Wine and Dine
Hey!! Hey!! My friends and I are fresh off of our 2nd annual winery trip! Last year we explored Napa Valley and surrounding towns. This year, we had the pleasure of visiting The Willamette Valley. It was everything we had hoped for and then some. Let’s dive into the details of the trip and all the hot spots!
If you get a chance to explore The Willamette Valley, you MUST go through Ralph with Grape Escape. Go to www.grapeescapetours.com and check out everything that they offer. Ralph set up two days of winery touring and the day in between, we headed to the Oregon Coast. We will come back to this. Let’s talk about our first winery day with Ralph. Ralph met us at our VRBO home, which was exceptional. Check out VRBO and find property ID: 1380847. It was the very best house for our crew. Once Ralph arrived at our home, he greeted us with itineraries for the day. He educated us a little on the valley and Oregon and we headed on our way. The first winery was Bells Up. Check them out at bellsupwinery.com. This was one of my favorite wineries. It was a small boutique winery. It is family owned and operated. The family was extremely nice and welcoming. Their wine was incredible, and we had the very best experience with a view to die for! Next, we headed to Trisaetum Winery. If I’m being brutally honest, this was our least favorite. The view was exceptional but the atmosphere was cold and rushed. Let’s skip on over to the Resonance Winery. This was the very best view that we had. The red wine was good but the selfies, group pictures and facetimes to friends and family were even better! We stayed here so long, we were late for our dinner! Speaking of dinner…….WOW! Ralph set us up at Bistro Maison in McMinnville where we STARTED with a full spread of fondue! The food that followed got better with each course! Y’all can’t miss this restaurant!
We had two days packed with wineries, so we decided to hop in our sprinter van that we rented and head to the Oregon Coast. We underestimated the weather and the beauty of the coast! It was FREEZING and the wind was viscous, but still simply beautiful! We enjoyed lunch at the Wayfarer and were seated with the most amazing view. We were staring at Haystack Rock (see pictures below). After lunch we headed straight for the beach for pictures and to see Haystack Rock up close. After taking in all of the glory and wonder of the Pacific Ocean, we shopped until we dropped in Cannon Beach. We found the most unique little shops and bought a little something for everyone back home. Lastly, we explored the Ecola State Park. This was the most beautiful and lush forestry that we had ever seen!! If you get the chance, explore the state park!!! The Oregon coast is very different from what we see here, on the Gulf Coast. If you look one direction, it’s the beach side and the other is glorious mountains with peaks covered in snow! It is a MUST if you are close! The Oregon coast is an experience of a lifetime!
Now…….I know you guys are super interested in the rest of the story….BUT I’m going to continue the “Wine and Dine” series next week!! You guys have to come back for this! The second day of wineries was even better than the first!! Until next time!