Time for a break from yard work......Wine Time

Denny and I have been doing lots of house projects...earlier this year was inside stuff. Since May 1 has been outside...painting the house and with that comes lots of other stuff. As it is finishing up it's been time for us to get the areas close to the house back in shape. Like, we spent lots of time unburying down-spouts and moving a brick border....whew....it's looking good, but time for a break.

Once again the Groupon in me was ready to go....this time to a winery in St. Pete.
We talked Dan and Cheryl into going....they picked us up around 11a and we headed north....was an easy 1hr drive. All the wine here is made from fruit juice not grapes....interesting.
They did have one grape wine, muscadine...not my fav. They had a few dry wines, most were on the sweet side. They offered sparkling and something we'd never heard of...wine slushie!!
We started with a tour. They don't juice here they juice in another location and bring it here to be put in stainless steel barrels for "making". Unlike grape made wine, they don't want the wood taste of wood barrels...so they use stainless. We were not allowed to take pictures on the tour...sorry. After the juice is wine....they also bottle at this location. We learned this had started as a fruit and juice stand. The owners had one customer that would come and buy LOTS of juice...they asked him why, and he said to make wine....they hired him...and the wine business was born. The couple that owned it happened to be there and it was a delight to chat with them. Turns out they come EVERY day....dedication....but they have a great business.

After the tour we moved on to the tastings......

A really cool way to keep the bubbly in the sparkling and keep it cool.....

Dan and Cheryl waiting on the next tasting choice....

We got 2 wine glasses....one was stemed the other was not...the bottom says..."Finally wines that taste good".....too funny.

I'll admit I enjoyed these, but not giving up the grape wines.....no way!!!

I really enjoyed my tastings...which lead to several purchases!!!

Pondering...what do I try next???

Part of the Groupon was a glass of wine or a slushie at the end....we were split on what we got, and we enjoyed both. 

Next was the shopping....though the Groupon got us several goodies, incuding a bottle of wine, we still bought a few more, had to have the ingredients to make those wine slushies!! Add just maybe we'll add a little rum...we'll see. 

We were all hungry so was time to head for John's Pass area....a great boardwalk and shopping area on the water. We decided on Bubba Gump's for our late lunch, early dinner....otherwise known as Linner!!

We enjoed the gumbo and their version of a hushpuppy...had crabmeat in it...to start. Then my shrimp dinner was great...and the others seemed to enjoy their's as well. We sat outside, was delightful.

Thought we needed this glass for our collection....I think a wine slushie would be yummy out of this!!!

We headed back home, but decided to cruise an area called Pass-a-grille.....a small area, somewhat old Florida with a twist of new mixed in. Enjoyed seeing an area we hadn't seen before. That's what exploring Saturday's are all about.

Got home about 7p and relaxed on the couch....thanks for a fun day guys, we'll do it again. Next time, maybe head south to our fav.... Captiva!!!!

And....I always have a new Groupon to try!!!!