Art & Wine Fest

The Murphysboro Clarkes played as part of the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail Art and Wine Fest last weekend at Riverside Park in Murphysboro. They played 2 games on both Saturday and Sunday. Did you know that Brandon's Dad, Knute, started the team? They have been playing at this event for several years now.

Seth was in town visiting, so all the Shultz men were playing. This meant Nancy, Mary Jo and I were in the stands cheering through all 4 games (we're saints, I know).

Introduction of the Unions (left) and Clarkes (right) on Sunday

On Saturday the boys played the Springfield Long Nine. On Sunday they played the St. Louis Unions. Unfortunately our team lost all their games :(

However, the most fun was to be had at the Wine Fest. As a perk for playing at the festival, team members and family got to attend as VIPs. This got us a souvenir wine glass, a tasting card with 3 tastes per winery and a meal coupon. The coupon could only be used at Mase's Place. These were our choices:

After lunch (I had the pig burger), it was time to taste some wine. All 12 wineries on the Shawnee Wine Trail participated. They were arranged in a circle, so we just decided to start at the beginning and work our way around.

The weather was perfect, nice and sunny with a cool breeze. Live music was being performed on a stage in the middle. Brandon and I finally got to taste at all the wineries (There were 4 I hadn't tried yet). The revelation of the day was at Kite Hill where we were served the most delicious wine slushie. It was perfecty refreshing. Loved the event and can't wait to go back next year!