Grape Stomping

On Sunday I went to Beliveau Estates Winery for their first annual grape stomping.
I got to the winery early and got tickets to do the grape stomping and the wine tasting. You had to choose between white and red and we decided to go with the white for a change (for me anyway). I was really surprised how good they were, especially the slightly sweet wine called Destiny. I got a bottle to start (and a couple more to take home!)

View of the tasting area.

They were also selling a few things for lunch. My cheese plate was very nice with some lovely apple chutney. 

Cheese plate

After enjoying some of our wine in the veranda, I decided to try the grape stomping. Well, I decided and convinced people to try, though for some of it, no one really didn't look very convinced that it was indeed a good idea. And to be fair after a short time I realized the number of wasps in the tank with us, and I started to come around to his way of thinking. I then picked something up and it was a large spider. I was out of the tank pretty quickly after that! :-)

Grape stomping

It was a really weird feeling. Very squishy and then the grape would pop under your feet. Very odd! And they were really cold!

Stop the wasp.

Other giving it a go.

I chilled out, finishing part of the wine in the sun for a while, listening to the live music. On the way out, I saw a porch swing and couldn't resist. I really want a swing now! :-)

El Captain.

Dancing on the terrace

Enjoying my wine and the sun.

Blue ridge Vineyard

As we were talking and chilling in the flat, we started out a little late and got there not long before the music finished. :-( But we did the wine tasting and Mom and Dad selected a white Gewürztraminer (which we opened there and had a glass) and a Big Bear Red.

Mom in the tasting room.

I am sure I was making a very serious point!

Crystal, who I had spent an hour talking to the last time I was there, came in later and to my surprise remembered me. They had harvested the grapes and were in the middle of making the wine. She asked if we wanted to go and see, so we got to see the wine making process up close and personal. Because it is only a small vineyard, they crush the grapes by hand/foot. They were covered with black grape juice! And Crystal gave me a jug of the grape juice to make some wine jelly! They are all so sweet and Barbara who owns the vineyard was telling me about the events they have coming up. I will definitely be going to some of them! :-)

Barbara, Robin and Crystal - force behind the Blue Ridge Vineyard

View while we sipped our wine

Lazy sunday for the dogs.

We took the long way back through the Appalachian mountains. We saw deer and wild turkeys and the roads were mostly deserted. We went to Due South, a BBQ place in Christainsburg for dinner. The ribs were very very tasting. And they had the best catering van.

Due South catering van

At home we just watched silly movies as me and mom were feeling a bit weepy. :-(

On Monday morning, we went into Blacksburg and did a little shopping for VT and Hookie gifts (I finally got a VT hoodie) and some food before heading to the airport. Mom and Dads flight was in the afternoon and we had to return the car (which I will miss!). We had travel a fair bit in it apparently. Just over 1750 miles! Good road trip. I have had such a good time with my parents and will really miss them. But I will see them again in February. 

Claytor Lake

I am slowly getting up-to-date on our holiday. :-)
As the weather was lovely again on the weekend, we decided to go to Claytor Lake, somewhere I have been wanting to and trying to go for a while. The forecast said it was going to be sunny but only 71F  (~21C) but it was much warmer when we got there. After a quick shopping trip and a slight detour when we ended up on the wrong side of the lake (but the journey was along pretty little roads so none of us cared), we got to the lake and had a picnic.

After grabbing a map, we walked along part of the Lakeview trail.

Waiting for Dad to finish taking photos

Claytor Lake

 After a walk around, we went to the little beach. There were a few people there, including an annoyingly loud group of teens, but as it was after Labor Day, it wasn't crowded and we didn't need to pay to swim. Mom and I paddled and it wasn't as cold as I expected it to be. But the water was a little green and I didn't fancy it. Dad though went for a swim while mom and I chilled on the beach in the sun with our books.

Enjoying the view

Empty beach

Mom at the beach

On the evening, Cissi came over to meet my parents and I cooked tacos and fresh corn on the cob, with pears poached in red wine for desert. We ended up drinking another of my fruit wines (apple and pomegranate). :-)

Peaks of Otter

The day after we got back from our road trip, we all slept in and didn't do much. We went for lunch at Red Robins (mom wanted another burger - they are good). Other than that, we watched movies and unpacked.

On Friday we went up to the Peaks of Otter in the Blue Ridge Parkway. Mom and Dad have been wanting to see the mountains and the Blue Ridge is beautiful. I have a few books on waterfalls in Virginia, West Virginia, and North Caroline and found the Falling Water Cascades in the parkway at the Peaks of Otter (I have no idea why it is called that). It would have been nice if the leaves had turned (and I will be going back when they have) but it was a nice drive in the mountains. We took a picnic to eat in the mountains. The view wasn't great from the parking lot but it was really peaceful.

The waterfall was only a short walk from the parking lot, though the round trip in total was longer and mom was really not impressed.

At the start of the trail 

Top of the waterfall

On the bridge over the upper waterfall

Our shadows from the bridge

Fungi.

We crossed the upper falls and headed down to the base of the main waterfall. There have been lots of storms this year so there was a lot of debris. But I liked this waterfall because you could climb all around it.

Falling Water Cascades 

Falling Water Cascades

We walked along and down cascades to the bottom and crossed the bridge at the bottom. The bridge was a little shaky and was only partly rebuilt as it got washed away earlier in the year.

Lower falls bridge

Another camera war

Waiting for Dad to finish taking photos.

We then had to walk back and it was mostly up hill. Mom was not happy. And we had forgotten to take water with us so we were all really thirsty.

Mom's super fake smile!

Taking a break.

Me and dad

Tree hugger.

Mom hugger

 We were all very happy to get back to the car. :-)
On the way back we detoured to a vineyard (Peaks of Otter Vineyard) I have been wanting to visit for some time. They specialize in fruit wines. The drive there was down a narrow grave path through the mountains. The GPS had a few issues but there was only one road so it was impossible to get lost. At one point we turned left and out of the corner of my eye I saw this thing flying out of a drive to my right. It was a crazy Shitzu. My dad hit the gas and we ran away form the shitzu. Yes, we ran away in a car from a Shitzu! We had images of it biting the wheel and not letting go while we drove off. :-/
We also past what looked like a scrap yard surrounded by barbed wire, with the name "Bad Bobs" on the mail box. Hillbilly area!

The tasting finished at 4.30 and we arrived a little after but they were really nice and gave us a tasting anyway. And we ended up buying about 7 bottles. My parents brought 4 and I got 3 though one of those has been sent home for my sister.

Dad with our wine outside Peaks of Otter

Mom not very impressed with the amount of wine we brought

 For dinner that evening, I cooked the soft shell crabs I had massacred earlier in the year.

Cooking

They looked really good.

Ready to enjoy our dinner

Unfortunately we didn't enjoy the crabs as much as we had hoped. We were all looking forward to them but we think they might be a more acquired taste. But the Semillion-Chardonnay I picked up for it was nice so we didn't mind too much. And we opened one of my fruit wines too. :-) I doubt many will make it to after my parents leave!

Outer Banks - Wright Brothers

On our last morning, we loaded up the car again and before starting the long drive back, went to the Wright Brothers museum and memorial. This is where the brothers made the first flight of a powered manned vehicle. The first flight was on Decmeber 17th 1903 and lasted 12s and they did 3 other flights that day, getting up to 56s in the air on the last flight of the day. They were going to do more flights but the wind caught the plane and wrecked it. They picked Kitty Hawk in the Outer Banks because that year it had the strongest winds in the US. And it was mostly deserted in 1903.
We listened to the park ranger tell the story of the flights and then wondered around the grounds.

One of the first planes

Plaque to the Wright brothers

Mom and Dad at starting marker

First landing marker

There was also a big monument up o the top of the hill where they launched the unpowered glider flights. But it was well into the 90s that day and we decided it was too hot to walk up there.

Wright Brothers Monument on hill top

Plus we had a long drive home. We decided to go the slightly longer way around but it was much prettier, along smaller country roads through real small town USA, which Dad loved. Dad and I split the driving and we got some great photos while on the road.

Cool dude

Another deserted bridge

Mom enjoying being chauffeured 

Honestly I am not sure

There were also some great adverts near the Outer Banks for places with ... interesting names.

Sounds interesting

We stopped for lunch at a truckers road side dinner called, Doris and Roger's kitchen. The food was good and cheap and a nice break. The second time we stopped I was bored and saw a sign for Buffalo Springs. So I pulled off to investigate. It wasn't as much as I was expecting (and the toilets were nasty!) but it was a break. There used to be a spa for the springs but now all that was left was a rundown gazzebo (I could see the spiders from a distance - there was no way I was going near that!) and the "mountain spring" which was a hose coming out of the wall. But we saw some locals collecting and drinking the water so decided to give it a go. It had a sweet taste and lots of minerals and better yet, it was really cold. (It made my bugs bites a lot better though I had to do some interesting gymnastics to get some of them under the hose).

Drinking and collecting spring water

:)

On the way back we got the only rain the entire time my parents were here. Unfortunately this was when I was driving thought the mountains and it was a lightning storm at the same time. It was an interesting part of the drive.

It took us about 8-9 hrs driving to get home and we were exhausted by the time we got back. But it was a great trip and we all had a really good time. :-)