By DOUGLAS W. MOTLEY
Senior Writer
While Mardi Gras and Corks & Hops have partnered with one another for several years, last weekend’s Mardi Gras on the Mountain/Corks & Hops at Crestline’s San Moritz Lodge joined forces with Valentine’s Day for the first time ever on Saturday, Feb. 14. The colors were Mardi Gras green, dark purple plus the red and pinks of love. What a colorful event.
Louis Boehle, the Mardi Gras coordinator and Crestline Chamber of Commerce president, said Saturday’s event attracted over 300 ticketholders. They visited 10 tasing stations, offering craft beers and wines, while vendors inside the lodge and four outdoor food vendors rendered charcuterie plates, bratwurst and Polish sausage fare, with side offerings of French fries or onions and other spicy vegetables, as well as premium coffees. There were non-alcoholic drinks, too, some bubbly and others with peach and other fruit flavors.
Each of the lodge’s two indoor rooms had the fireplaces roaring for folks to warm up after returning from the cold and windy outdoor food vendor area, as well as hosting stages where each of the two bands were playing for the colorfully adorned participants wearing makeup, beads and Mardi Gras face masks, many with colorful feathers. Both of the lodge rooms also had large and small, tall and short tables for eating, drinking and chatting with one another. The lodge’s comfortable chairs around the fireplaces were well received.
Local magician Zac Swan made a return visit this year and worked the small lodge room, demonstrating his prowess at performing card tricks, stumping all, which are no less amazing than famed magicians Penn & Teller.
In the lodge’s Lakeview bar room, the fireplace was burning and there were comfortable, cushioned chairs and couches for folks to relax and talk with one another. Across the room, there was the bar where Crestline’s award-winning Sycamore Ranch Vineyard and Winery was serving their premium wines.
Meanwhile, in the large lodge room, local songstress Shannon Bizzy’s band played New Orleans-style jazz tunes for people who wanted to dance, while the smaller lodge room featured the Bear Valley Blues Band, playing more contemporary dance music.
“This party is the best,” said many of the attendees. “I don’t think I can even taste all of these delicious brews, there are so many,” said another, who assured this reporter he had a designated driver for the evening.
Mardi Gras is the winter party of the Corks & Hops events that the Crestline chamber puts on the first Saturday of each month from June through October. For more information or to buy tickets for those events, go to www.corksnhops.com. To get involved with the chamber of commerce, visit www.visitcrestline.com or email them at info@crestlinechamber.com.
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