Mara Visits Murphysboro

Remember Mara from Florida? She is Joey's girlfriend and helped orchestrate the proposal. Well, she and Joey made the drive up here to visit. With just one day to explore, we took her out on the wine trail. Our first stop was Kite Hill Vineyards. Their wine slushy is the best. One of these days I'll buy the mix. Since I am now a wine cork collector, these birdhouses caught my eye:

Our next stop was Pomona Winery, still my favorite winery to visit, hands down. While, you do have to pay a $2 tasting fee, you really get your moneys worth. You get to taste all the wines and get to learn as you go. Plus, Becky is always there and she is still the best. I bought a bottle of Kir to take home. Our next stop was Von Jakob. We always order food here. Brandon and I shared the BBQ pizza. It was just ok, but hey it came with a side salad. I love their Red Oak Port Vinaigrette Dressing. Our friend, Christian, is the wedding coordinator there. She pulled out some of her wedding magazines and we looked through them. She has offered her wedding planning services, wherever we have the wedding :)

Next up was Kie's choice, Owl Creek. His birthday is coming up in the next week so we decided to celebrate early. The girls made him a tasty cake.

Kie turns 26

The final winery of the day was Blue Sky. We ordered a pitcher of sangria and it was delish. I like it better than Rustle Hill's. The winery was packed, including a Mardi Gras themed birthday party. As they were leaving they gave us their masks. We looked like Misteriosos!

Joey and Brandon

And finally we ended our journey at 17th Street. Because really, what trip to Murphysboro would it be without that. Order the 17th Street potato. WOW.

Well, we won't have to wait long for our next winery visit. This upcoming Friday is the second Teresa Herring benefit at The Bluff's, $5 cover. 

Wine & Dine

Caitlyn, our friend from Columbus, OH just became a lawyer. Before starting her first job she decided to come check out Southern Illinois! We had a great time showing her around, starting on Friday with a house party:

We had a delicious meal in Jarrod's garage featuring a watermelon basket:

Carved and balled by me!

On Saturday we hit the wine trail:

We made our first stop at Kite Hill Vineyards for their famous slushie.

We also stopped by Orlandini Vineyards - where we picked up the "Wino Xing" sign - and posed in front of the Blue Sky Vineyards gates. For my third time, we went to Pomona Winery which I have decided is my favorite. All their wines are sweet and go down easy - no grapes here! Plus the hosts are amazingly friendly. If you go ask for Becky. We actually had the owner serving us this time. He was so knowledgeable and gave us recipes to use all the wines in. The owner is going to publish a cookbook soon. Go here!

Pomona Winery

Pomona Natural Bridge

As we were driving through Pomona we I saw a sign for a Natural Bridge and demanded that we go there. It was a bit of a drive through the forest but totally worth it.

Our evening ended at Pinch Penny Pub where Rock U were playing in the beer garden. All in all it was a great day.