Day 59: Rain, Wine, General Store

Waking up to a cloudy and rainy day, we spent a lazy morning around the house before grilling some steaks for a much bigger lunch than I think we initially intended.

Since we knew we weren't going to be hitting the beach at all today, we figured the dreary afternoon would be a good chance for us to check out a couple of the nearby wineries.

Amy's got a pretty good palate when it comes to wine.

Not me. I like wine but as far as I'm concerned, there are two kinds of wine -- red and white. From there, variations exist but they're all red or white. That's all I need to know.

Starting out at 2 Lads -- a winery no more than a half-mile from where we're staying -- the kids drew in their notebooks while Amy enjoyed some wine samples.

No samples for me. Just a glass. Red. Or whatever it was that Amy ordered for me. But it was red.

 

Amy asked me if I liked the Cabernet...and I did. But quite honestly, she could have brought me a glass from a $3-bottle from Aldi and I would have never noticed a difference.

. . .

Our second stop was just down the road at Chateau Chantal. I think that's French for "we have red and white wine here."

The view from this place was pretty amazing as it was set high above the vineyards with a view down to the water. The kids came out with a healthy supply of corks compliments of a woman whose name tag gave her the official title of "Cork Lady."

The Cork Lady kind of freaked Mason out a little bit when she (jokingly, I assume) asked if he wanted to come home with her.

He didn't.

. . .

Our last stop for the afternoon was the Old Mission General Store which, from what I understand, has been open for business for something like 150 years.

I'm guessing that the neon "PIZZA" sign is not original to the building.

Inside, we found a shop that was part reminiscent of the early general store and part pandering to the tourists that I assume make up a majority of its customers.

 

 

While the kids chose a treat, I wandered into an adjacent room intended for dine-in customers. On the wall was a small photo of what I assume was the original store.

In that moment, the Old Mission General Store seemed a little less touristy.