many wines throughout the day.

Overall it was great to be able to try such a wide variety of wines from the Mornington Peninsula, but a bit overwhelming to have nearly 10 different wines at each stop.  The tastings also felt rushed as the servers tried to quickly get through all of them.  Perhaps over time and as the region gets better known they will shorten down their tasting menus to their top five sellers instead of trying to showcase every variety coming out of their vineyards.

The Basics- The Post Office Hotel

No trip to Melbourne would be complete without heading out to a gig, and Leilani was very lucky that The Basics were playing an intimate show at The Post Office Hotel in Coburg while she was here.  We met up with Mary at the venue in time for the first act The Bluebottles.  Featuring Michael Hubbard (the original guitarist for The Basics), his brother Joe, and Sam Raines and Rich Bradbeer from The Greasers, they played a very tight set of instrumental 60s surf rock.  I found them quite entertaining in their sharp suits and we were even treated to a cover of "Walk Don't Run" by The Ventures.

The Basics were not wearing their suits for tonight's performance.  Kris came out solo and started the gig with an acoustic version of "All Or Nothing" before being joined on stage by Wally and Tim.  The set list featured a lot of new songs, which we were very privileged be able to hear.  Primarily written by Kris, we had the politically themed "The Lucky Country" and "Time Poor," "My Old Man," "I'm A Woman," and the standout new track for me "Every Part Of Me."  We also got to listen to newer tracks that were played at the shows last year such as the beautiful "To Think Of You," the hand clapping fun of "Roundabout" and their newest single "So Hard For You."  It was good they've been able to road test these songs before heading off to record at Abbey Road Studios in London in the upcoming weeks.

The extended set list also contained many old favorites including "The No. 1 Cause Of Death Amongst Youth Today," "Second Best," "Better" and the rarely played "Bitten By The Same Bug."  Tim showed his range from the acoustic beauty of "Hey Rain" to the rocking guitar and vocals of "Have Love, Will Travel."  He also demonstrated his air guitar/dance moves when his guitar cut out during the guitar solo for The Kinks' "All Day and All of the Night."  "Three Cool Cats" featured Kris singing the lyrics in different accents, which was amusing.  However, the funniest moment of the night was when Wally repeatedly fluttered his drum brushes like a butterfly before one of the songs.

For the encore we got the triple Stand Out/Fit In pairing of "Hey There!," "Just Hold On" and "Rattle My Chain."  And it was a great finish to the night with old live show classics "My Baby" and The Police's "Roxanne" (see my little Vine clip) complete with Wally losing multiple drum sticks during the chorus but finally getting one to stay in his hand.  Hopefully it won't be ages until we get to see The Basics live again, but it's exciting that they are going off to record and there is the possibility of a new album on the horizon.

Here is a recent appearance by The Basics on ABC Radio National's The Music Show playing "The Lucky Country" and "I'm A Woman"

Great Ocean Road Sunset Tour

It's been over ten years since I last drove along the Great Ocean Road, so I was excited to be able to take a day off work to celebrate Leilani's birthday with a sunset tour.  Our tour van was a bit late picking us up in Melbourne but soon our group was on its way heading toward Geelong.  Our first stop was Aireys Inlet to see the memorial arch, which was originally built by returned servicemen from WWI.  We also got to take a quick walk on the beach before getting back in the van for our lunch stop in Lorne.  We ate our sandwiches from an overlook of the town and were able to watch some surfers attempt to surf the small waves.

After some further driving on the windy road and a couple stops at scenic outlooks we arrived at the Cape Otway Lightstation.  Thankfully we had mostly blue skies and a great view of the lighthouse and ocean.  On the way out we even stopped along the roadside to see some koalas in the surrounding eucalyptus trees.

Our next big stop was Gibsons Steps where we walked down from the cliff to the beach for an amazing view.  At first it was cloudy but the sun burst through while we were down there to give the cliffs an amazing glow in the afternoon light.

For dinner we stopped in Port Campbell at the aptly named Frying Nemo for fish and chips before heading back on the road to Loch Ard Gorge.  As we walked down the stairs we had fantastic views of the Gorge along the beach.  Back up on the cliffs we were in awe as The Razorback came into view.  It was simply stunning.

 

We then were in a race against time to drive to our final stop, the Twelve Apostles, for sunset.  Unfortunately there were some low clouds along the horizon which made the sun disappear sooner than scheduled but the views of the Twelve Apostles from various points along the lookout were still fantastic.

 

 

As we left the Twelve Apostles it was dark.  We stopped for some tea and biscuits under the stars half way along the drive and made it back into the city a bit after 11:30 pm.  Although the tour was a bit rushed as we crammed in a lot of stops throughout the day, the views made the long journey worth the trip.

NAB Challenge: Essendon v. Port Adelaide

Can you believe that the footy is already back?  This year the AFL has created an 18 day carnival of footy with the NAB Challenge (aka preseason).  Tonight was our first opportunity to see Essendon play in town so I brought Leilani along to Etihad Stadium for her initial foray into Aussie Rules.

Essendon started the game well against Port Adelaide although we kept missing shots on goal and getting behinds.  The second quarter was a shocker and Port soon took the lead.  This is the preseason so you'd expect some mistakes but it was as if many of the players forgot even basic hand balling skills. The amount of times we kicked the ball to the opponent was very frustrating.  By the end even Lei was yelling at the players and completely over it like the rest of us.

This was the first game back for several of our veteran players, including new Geelong recruit Paul Chapman.  It was also nice to see former player Angus Monfries on the field again, and he sealed our defeat with a goal after the siren.  Hopefully this poor game will wake up the players to the fact they have a lot of work to do before the season starts in a couple weeks.

Final Score
Essendon: 0.9.11 (65)
Port Adelaide: 1.11.15 (90)

White Night Melbourne 2014

After the soccer match last night we walked into the city for White Night Melbourne.  In its second year, White Night celebrates culture and art and runs for 12 hours from 7pm to 7am.  We started in Birrarung Marr along the Yarra River and came across the pulsating bass and lights of Eness' Midden.  We then walked across the Princes Bridge and past the White Night sign to get to the Alexandra Gardens side of the River.  There we could see the Crepuscular Beam by Paul Collison and the amazing Monuments by Craig Walsh, which beamed five different moving faces onto trees.  It was a very unique and interesting piece.

 

Next up was The Electric Canvas' Wonderland along Flinders Street, which lit up Flinders Street Train Station, the Forum Theatre and other buildings with carnival themed light projections.  This was one of the highlights of White Night for me with its amazing use of color and intricate designs in the different projections.

Although this year's White Night was spread further throughout the city it was still packed even past midnight, which wasn't that surprising considering over 500,000 people attended the event.  There was a sea of bodies all the way up Swanston Street as we headed to the Northern Lights precinct.  Along the way there wasn't that much to see or do, which was disappointing.  When we arrived at the State Library of Victoria to watch the Kaleidoscope projections by Nicholas Azidis we took a bit of a break from all the walking. 

I had really wanted to check out Molecular Kaleidoscope - 'Virus one billion times' by Drew Berry and Franc Tetaz inside the La Trobe Reading Room of the State Library but the line was way too long to get in.  It was a similar story at many of the indoor sites, and we also bypassed the Moonlight Synchro at the City Baths for the same reason.  Overall though I really enjoyed my first White Night and had I done a bit more planning around knowing where things were at I wouldn't have missed out on seeing Tattooed City at the NGV or Purple Rain in the RMIT Alumni Courtyard.  I also think that if I go next year I will come into the city early in the AM when hopefully the crowds are a bit smaller.

Fitzroy, Collingwood and Melbourne Victory

To give Leilani a taste of Melbourne hipster life we headed to Fitzroy and Collingwood this afternoon for a bit of a wander around.  We started our adventure on Gertrude Street and then turned up Smith Street.  While there we stopped for lunch at Jimmy Grants and had tzatziki dip with pita bread and some very yummy souvas.  Next we hit Gelato Messina for dessert.  This was my second time there and I tried out the tiramisu and choc mint flavors.  While they were both good, I still prefer Spring Street Grocer for the freshest and tastiest gelati in town.

We next turned left and travelled down Johnston Street, where our street art hunt began in earnest.  There are so many little side streets with hidden treasures located inside them.  You just never know what you might find, and we were fortunate to spot some amazing pieces both here and around Brunswick Street as we also browsed in some shops and stopped for a coffee at The Fitz Cafe.

 

 

 

  

After our fun afternoon we headed to the train station to get to AAMI Park and partake in another of Melbourne's favorite past times- sport!  Tonight thanks to my friend Justin we got to join him to watch Melbourne Victory vs Adelaide United in an A-League football match (or soccer for us Americans).  The Adelaide fans were in their own small corner of the stadium, but they made up for it through their loud voices.  There was also the amusing chanting and dancing from the Melbourne Victory supporters in the north and south ends of the stands throughout the night.  

The game itself was quite a good one in this battle for third place on the ladder.  Adelaide scored a quick goal at the start and were leading 2-1 at the half, but the Victory came back in the second half and scored 3 goals within a 19 minute period, which had the crowd jumping and cheering each time.  Despite a goal by Adelaide near the end of the match Melbourne held on to win 4-3 in one of the more entertaining matches of the season.

South Yarra Patisserie Crawl

Some people like to go on pub crawls- I prefer a patisserie crawl!  After my South Yarra adventure last year I was ready for a return visit to celebrate my birthday.  Leilani and I started our afternoon at LuxBite and shared the Tea Set for Two.  Besides our chai lattes and two finger sandwiches we had our choice of 4 macarons and two desserts.  For the macarons we picked the following flavors: heilala vanilla creme brûlée, ribena lemonade, green tea pistachio and bamboo oolong tea.  For the desserts we had the Lolly Bag Cake and Banoffee.  Everything was great and I think the Lolly Bag Cake was a favorite for both of us with its unique mix of flavors.

The next stop was Adriano Zumbo's first Melbourne shop, which I have been wanting to visit since it opened last year.  We picked out a box of six Zumbarons to eat later on: apple pie, mojito, pandan & sticky rice pudding, red velvet, caramel de buerre sale and Francesco brownie.  We then got a table and shared the WASSAUP-BI! and Secret Carrot's Business cakes.  Both were quite yummy, and the hint of wasabi actually worked in the cake.  All of the Zumbarons that we ate this evening were quite flavorful and tasted as expected, especially the mojito one.  I look forward to returning and tasting some more Zumbaron flavors as well as the famous V8 cake.

Our last visit was to the Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio.  You would think we had sugar overload by this point, but you would be wrong (at least for me).  We bought a couple treats to take home with us: the popcorn & honeycomb rubble and strawberry, mint & white chocolate rubble.  In addition, we shared two different desserts: the Explosive Raspberry Milk Chocolate which was served in a tube and the Beetroot, Strawberry, Rose and Vanilla cake.  Both were surprisingly light and tasted amazing (especially the cake).  When Lei told them it was my birthday one of the ladies brought us out a slightly damaged Explosive Raspberry Wheel to take home as a gift, which was so nice of them.  Overall it was a great way to celebrate the day and get a pretty strong sugar fix!

Spectacle: The Music Video Exhibition

I have been meaning to get to Spectacle: The Music Video Exhibition at ACMI for ages, so my cousin Leilani's visit to Melbourne and my birthday were the perfect excuse to finally go.  The exhibition contains over 300 clips spanning nine decades and explores how the art form has evolved over the years.  As you walk through the rooms there are screens dotted along the walls where you can stop, watch and listen to videos with the headphones provided that are grouped by an assortment of themes.  We were lucky it wasn't too crowded so we were able to spend some time watching a few of the clips at each screen.  Some of the more modern clips were in large groupings of 10, so if you wanted to see a particular video you would have to wait for it to come up on the rotation.

There were some amazing video props sprinkled throughout the exhibition.  The first great one was a bit of a recreation of a-ha's "Take On Me" clip.

They also had the Legos from the video for The White Stripes breakthrough hit single "Fell In Love With A Girl."

OK Go's "This Too Shall Pass" took months to plan out and you can see why when watching the clip.

My absolute favorite item though was a life size Milky from one of the best videos of all time- Blur's "Coffee & TV."

The exhibition is only on for one more week so get down to ACMI to check it out before it closes on Sunday, 23 February.

Her

I have been looking forward to seeing the Spike Jonze film Her ever since I saw ads for it while I was in the States in December.  Belinda and I headed to the Kino after work tonight for an early evening showing.  The film is set in a slightly futuristic Los Angeles and follows Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a lonely man going through a divorce who decides to purchase an advanced operating system (OS) similar to Siri on iPhones but with an intuitive artificial intelligence.  The OS names herself Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) and soon she and Theodore's interactions evolve from a friendship to a romantic relationship.

The movie is touching and very well acted by Phoenix and Johansson.  I absolutely loved the aesthetic of this film from its use of color, the cinematography, and deconstructed costume design (the men's high-waisted pants are somewhat ridiculous but totally work).  The shots of people walking around the city talking to their OSes was a bit of a glimpse into the future- a together but alone state that some may argue we are already living in.  It's a very thought-provoking film which I cannot recommend highly enough.

Sarah Blasko- Heavenly Sounds Tour

It's been a few years since I last went to a show on the Heavenly Sounds tour of Australian churches and cathedrals.  Last time it was to see Seeker Lover Keeper in Hobart and tonight was for Sarah Blasko solo at St. Michael's Uniting Church in Melbourne.  The church had large organ pipes at the back of the alter and stained glass windows on both levels of the circular room.  I was very happy tonight's sold out show wasn't occurring last week during the heatwave.

The opening act was singer-songwriter Appleonia (aka Jessica Chapnik Kahn) who was accompanied by a guy on electric guitar.  Her 40 minute set included a backmasking of her song "Precious" called "Heavy, Lord It Gets," which was quite interesting.  She said it was disappointing to find angelic messages instead of satanic ones when she first played it backwards.  She sung an anthemic song in Spanish from her native Argentina and closed with a number from the soundtrack she did for the documentary Despite The Gods about Jennifer Lynch's film work in India.

For Sarah Blasko this was a much more intimate show compared to last year's I Awake tour which featured full orchestras (the Sydney Opera House concert has just been released on CD).  Tonight Sarah's band consisted of long time members Dave and Ben who accompanied her on electric/acoustic guitar and piano/organ.  The set featured stripped back and reworked versions of songs primarily from the albums I Awake and As Day Follows Night, including "All I Want," "Down On Love," "God-Fearing," "Illusory Light," "Cast The Net" and "Not Yet."  Sarah's voice soared in the acoustics of the church and was so powerful at times.  She was also in a silly and fun mood and did her usual poses and moves during the songs.  At one point during the night an audience member proclaimed he loved her more than God!  It was such an amazing gig and fantastic to see her up close.  The closing song of the night was the appropriately titled "Showstopper" from the album What The Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have.

Here's the video for the latest single "Fool" off I Awake

Diary Of A Heatwave

Sunday
With forecast temperatures in Melbourne of over 40C/100F for most of the week I knew I was in trouble.  In preparation for the weather week from hell I opened up all the windows in my place to really cool it down, knowing that even though I was wrapped in a blanket on my couch tonight it would pay off later on in the week as my apartment stayed cool for  just a little bit longer.

Monday

People had been complaining in previous weeks about the lack of a summer so far.  However, right on cue with the start of the Australian Open came the heat.  We didn't reach the forecast of 35C/95F today, so it felt like a mini victory.  When I got home from the gym my apartment was still cool.  Feeling a bit smug, but know tomorrow will be hot.

Tuesday
Today was day one of the extreme temperatures.  By the afternoon it had reached nearly 43C/109F.  I felt really sorry for the tennis players as play was never suspended during the day at the Australian Open.  As I headed home from the city around 9:00 pm the air was still so heavy and hot it was almost difficult to breathe.

Wednesday
Compared to yesterday today was slightly cooler at 41C/107F.  Despite some severe thunderstorm warnings in the afternoon nothing ever eventuated in Melbourne.  I have been increasingly thankful for the air conditioning on public transportation and at work as my only line of defense at home is one fan.  My apartment is heating up as expected and I caved a bit and left the bathroom window open during the night to get some air in.  I'm sort of like the frog in a pot of water that's being brought up to a slow boil.

Thursday
Today's forecast was for 44C/111F.  You know things are bad when both The Age and Herald Sun are charting the rise in temperature hourly with graphics at the top of their webpages.  It's like they secretly want us to get beyond the forecast top.  In an unprecedented move Metro Trains requested early in the afternoon for people to leave work and go home as soon as practicable in order to spread out the evening commute as they knew trains would be cancelled due to the heat.  We turned off the lights in the office to preserve power and thankfully the extreme heat policy was finally enacted at the Australian Open.

As I exited the gym in the evening there was very loud thunder in the city, with the rain starting as soon as I got on the tram.  Unfortunately it wasn't really a cool change and although temperatures dropped a little bit, it was now both hot and humid.  When I got home I was still sweating inside so I finally caved and opened up the windows in my apartment for the night as it was the same temperature outside as it was inside: 30C/86F.  Tomorrow's forecast is for the same temperature as today.

Friday
The last day of the heat wave!  Everyone is eagerly awaiting the cool change which is due to come through later today.  Articles in the The Age included stories of people checking into hotels to escape the heat of their houses/apartments and the horror headline Melbourne is a 'Heat-Island' Death Trap.  I went outside in the afternoon with Amrita to get a gelati from Spring Street Grocer and it was stifling hot: over 43C/110F.  It felt like walking in an oven.  After 5:00 pm though our weather nightmare was finally over as the cool change dropped temperatures around 15 degrees Celsius within a half hour.  Although outside was noticeably cooler, my apartment was still extremely hot so I opened everything up once I got home knowing it will take a few days for things to cool down.

Saturday
Slowly but surely my place is cooling and we only reached a top of 24C/75F today and had a nice breeze.  It's a welcome change to feel a little bit cold instead of sweating all the time!  Hopefully we won't have another run of heat like this for the rest of the summer, but who knows what will happen.

Happiness Is A Row To Yourself

It's always sad to say goodbye to the family, but it was time to head back to Australia.  I had been sweating the weight of my checked bag most of Friday afternoon as it and my backpack were packed full of items I had purchased over the last three weeks.  The moment of truth came when I checked in for my flights and I was one kilogram under my 23kg limit!  Success!

San Francisco International Airport is one of the better airports to kill time at.  Besides free wi-fi access SFO always has interesting little exhibitions, such as the America's Cup 1851-1937 display currently in the international terminal, as well as public art.  I discovered the gates had these great large art pieces above them as I was walking around so I took pictures of a few that caught my eye.  It's a pleasant distraction while you are waiting to board your plane.

Once again I flew Air New Zealand from San Francisco to Auckland and then to Melbourne.  The travel Gods were smiling on me as I got a whole row to myself for the SF-Auckland leg.  This meant I was able to lie down to get some sleep (although we did have a fair bit of turbulence during the sleeping hours).  After the usual downtime at Auckland Airport and watching yet another sunrise there, I was back on a very full plane to Melbourne that ended up being a half an hour longer than scheduled due to a strong headwind.  As always I was able to watch a few movies during my extensive time in the air: "The Butler," "Enough Said," "One Direction: This Is Us," "Blackfish" and "Blue Jasmine."

I zipped through customs and baggage claim fairly quickly and then caught a taxi home.  Melbourne's typically erratic weather has been in full effect this afternoon- sunshine, strong winds, a little rain and clear skies again.  Now to try and get some sleep so I'm not a total jet-lagged zombie tomorrow at work.

Golden Gate Bridge

I have lived in Marin County for most of my life and the Golden Gate Bridge has always been my gateway into San Francisco.  There are lots of great places that provide a good vantage point of the bridge on both sides of the span, including the Marin Headlands and Fort Point which are two of my favorite spots.

Today, however, my cousin Leilani and I finally did something neither of us have done in all our years of living in the Bay Area: we walked across the Golden Gate Bridge!  Most tourists would have this as a must do item on their list of things to do when they visit San Francisco, but for locals I think we often don't get around to doing touristy things in our own backyards unless we have visitors from out of town. 

Being New Year's Day many of the observation areas were packed, so finding a place to park was a bit of a challenge.  However, we ended up finding a spot in the Presidio and walked to the south end of the bridge to start our journey.  The weather was a bit hazy but otherwise quite pleasant with sunshine, very little wind and no fog!  As we walked across to the north side of the bridge we both stopped frequently to take photos, especially at the two towers.  It was wonderful to be so close and see all the details in the construction of the bridge, especially its art deco lines and all the rivets holding things together.  We also had the beautiful afternoon sun providing some lovely lighting.

 

By the time we reached Vista Point the sun was starting to set.  The walk back was much faster and we got to watch a container ship come under the bridge as well as the sunset colors in the hazy sky.  As we approached the south end of the span we could see the lights in San Francisco as darkness descended on the City.  All in all we spent a couple hours walking around 4 miles on this beautiful landmark.  And for those interested in a souvenir, the Bridge Pavilion has some great merchandise for sale.