WiNe tAsTiNg

Today I played hooky from work (just the afternoon and I already put in extra hours throughout the week) because Mark had off and he wanted to tour a winery. I know, right? Sounds like "rich person" thing to do. Anyway, it turned out to be really, really fun!

We made the long drive to Algoma's von Stiehl Winery. First we did the tour of the winery which included getting to see the "caverns" where the wine is processed and the bottling room. Then we each got to sample eight different types of wine! All this for only $3.75 per person!

Some of the wines were amazing, some not so. We're not really wine drinkers, so we weren't really sure if we'd like anything but it turned out we each found two that we really liked.

Here's a list of some of the ones we tried: Sparkling Muscat, Oktoberfest, Wisconsin Cranberry, Niagara, Crimson Royale, Cherry Kirsche, Cherry Blush, and Raspberry. Mark tried a couple others includine one that is cured in an oak barrel. (The cure the wines either in stainless steel vats or in hand-crafted oak barrels.) He said it tasted sort of "woody."

Even though they were just tiny tastes and not full glasses, we drank them quickly and in succession...and I hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch yet. Add into the equation the fact that I don't drink much/often and I ended up feeling a bit tipsy. Mark was laughing at me the whole time. Luckily he's much bigger than I am so that wine didn't phase him a bit because someone still had to drive home!

We decided to buy a few bottles and hit the road. $77 later....



We bought some of it as gifts. One wine (not pictured) is a wedding gift while one of the Oktoberfest ones will go to Mark's parents.

Anyway, we headed out in search of some food to fill my "winey" stomach. As we were leaving, we couldn't help but notice the beach (Lake Michigan) and heard it calling our name. So we made a quick pit stop.

To get our feet wet....


...and write our names in the sand.


After we were good and sandy, we headed back toward Green Bay to eat at the Titled Kilt. Definately a man's restaurant. Every waitress wears a kilt and a very cleavage showing shirt. Good food, though.

Since I was feeling much more stable on my feet after the food, Mark suggested making a quick stop at Oneida Casino. It was fine with me, but I warned him (yet again) that I suck at gambling and quickly lose money. He knew.

I managed to play for about 20 minutes with $20 before losing it all. He, of course, played Black Jack and Roulette and had much better luck. All in all we ended up losing $30 I think.

I guess it turned out to be a pretty expensive day, with gas figured in, but it was worth it to spend some time together. We think of these little outings as a luxury thing that we surely won't be doing once we have children. I guess we just want to take advantage of our time together before we add the joy of babies to our family. That joy will happen soon if I have anything to say about...and I do.

Anyway, tomorrow is my cousin's Bridal Shower/Bachelorette Party and I'm super excited to spend time with her and the other bridesmaids. I'm just so happy for her! She stood up in our wedding and having her there meant so much to me, I'm thrilled that I can return the favor by standing up in hers!

Ok, the Packers are playing and Mark would like me to watch it with him soooooo ta ta!