It's been seven years.
Since I married my best friend.
Happy Anniversary!
Monday, July 9, 2012
Sunday, July 8, 2012
A Vino Vacation: Part Two
In continuation from the first part of our weekend, this part actually contains the Vino! And again, we opted not to bring our Canon so all photos are taken with my phone.
After our morning breakfast at our hotel we made our way back downtown Hendersonville to meet up with our tour guide, Kimberlee, from Travels in Wine tours. There were seven couples in our group, four of us celebrating our wedding anniversaries this weekend. <3 Love was in the air!
We all jumped on the party bus and made our way to the first stop, an Urban Winery right there in downtown Hendersonville.
Falderal Winery was a great introduction to our tour. We learned what a small-scale winemaker looks like and how they operate. Out of the four wines we tasted I loved the first, called Sandburg's Goat White. We even left with some to-go glasses and a bottle to take home.
The next stop was a 35 minute drive out to the Green Creek Winery which has its own vineyard. There we were greeted with some snacks to start, cheeses and crackers and some shrimp with a yummy lemon chardonnay sauce. We also tasted four wines as well. I swear to you that the second wine smelled and tasted just like liquor. I think we determined it tasted like a whiskey or bourbon. Wooh. We were also served the owner's signature Chardonnay cake, and YUMMY it was.
After the tasting we were served our BBQ lunch and I was so excited to see the western Carolina tomato-based sauce as opposed to the eastern Carolina's vinegar-based. It was delicious. Green Creek also offers some wine ice cream too. We tried six different flavors. I like the raspberry and chocolate flavors the best. Unfortunately we didn't prefer any of the wines at this vineyard so we didn't leave with any bottles.
The third stop was also a vineyard/winery and it had the most beautiful scenery. Overmountain Vineyards not only produces and sells their own brand but they sell majority of their red wine grapes to the Biltmore. We tasted a new grape known as the Petit Manseng as well as some Muscadine wine. Again, I wasn't too fond of the wines offered. I prefer a dryer red and this is the point where we found out that most of the reds in the area won't be available until this Fall because they tend to sell out quickly.
The final stop of the tour was considered the "comic relief". The husband/wife team from Parker-Binns Vineyard were, in fact, hilarious. And they had a beautiful garden! Hubby enjoyed the Pearidge Red so much that he got a to-go glass along with a bottle to take home.
I enjoyed the blackberry wine mostly because it was paired with yummy chocolate. And since Hubby doesn't care for chocolate I got his! I also enjoyed browsing around their wine room. They had these cool cork boards made from real wine corks. Now I know what to make from all the corks I've collected!
Once the tour ended we had made some new friends. We exchanged our information with another couple who are locals and plan on being in our area next month for another drinking event. Needless to say that went into our calendar. :)
We headed back to our suite to freshen up and then trekked back to Asheville to make our dinner reservations that night. I had booked dinner at The Admiral which was recommended to me by our tour guide. Apparently it is really hard to get in without a reservation in advance. The restaurant itself is downtown and looks like "a dump" from the outside, and to be honest it looks like a dive in the inside too. But a dive with linens and an upscale atmosphere.
We were shown to our table for two which we found had a lovely card wishing us a Happy Anniversary, a nice sunflower bouquet and some cocktails they called Pros and Poms {Prosecco and Pomegranite}.
Now I have to mention that I allotted two hours for us to spend there because with most fine dining restaurants you wait forever for your food. But we were in and out in less than an hour! And that was great. I ordered the duck breast and Hubby the steak. Both were DELICIOUS. You can tell the chefs were classically trained based on the food and the presentation. We opted not to get a bottle of wine or any other alcholic beverages since we indulged all day long. But we did treat ourselves to a chocolate torte. Mostly me again, since Hubby doesn't care for chocolate. Hehe.
And with it being such a long day we ended the night there. We headed back to our room to call it a night.
All in all, we had a lovely weekend. A very much needed vacation, just the two of us. But we were eager to get home the next morning to see our boy.
After our morning breakfast at our hotel we made our way back downtown Hendersonville to meet up with our tour guide, Kimberlee, from Travels in Wine tours. There were seven couples in our group, four of us celebrating our wedding anniversaries this weekend. <3 Love was in the air!
Falderal Winery was a great introduction to our tour. We learned what a small-scale winemaker looks like and how they operate. Out of the four wines we tasted I loved the first, called Sandburg's Goat White. We even left with some to-go glasses and a bottle to take home.
 |
| We had to brown-bag our to-go glasses. |
The next stop was a 35 minute drive out to the Green Creek Winery which has its own vineyard. There we were greeted with some snacks to start, cheeses and crackers and some shrimp with a yummy lemon chardonnay sauce. We also tasted four wines as well. I swear to you that the second wine smelled and tasted just like liquor. I think we determined it tasted like a whiskey or bourbon. Wooh. We were also served the owner's signature Chardonnay cake, and YUMMY it was.
 |
| I had to snap a shot of the sign in the bathroom about employees washing their hands AND their feet. |
After the tasting we were served our BBQ lunch and I was so excited to see the western Carolina tomato-based sauce as opposed to the eastern Carolina's vinegar-based. It was delicious. Green Creek also offers some wine ice cream too. We tried six different flavors. I like the raspberry and chocolate flavors the best. Unfortunately we didn't prefer any of the wines at this vineyard so we didn't leave with any bottles.
The third stop was also a vineyard/winery and it had the most beautiful scenery. Overmountain Vineyards not only produces and sells their own brand but they sell majority of their red wine grapes to the Biltmore. We tasted a new grape known as the Petit Manseng as well as some Muscadine wine. Again, I wasn't too fond of the wines offered. I prefer a dryer red and this is the point where we found out that most of the reds in the area won't be available until this Fall because they tend to sell out quickly.
The final stop of the tour was considered the "comic relief". The husband/wife team from Parker-Binns Vineyard were, in fact, hilarious. And they had a beautiful garden! Hubby enjoyed the Pearidge Red so much that he got a to-go glass along with a bottle to take home.
I enjoyed the blackberry wine mostly because it was paired with yummy chocolate. And since Hubby doesn't care for chocolate I got his! I also enjoyed browsing around their wine room. They had these cool cork boards made from real wine corks. Now I know what to make from all the corks I've collected!
Once the tour ended we had made some new friends. We exchanged our information with another couple who are locals and plan on being in our area next month for another drinking event. Needless to say that went into our calendar. :)
We headed back to our suite to freshen up and then trekked back to Asheville to make our dinner reservations that night. I had booked dinner at The Admiral which was recommended to me by our tour guide. Apparently it is really hard to get in without a reservation in advance. The restaurant itself is downtown and looks like "a dump" from the outside, and to be honest it looks like a dive in the inside too. But a dive with linens and an upscale atmosphere.
We were shown to our table for two which we found had a lovely card wishing us a Happy Anniversary, a nice sunflower bouquet and some cocktails they called Pros and Poms {Prosecco and Pomegranite}.
Now I have to mention that I allotted two hours for us to spend there because with most fine dining restaurants you wait forever for your food. But we were in and out in less than an hour! And that was great. I ordered the duck breast and Hubby the steak. Both were DELICIOUS. You can tell the chefs were classically trained based on the food and the presentation. We opted not to get a bottle of wine or any other alcholic beverages since we indulged all day long. But we did treat ourselves to a chocolate torte. Mostly me again, since Hubby doesn't care for chocolate. Hehe.
And with it being such a long day we ended the night there. We headed back to our room to call it a night.
...Brown Chicken Brown Cow...
All in all, we had a lovely weekend. A very much needed vacation, just the two of us. But we were eager to get home the next morning to see our boy.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
A Vino Vacation: Part One
Several months ago I found this Groupon for a Wine Tour and immediately thought that it would be a great idea for Hubby and I to do together. Even better yet, we could make a weekend out of it.
I ran it by Hubby and he thought so too. So I snapped it up and began planning a long weekend getaway for our anniversary. I contacted the tour company and booked the date for our tour. I also went through them to arrange our lodging and get some other ideas for the rest of our stay.
To Biltmore or not to Biltmore? It's the main attraction in the area since it's just outside of Asheville. But to be honest I could care less about walking through a mansion and seeing all the luxurious things. I know many people are into that but it's not what Hubby and I are attracted to. You can't even take pictures inside the house, only the Gardens. And it's crazy expensive just to do that.
So Friday morning we headed towards Charlotte, dropped the boy off at my parents, and then made our great escape. A weekend all to ourselves!!
For Friday we only had dinner reservations, nothing planned for that afternoon. So we just took our time leaving my parents' house and driving up the mountain. We stopped at Fatz on the way to grab some lunch.
Note: We opted not to bring the Canon on the trip, so all photos were taken with my phone.
Once we arrived at our hotel we found a goodie basket in our suite! Cupcakes = YUM!
Then we headed downtown Hendersonville to eat at 2 Guys Pizza & Ribs, a local hot spot that was recommended by our travel agent/tour guide. We were welcomed by the owner, Melody, with hugs! We found a nice spot at the bar and had some drinks. They were getting our private high top ready for us, but we decided the bar was nice enough for us and stayed there. {It was also the coolest spot in the restaurant under a wonderful fan.}
I ordered a new drink since I'm trying 50 new beers. I tried out "Original Sin" - it's a hard Apple Cider. Get it?? Original Sin...apple... Anywho! I wasn't a fan. A bit too much apple for me. And I'm not one for the sweet drinks like I was back in college. So my next one was a Bud Lite. Can't go wrong with that.
Hubby tried the famous ribs which were YUMMY. He got a half rack and it was still huge. He only ate half of it! And I knew I was going to try his ribs so I got something different, an Italian sub. Also YUM. And we arrived at a great time because within the hour that place got packed. We met a lot of the regulars. Definitely recommend it if you are in downtown Hendersonville. If a place has regulars then you know it's great.
When we were done with our meal we headed out to give up our seats to the next couple. Just outside the town was having their Summer Friday night Music on Main event. And it also coincided with their monthly car show. {Lucky Hubby!}
We did some more exploring on Main Street. And even stopped for some ice cream.
They had dozens of artsy bear statues throughout Downtown. New Bern, NC should be jealous, because they are also known for their Bears and have the same statues throughout town. Also, I loved these benches!
That was our Friday Night!
Now off to enjoy our Saturday! :)
I ran it by Hubby and he thought so too. So I snapped it up and began planning a long weekend getaway for our anniversary. I contacted the tour company and booked the date for our tour. I also went through them to arrange our lodging and get some other ideas for the rest of our stay.
To Biltmore or not to Biltmore? It's the main attraction in the area since it's just outside of Asheville. But to be honest I could care less about walking through a mansion and seeing all the luxurious things. I know many people are into that but it's not what Hubby and I are attracted to. You can't even take pictures inside the house, only the Gardens. And it's crazy expensive just to do that.
So Friday morning we headed towards Charlotte, dropped the boy off at my parents, and then made our great escape. A weekend all to ourselves!!
For Friday we only had dinner reservations, nothing planned for that afternoon. So we just took our time leaving my parents' house and driving up the mountain. We stopped at Fatz on the way to grab some lunch.
Note: We opted not to bring the Canon on the trip, so all photos were taken with my phone.
Once we arrived at our hotel we found a goodie basket in our suite! Cupcakes = YUM!
 |
| The note says "Welcome + Happy Anniversary!" |
I ordered a new drink since I'm trying 50 new beers. I tried out "Original Sin" - it's a hard Apple Cider. Get it?? Original Sin...apple... Anywho! I wasn't a fan. A bit too much apple for me. And I'm not one for the sweet drinks like I was back in college. So my next one was a Bud Lite. Can't go wrong with that.
 |
| 5* for the label though! |
When we were done with our meal we headed out to give up our seats to the next couple. Just outside the town was having their Summer Friday night Music on Main event. And it also coincided with their monthly car show. {Lucky Hubby!}
We did some more exploring on Main Street. And even stopped for some ice cream.
They had dozens of artsy bear statues throughout Downtown. New Bern, NC should be jealous, because they are also known for their Bears and have the same statues throughout town. Also, I loved these benches!
That was our Friday Night!
Now off to enjoy our Saturday! :)
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