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Our Anselmo Valentine

We were fortunate enough to secure a reservation for a Valentine Luncheon at Anselmo Vineyards. A lovely 20 mile drive toward Shingletown from Redding.

Anselmo is a large property. In addition to the vineyard, it’s also a working cattle ranch. It has overnight accommodations for a few people, and plans to add cottages. It’s a truly nice setting for a wedding.

Comparisons to certain wineries to the south are inevitable, but Anselmo carries its own special ambiance.

Candace LiVolsi played her harp, filling the room with soft round tones. We tried estate bottles of Anselmo’s Majorette and Merlot, here being aerated into our glass.

The Valentine’s special was a 5 course affair. The Tuscan Salad with Gorgonzola was an unexpected delight. A great balance of texture and tang.

I had the waitress recommended Rack of Lamb, and my lovely companion the Steak Danielle. Marvelous.


A Meyer Lemon Granita. Candace’s playing set the mood beautifully, with a mix of jazz standards and show tunes rendered on harp. It’s too easy to use heaven metaphors about the harp. I was secretly thinking it would be funny to request that she play “Stairway to Heaven.” About two tunes later she did play it! Wow, her rendition made it seem as serious and poignant as any classical work. “And she’s buying a stairway….to hea-ven.” Again, wow. I would never have guessed I could be quite so moved by that well worn melody. Kudos.

The food definitely exceeded our expectations. The setting matched the sophisticated menu. Service was attentive and delivered with flair. To top it off, I met a reader of this blog among the patrons. Good sir, your words and actions were gratifying beyond my capability to express, except to again thank you for your kindness.
“My Funny Valentine” played by Candace, as my funny Valentine and I enjoy our dessert. Thanks Anselmo Vineyards. Valentines Day, nicely done.

Edit: Here are a couple images from their Sunday Brunch selection. Steak Danielle, and Eggs Benedict in Sirloin Medallions. Tasted as good as it looks.
Sunday Brunch at Anselmo at InnwoodSunday Brunch at Anselmo at Innwood by Skip Murphy

Highway 44 east towards Shingletown. Turn at the sign at Inwood Road. Not ReallyRedding, but really nearby.

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Bill Cosby at the Cascade

Cascade Theatre in Redding CABill Cosby appeared at the Cascade for 2 shows last night. Both sold out, from the looks of things.
Bill’s humor fit the mostly over 50 crowd like a well worn shoe. Sometimes I could hear the punchline from the audience before the performer.
The Cascade seems to be booking some higher end shows lately. For example, Bonnie Raitt plays there next week, no less. Bookings can be a gamble in a town with no excess of discretionary income. But the Cascade is truly a magical venue.
He’s a class act, of course.

So what is it about those Reddingites who wish to become part of the show themselves? I suppose if you paid $75 for a ticket, you might feel justified. You aren’t.

At one point Bill himself became annoyed by an audience member up front, continually scrunching a water bottle. IMHO, Cosby has always been a bit of a preachy guy (ahem, says the editor, watch out for hurling stones from your glass house), so the interruption gave him reason to go off with a brief, good-natured rant. He got back on track, and finished. Gave a wave, and walked off stage. A good time was had by all. Shows at the Cascade, it’s Really Redding.

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Put your kid in this crab

We like the amusing Craigslist ads, here at RR. You just can’t make these up. This from Barter yesterday:
Amusing Craigslist ad from Redding CA
“Asken $65” seems like it ought to be a word, somehow. We all know what he meant. Still, even us locals might be wondering what kind of aluminum boat you might get for the equivalent value of a $65 crab, or crib. And was it necessary to admit that his son has been “out of it for along time now?” Lets face facts here. We’ve all been out of it, at one time or another.
Amusing Craigslist ads. It’s Really Red Bluff.

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Shasta Women’s Refuge Crab Feed 2011

We have a place for women and their children to come, when threats and violence overtake their lives. It’s a shame that such a place need exist, but we live in a world where you can be glad that refuge is granted for those in need of it. One of the big fundraisers for this worthy cause is their annual Crab Feed, held at the Anderson Fairgrounds. We went to represent the Shasta Association of Realtors, and I took some photos.

Crab Feed 2011
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Crab feed 2011
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[Show as slideshow]

Thanks to all the volunteers and donors! Volunteerism, it’s ReallyRedding.

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A picture of a train in Redding

That is all.
Union Pacific train in Redding CA
Where are the aerodynamic Freightliners of yore? These boxy diesel engines have the grace of any industrial machinery where form follows function, but they could use a little more style.
engineer on train in reddingfreight train in Redding
As seen in our rail town one evening recently, it’s Really Redding.

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January “Sunpocalypse” in Redding

weather in redding caThe mainstream news is full of images and stories about the Midwest and New England states getting buried in snow the last few days. “Snowpocalypse,” they say. More is on the way, we hear. You folks have our sympathy.
real estate weather in redding If you are a business owner wondering how you will get anything done when your unfortunate employees are using ice axes to find their cars, and your utility bills cripple your bottom line, please consider Redding. We have a very nice municipal utility, and a new empty business park. Plus we have lots of people looking for work, none of whom will need need to mount an arctic expedition just to get to work on time either. Seriously.

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Slam Buckra now a crossover artist.

redding musician Slam BuckraOne of my all time favorite Redding artists passed away recently at age 53. Damn. 53.
Like much of Redding music, Slam was hard to categorize. I won’t try. Jim Dyar does a good job of it at this post over at A News Cafe. Blogger Marc Beauchamp pointed me to Slam’s MySpace page, where you can listen to some recordings, and which will hopefully remain available. I can say the times I met him, he impressed me as a truly genuine character, and that’s a compliment of the highest order. He was a creature of the stage, and could be found playing live all over the Northstate whenever possible, often with his band, the Groove Palookas, laying down some funky beats to rocking audiences. A skilled musician, with his own very original style, in an artform where originality is a most prized attribute. He had a great many enthusiastic followers. RIP doesn’t seem appropriate to this energetic player. I’d prefer to believe he’s just appearing on a stage somewhere else. Given the relatively small local music scene, I’d always hoped to jam with Slam at some point. But it looks like that’ll have to wait until we meet again on the other side of the stage curtain. Our heart goes out to his family, friends, fans, and Groove Palookas everywhere.
Slam Buckra of Redding

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Ride the Shasta Daylight – a gorgeous rail trip

Some time back in a more graceful age, you could ride the Shasta Daylight from Redding. Riders watched Mt Shasta go by in daylight hours from a comfortable railcar with an observation dome, and enjoyed meals in the articulated Pullman diner-tavern-lounge car, which offered 3 railcar length unimpeded interior space.
shasta daylight in redding ca
This from Wikipedia:

The Shasta Daylight was a train operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad. It was inaugurated on July 10, 1949 between Oakland Pier in Oakland, California and Portland, Oregon and was SP’s third set of “Daylight” lightweight streamlined trains. The new Shasta Daylight operated on a fast 15 hour 30 minute schedule in either direction for the 713 mile trip through some of the most beautiful and spectacular mountain scenery of any train in North America… The scenic route of the Shasta Daylight passed by its namesake mountain in daylight hours; in fact, the Shasta Daylights ran on the very flanks of Mount Shasta.

There is good short article about this flagship run of the Daylight rail service at the American Rails site:

Starting off in Oakland the train passed through beautiful northern California and then through the Cascades towards its final stop at Portland along the way passing locations like Mount Hood, Odell Lake, Crater Lake, and other spectacular features of the Pacific Northwest. What made the trip even that much more memorable was the extra large windows built into the Pullman-Standard cars for maximum sightseeing and outdoor viewing… The popularity of the Daylight was incredibly high, even through the early 1960s although by the latter half of that decade the SP began greatly reducing services and amenities on the fleet as patronage declined.

Amtrak took over in 1971, and so we at least still have some rail travel from Redding, even if it blows through here in the dead of night. Not quite the same experience. It’s pleasant to imagine the return of the Shasta Daylight, and the tourism it might provide.
train crossing in redding ca
Redding has always been a rail town. For the past several decades, we have been a car town too. Of course, things change…


oil use graph in redding ca

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Neighborhood Church of Redding

neighborhood church in redding ca
Here’s a Redding Church with a name as unassuming as the architecture of its building. In addition to their east Redding Church facility on Loma Vista, Neighborhood Church of Redding has an extensive website. You can explore their Mission and precepts at the link. They also have videos of their message. I grabbed this one for the title, “Going to My Happy Place.” Neighborhood Church of Redding looks like a happy place indeed.

Happy: Going to My Happy Place from Neighborhood Church of Redding on Vimeo.

“The Bible is God’s text message to you,” says Pastor Bill Giovannetti. I like that idea. Bill dresses like a Redding man for the sermon; he knows his audience. Like his church, unassuming.
neighborhood church in redding caWhile shooting these images, it looks like construction is underway for a new building at their site, to the northeast. I’m looking forward to seeing what emerges there. If I have this right, Neighborhood Church is a member of an evangelical Protestant denomination of Christianity. From all appearances, one of the larger congregations in Redding