Road Trip!

August 25, 2009 by MTB

Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

Summer 2009 has been interesting to say the least. A cold, rainy June and July followed by a hot and muggy August. Hiccups on the career front accompanied by long hours in the office. Unfortunate cancellation of a week’s vacation plans at the end of August.

By midsummer, I was feeling like Boone in Animal House, “Otter, this is ridiculous!” So what’s a girl to do?

ROAD TRIP!

Mystic Connecticut / Photo: Marguerite Barrett Or to be strictly accurate, road trips. I decided to eschew traditional stress busters such as exercise and therapy in favor of exploring the Southeastern New England and Warren Hills AVAs. Armed only with a full tank of gas, a list of wineries, a map, and the ubiquitous debit card, I hit the open roads on random weekends with wine trail buddies Christy Sherard and Maree Prendergast, discovering new wines and new places from Newport, Rhode Island to Rieglesville, Pennsylvania.

There were good wines and great meals, as well as the occasional wrong turn, but most of all, lots of laughs and that great sense of freedom you get from impulsively saying, “let’s get out of here.”

I’ve also decided it’s time to mix things up here at Vino Verve – while reliving the adventure of hitting the road without a fully-defined plan. So rather than organize my posts as I’ve done in the past (chronological order of wineries visited), I’m throwing them all in a soup; one day you might find me in Rhode Island, the next in New Jersey. I suppose you could say it’s the Vino Verve version of Where’s Waldo?

So I hope you’ll join me here at Vino Verve on Tuesdays and Thursdays through October for the 2009 Win(e)ding Roads Summer Adventure!