this past saturday, i was lucky enough to have a good friend invite me to wine fest in kirtland, ohio. i'd never been before and the idea of throwing down a few cups of ohio's finest viticultural products seemed like a pretty appealing curative for a weekend that had started on an incredibly strong down note. after spending the afternoon at the beach, we got cleaned up and headed over to kirtland, which, unbeknownst to me, is apparently the eastern hub of the mormon empire. i wonder how fond they are of having such a bacchanalian event happening within site of their town. who knows. anyway, it was a beautiful evening and, once i learned that you could avoid the long tasting lines by simply ponying up $5 to buy a full glass of wine, the night just got better and more relaxing. we ate some cheese, drank too much wine, and wandered down to the farm park part of the premises to look at some of the farm animals. the goat you see in the picture has three horns and looked pretty much like something from the cover of a death-metal album. unfortunately, it didn't photograph very well. still, a strong wine buzz plus good company plus farm animals is an almost surefire recipe for fun. the sun set while we sat by the pond, finished off another couple of glasses, and the fest closed up shop. on the way out, a little stand was selling local blueberries which were delicious and reminded me of how great locally grown produce really is. unfortunately, given my level of maturity, they also reminded me of how much f
un throwing blueberries and, anything really, can be. the traffic was bad and i tend to be impatient, so we passed the time trying to throw blueberries into a wine glass on the hood of the truck (and at the occassional car...sorry if i hit yours) until the exit arteries began flowing normally again. the night ended with a trip to a crazy italian restaurant called dino's. attached to a days inn in mentor, it certainly gives a certain faded 70s/e coli outbreak vibe, but the food turned out to be some of the best old-fashioned italian that i've had since eating at a similar place in wildwood, n.j. before the dinner:impossible shoot that just aired a couple of weeks back. overall, it was one of the best nights that i've had in a long time and ended up stretching into a really great weekend where i hadn't expected one. it's funny what you miss when you're looking somewhere else.
un throwing blueberries and, anything really, can be. the traffic was bad and i tend to be impatient, so we passed the time trying to throw blueberries into a wine glass on the hood of the truck (and at the occassional car...sorry if i hit yours) until the exit arteries began flowing normally again. the night ended with a trip to a crazy italian restaurant called dino's. attached to a days inn in mentor, it certainly gives a certain faded 70s/e coli outbreak vibe, but the food turned out to be some of the best old-fashioned italian that i've had since eating at a similar place in wildwood, n.j. before the dinner:impossible shoot that just aired a couple of weeks back. overall, it was one of the best nights that i've had in a long time and ended up stretching into a really great weekend where i hadn't expected one. it's funny what you miss when you're looking somewhere else.
