Headin' South

We're in Anderson, SC.  These images cover the trip down here.  Day 1 was from home to Lexington, VA, and we were obviously interested mainly in just getting there.

First real stop was Harrisonburg, VA for lunch.  This is the courthouse or city hall or something like that.

And outside Lexington is Rockbridge Vineyard, where we stop every time we pass by.  The people are wonderful and the wines delicious.

We spent the night at Carolyn Jean's country house.  Here's Mr. Toad,

a spider web,

a country road,

and the mountains in the next morning's fog.

In Wytheville, VA, we stopped at a quilt shop.

In Rural Retreat, VA (yes, there's really a town with that name), we visited another winery.    The sign says "Dye's," but the bottle labels all say "Rural Retreat Winery & Vineyards."  Interesting but not a favorite.

The center of Rural Retreat seemed to be this abandoned caboose; the tasting room is the white building in the background.

Last stop:  Burntshirt Vineyards.  It had just opened, and we were some of their first visitors.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time there.  The wines were excellent;  if they can do this well on their first harvest, in a few years, this should be an amazing place.

Basketball Hall of Fame and the Springfield Armory Museum

CL, Bev, John, and I went to the Basketball Hall of Fame yesterday.

Overall view of the 3rd level, with CL studying the bios of all the inductees.

James Naismith, himself.

An American flag (sort of) made from Nike basketball shoes.

In front of the Basketball Hall of Fame logo, with my Country Music Hall of Fame shirt.

John and I continued on to the Armory Museum.  Smaller, but a bargain (it's free).

Bunches of old flintlocks.

Spiral staircase over the entrance; when the Armory was active, this was above the loading dock and the block and tackle was used to lift or lower everything going in or out.

Mattoon Street Arts Festival

We visited the Mattoon St. Arts Festival briefly today.  It was our first time in probably 20 years, and we'd have stayed longer, but it started raining.

But at least CL got to meet the Tin Woodman.

Little Alum Pond Revisited

Western Connecticut Wineries

We visited three wineries on the Connecticut Wine Trail this afternoon, all three in the Litchfield Hills near Torrington.  They were Haight-Brown Vineyard, Sunset Meadow Vineyards, and Miranda Vineyard.

I suppose it doesn't say a lot for the wineries, when the highlight of the day was this scene from the parking lot of Sunset Meadow.

Actually two-thirds of the wineries were very good.  While Haight-Brown's wines are drinkable, they're no better than good, they're fairly expensive, a lot of the grapes come from California, and the tasting was handled mechanically.  This was our first visit to the other two, and we'll likely go back.  They were both interesting, and both had very good wines.  And Sunset Meadow had an amazing Merlot Slushie!

More Pictures from the Weekend

Greenwater Pond

We had dinner with our friend Dorothy last night; this is the view from her cottage in Becket, MA.

Adeline's Turn

Last night I posted five shots of Maggie; here are five of Adeline.

She likes ice cream.

And the red wagon.

Maggie & Mac