Crossing the Indiana Border
Into Michigan
Winery #1 - Round Barn
Sari's Newly purchased Summer Wheat Beer at the Round Barn Brewery
Me and the wine sculptur
Winery #2 - St Julian
In the vineyards
The unripe grapes
Winery #3 (after the one we decided to skip)
The picnic
Cool house in the vineyards
Very symbolic for me this year
Winery #5 - Lemon Creek - Last one
The crossing :)
The beach at the Dunes
Slap happy and crazy at Zanies
Well, since I’m not a big drinker, our night out on the town provided me with a little bit of slowness the next morning but I powered through with about 5 glasses of water and started packing for the road trip. We were headed to Michigan on a whim without any real plan or route, just a general direction. We packed up the mini coop and left the condo for a day full of events. The weather was gorgeous! We stopped by Whole Foods for some last minute snacks, grabbed a coffee at starbucks and hit the road. With Katy Perry blasted on the stereo, our shades firmly in place and camera in document mode, our day had only just begun. The drive was gorgeous with the green trees and fields glowing the entire way. We drove through Indiana (my first time) and into Michigan (another first) along the bottom and lower east side of Lake Michigan. Our first stop was in New Buffalo for a little potty break and some possible tour info but no luck. So we hopped back on the freeway and saw a billboard advertising a winery within the next couple of exits. This would be our first of 5 wineries for the day. The Round Barn Winery (#1) was a cute little place with a brewery next door so of course we had to taste a little beer too. Sari purchased a 6 pack of the Summer Wheat which was delicious; perfect for the summer. Next door was the St Julian’s Winery. A little bit more of a run down tasting room with not so good wine but still fun. We tasted and grabbed a wine trail map and hit the road again. The 6 mile drive up the Red Arrow Road to Bridgeman was covered with antique malls, restaurants and little motels. The sun was shinin’ and we were jamming in the mini to this summer’s tunes that of course play over and over and on the radio. Before we reached the next winery, we decided to stop off in the vineyards for some pics and maybe a little potty break :) We wore out the camera with photos and even did a little video shooting for practice. The next winery was Taber Hills. It was more of a country club style with a nice tasting room and restaurant. The wines were pretty good but we weren’t ready to purchase. The time was coming for us to get some food in our bellies and take a little break so our next stop was in the grass near the next winery. We spread out the blanket in the shade under some big trees since it was pretty hot out. The breeze was perfect to keep us cool. We had packed an awesome spread for lunch of grapes, cherries, cheese, cashews, cucumber, hummus, a baguette and of course a little chocolate. It was a prefect little lunch and relaxation to get us ready for a few more stops. The next winery was a dud and one of the lady’s working there obviously was not having a good day so we decided to take our business elsewhere. I should have maybe bought a bottle of wine and let HER taste it, or drink the whole thing ;) So on to the next winery called Domaine Berriern. It was then that we realized we had changed time zones when we came to Michigan and it was actually an hour later and the wineries would be closing soon. We made it to Domaine just in time to taste and buy a couple bottles because they were definitely the best ones. The barrel room was open too so we got to see some of the big’ole vats that the grapes ferment in. Lemon Creek Winery was just a half a mile up on the other side of the road so getting there was pretty easy especially with the “Winery Crossing” sign. This was the cutest place of the day and one of the friendliest too. A great way to end our tasting on the wine trail. It was 6 o’clock and with nothing but time on our hands we started making our way back to Chicago but not without some detours. We dropped in on a cute little antique barn with some super cool old stuff. I love that distinct smell. Reminds me of Pioneer Town up in Scobey, the old Leader or my grandpa’s garage etc. There was also a really cool old house covered in vines that we took some pics of. Back on Red Arrow Road, we stopped off at Warren Dunes State Park. Don’t know much about it but that there are a bunch of big dunes in the area. It was nice for a quick stop and a little time on the beach but didn’t really take too much of it in. We hadn’t brought our swims suits so we weren’t really dressed for the atmosphere. So it was back on the road and Chicago bound. When we got into Chicago we decided we still weren’t ready to go home. We headed up to Old Town to see if we could get last minute tickets to a Comedy Show. We got the last two tickets into Zanies. Zanies is a pretty well known club in Chicago that many well known comedians have been featured. The headliner was just ok but the rest of the show was pretty funny. Right beforehand our slap happiness was in full force so that helped out. After a couple hours we were beat and finally made it home. A long day but a great one. Birthday weekend number 1 success.
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