Campers were welcomed back to Spokane for Session 2 with a couple new faces on the tennis coaching staff. Gonzaga Men's Tennis coaches DJ and Cesar joined us at the helm this weekend as we hosted a “Ladies Camp” full of friends looking to enjoy a long fun filled weekend. Nerves and anticipation were not an issue this week as we were now seasoned
vets at this tennis camp thing . After breakfast at the courts, Cesar ran our crew through a taste of the Zags dynamic warmup, before hitting the courts with our rackets. Tennis kicked off smoothly, and we breezed through 4 hours on court with plenty of drills and play. Lunch was ready to go as our campers left the court, but it came with an asterisk… we urged our campers to only eat half, because we would be gorging ourselves shortly at The Kitchen Engine with a hands on cooking course and wine pairing.
After a brief intermission, we arrived at The Kitchen Engine ready to be put to work! The kitchen staff helped guide us through three delectable appetizers from prep table to plate. Campers and coaches alike got busy in the kitchen as Rebecca from Robert Karl Cellars introduced us to their best wine pairings, while we dined on our fresh out of the oven creations. With our stomachs satisfied from our newly formed culinary skills, we left The Kitchen Engine for a little down time before our final activity for the day, a barrel room dinner at Barrister Winery.
Upon our arrival at Barrister, we were greeted by winemaker Tyler with a welcome glass of Syrah to enjoy while we toured the winery and learned about it’s rich Spokane history. The winery was bustling with energy and excitement as they prepared for an busy Friday night event. No worry for us, as we were headed to the Barrel Room for our own intimate dinner. The noise above drifted away as we descended below to an amazing setup and dinner provided by Beacon Hill. They had a couple new additions for this dinner, including a smoked salmon dish that kept me coming back for more! We finished our evening dining among the train settled barrels before heading home to rest up for an exciting Day 2.