I did it; I blinked.

How is it possible? It seems that only yesterday I pulled the sundresses, shorts and sandals out of winter storage; bared my pale shoulders to the warm summer sunshine; traded the flannel sheets for the 400 ct Egyptian cottons; hard to believe, but (dare I say it?) summer is almost over! With only five weeks left until the Autumnal equinox, we'll be hearing the crunch of autumn leaves and Jack Frost'll be nippin' at our noses before we know it! Aack!!

With these chilling thoughts in mind, I feel an inexplicable desire to squeeze in as much summer fun as possible, before the rumored El Nino sets in, and the umbrella and galoshes replace the halter tops and Coppertone.

Up until last week, I had been attending the Tuesday evening Harmony on the River, a series of live concerts on the west side of the Sacramento River.

These are terrific, low key events, with the Delta breezes and the lights of the Capitol Bridge reflecting off the river. The perfect Tuesday night agenda, but they were done for 2009, and I was looking for something fun to do this last Tuesday evening. Enter Cline Moore.

Cline is the organizer and personable host for the Sacramento 'crawls.' No matter what your preference, Cline seems to have a 'crawl' to fit your palate.

There have been GrubCrawls, PubCrawls, even a BikeCrawl in honor of Tour de Sacramento. Tuesday night was the Midtown WineCrawl. Okay, Cline, now you're talkin'!

Our crawl began at the L Wine Lounge. The night was warm, but breezy, and although the air conditioner was doing its best to keep up, the lounge was getting warmer by the second.

Only one thing to do when the temps are rising: drink a cool white! So I did just that, ordering a glass of Fruhling Spiegelburg '07 from Germany.

It was a light and refreshing white, which left a little tingle on the tongue — ever so slightly frizzante. It was just what this balmy night called for. The staff at L Wine brought out slabs of their famous pizzette, and after our sips and bites, we were off to our second stop, Michaelangelo's.

Michaelangelo's is a charming but casual neighborhood joint. They serve up some outstanding Italian fare, and the bites we sampled here were the best of the evening. The format was a little different here, as we found our way to the back patio, surrounded by fragrant herbs, geraniums and assorted objets d'art (they also own the Barton Gallery next door).

Here, we had our choice of a white or a red wine pairing. I decided to stick with the whites and I was not disappointed.

Their white selection, which was paired with a lovely crostini of herbed ricotta, roasted tomato and avocado, was an '07 Principessa Gavia Gavi, another delightful white made from the Cortese grape. Light and refreshing, with citrus and mineral notes, it went great with our crostini, and the outdoor temps.

For our third stop, it was south-westward ho for our group to The Grand, an itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny wine bar at the corner of 16th and K Streets.

Our instruction was to enter, go to the bar and order our wine, then get a plate of tapas, provided by Aioli. Our choices were 'red', 'white' or 'rose' for $7 a glass.

No indication of varietal, winery, country or vintage. Just color designation. Hmmm.

I spotted a wine list. I ordered a 3 oz. pour of an '08 Eberle Muscat Canelli instead, for $4. The bartender poured and told me $8.

I told him I ordered a 3 oz. pour. He said, ''Okay, never mind,'' took my $5, put it in the register, shut the drawer, then waited on the one remaining person behind me.

I guess he's keeping the change.

The buffet table was pretty well depleted by the time I got my wine. Mushrooms, and toasted bread. Lots of bread. The fritatta-like squares and the hummus-like puree was gone. Needless to say, I was ready for stop four, and needless to say, I left feeling not-so-Grand.

58 Degrees and Holding is my favorite wine bar in town. A VERY extensive wine list offering tastes, pours and bottles, great food, pairing suggestions: what's not to like? I meandered around the retail shop for a while and visited the ladies' room before entering the tasting room.

Here they were offering a white from France, an '08 Touraine Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire; their red selection, a Crios 50 percent Syrah/50 percent Bonarda blend from Mendoza. Both were quite good, and both were great values for the money.

They were offering a 20 percent discount for our group that night, and I returned to the retail shop to browse, only to see our group was headed out the glass doors to our next stop. Shop later, I guess!

Stop number five was Lounge on 20. Not exactly a wine bar, but a really cool place where Austin Powers would hang out if he lived in Sacramento.

White walls bathed in fuschia uplighting, floor-to-ceiling sheer curtain panels, and low-slung modern furniture gave the place an über-cool ambience that my Target flip-flops had no right to inhabit. I half-expected to see Twiggy and Andy Warhol sipping Mojitos at the bar. The servers were great here, bringing out platters of quickly-devoured deep-fried mac n' cheese cubes, and charcuterie plates. Waitiers took orders for cocktails, and this is where I said my farewells. It was getting late, and I'd left my go-go boots at home.

All in all, this was a fun evening, a creative way to socialize, see the sights of Midtown on foot, have a few bites and try some new wines.

Cline was the consumate host, his genial, booming voice needing no volume enhancement, no matter how lively the crowd. He provided giveaways at each stop which he took great pleasure in announcing - A good guy, and I'd definitely be on board for another 'crawl'.

Is this an event for a serious wine lover? Maybe not, but if you wouldn't mind leaving your ''bouquet sniffer'' at home for just one evening, you'll likely have a terrific time traipsing around with a fun group of folks. I did!