What does your perfect day consist of?
Mine would include:
Bryan
a road trip
a cute outfit
wine tasting
quaint towns
small shops
picturesque views
a cozy atmosphere
Christmas music
a good meal
simplicity
no timeframe or schedule to stay on
no bickering with Bryan *wink*
***
I lived it.
My perfect day.
It was memorable.
Purely magical....
***
Bryan and I are currently spending 2 weeks in Hartford, Connecticut for work.
Hartford is in the middle of everything!
It's driving distance to Boston, Newport, the Connecticut coast and New York City.
It's a great spot to be stuck in and we're fortunate to have a week off of work while here.
YAY!
Well, here's a little known fact about the state of Connecticut... there are many vineyards here.
Mostly whites, as reds don't grow well in the cold.
***
Bryan and I started our memorable day out with a scenic drive through a town called Stonington. We drove around on a 2 lane highway, through the countryside, over small bridges and ventured off on the wine trail to do some wine tasting.
Our first winery was Stonington Vineyards.
Their tasting room was cozy and quaint, just my style!
Bryan prefers sweet white wine, so he enjoyed the wine a bit better than I.
We became quick friends with the woman pouring, as she lived in California for 25 years and graduated college out of the Cal State system, just like us.
From Stonington, we continued on the scenic route...
... and pulled over on the side of the road so that we could hop out of the car and admire this beauty of a view.
Next, we found ourselves at Saltwater Farm Vineyard
The gentleman on the right owns the vineyard with his wife. They bought the land about 5 years ago, gutted the airline hanger and turned their property into the perfect vineyard and unique tasting room that it is today.
The owner was a Manahattan lawyer and retired to this vineyard. Haha... retired, riiiiiight!
This was their first day bottling on site, as they had previously bottled out in Long Island.
I was so impressed that he was down there getting his hands dirty... and I told him so.
I also let him know about how special I thought his tasting room was and how much we enjoyed overall experience at his vineyard.
Have you ever wine tasted in an airplane hanger?
It really was such a neat experience to be wine tasting in a very modern winery while surrounded by orignal woods ceiling and wood beams. I was fascinated with the way the modern stainless steel complimented the antique and rustic wood.
We brought our last flight downstairs to enjoy around the fireplace.
There's really nothing much better than red wine, a fireplace and my honey!
Every chance Bryan gets, he takes it upon himself to play. Generally I find him skipping rocks, but this time he was trying to crack the ice with a rock!
I found myself constantly pointing out these stone walls to Bryan as he drove.
Continuing our scenic drive and getting a bit stir crazy in the car
Our drive concluded in the seaport town of Mystic, CT in Olde Mystick Village.
From Stonington, we continued on the scenic route...
... and pulled over on the side of the road so that we could hop out of the car and admire this beauty of a view.
Next, we found ourselves at Saltwater Farm VineyardThe gentleman on the right owns the vineyard with his wife. They bought the land about 5 years ago, gutted the airline hanger and turned their property into the perfect vineyard and unique tasting room that it is today.The owner was a Manahattan lawyer and retired to this vineyard. Haha... retired, riiiiiight!
This was their first day bottling on site, as they had previously bottled out in Long Island.
I was so impressed that he was down there getting his hands dirty... and I told him so.
I also let him know about how special I thought his tasting room was and how much we enjoyed overall experience at his vineyard.
Have you ever wine tasted in an airplane hanger?It really was such a neat experience to be wine tasting in a very modern winery while surrounded by orignal woods ceiling and wood beams. I was fascinated with the way the modern stainless steel complimented the antique and rustic wood.
We brought our last flight downstairs to enjoy around the fireplace.There's really nothing much better than red wine, a fireplace and my honey!
Every chance Bryan gets, he takes it upon himself to play. Generally I find him skipping rocks, but this time he was trying to crack the ice with a rock!
I found myself constantly pointing out these stone walls to Bryan as he drove.
I kept asking him...
Do you think the homeowners built them?
Do you think the town built them?
Do you think they've been there for decades?
Do you think they've been there for hundreds of years?
Where did they get the stone from?Bryan didn't have any answers for me.
These stone walls were really pretty and so unique. I mean, everywhere you go in this country people either have a wodden fence, a rot iron fence or no fence at all.
...just so impressive!
Continuing our scenic drive and getting a bit stir crazy in the car
Our drive concluded in the seaport town of Mystic, CT in Olde Mystick Village.
Olde Mystic Village was built to mymick an early American village, New-England style, with picturesque settings of brick pathways, flowers, trees, duck ponds and a water wheel. It was decorated so cute for Christmas and the shopkeepers offer interesting and well priced items from all over the world.
Wow Bryan, it's HUGE!
We did so much Christmas shopping for our families!
Wow Bryan, it's HUGE!
We did so much Christmas shopping for our families!
1 for you, 1 for me :)
My dork. Love him.
So excited about all of my purchases for my mom, my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law.
My dork. Love him.
So excited about all of my purchases for my mom, my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law.
I sure hope they like everything as much as I do!
To conclude our day we ate at The Mystic Boathouse for dinner
We then drove the hour back to Hartford and plopped on the couch.
What a GREAT day!
EEEEEK... I get excited just thinking about it!!
Wow what fun :) I'm a new follower! conneticutt is so pretty but i had no idea so many vineyards where you could do wine tasting and more white than red! I'm deff adding that to my list of places to visit next time i return! you and ur hubs are sooo cute together! hope you enjoy rest of your time in conneticutt :)
ReplyDeletegood luck in wilmington :) I'm glad my post helped! I love it there :)
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