Grapefest Weekend

This weekend was Grapefest. One of the biggest surprises I've had down here is that Texans not only grow and produce their own wine... they actually love drinking it too. They love it so much, they dedicate an entire event to doing just that.

Grapefest is basically a huge block party. They shut down an entire street in the middle of Grapevine and turn it into a giant fair – with wine tents and grape stomping activities scattered throughout. Everyone told me that the actual State Fair at the end of the month is triple the size, but this was plenty big enough for me. 

We signed up for the 7pm wine tasting which was (of course) at the complete opposite end of the 2 mile stretch of fair grounds… and we were late. Thankfully, I spent the last few years in Boston, where people can duck and weave through crowds like champions. Even still… by the time we checked in, got our tiny souvenir glasses and started down the path towards the tasting, we were already a half hour behind. It didn’t help that we took a wrong turn at one point on our way and ended up in a behind-the-scenes glass blowing contest. I’m sadly not kidding. We looked like lost tourists, clutching our tasting books and whispering, “How the heck did we end up here?” and “Hmm… This seems wrong." Ya think?

We did, however, finally make it there, and the tasting ended up being a blast. Some of the Texan wine was actually quite good… though, some was not. I distinctly remember one peach wine that I casually poured out onto the grass after the first sip, avoiding all eye contact with the wine producer as I did so. 

After the tasting, we met back up with our group of friends and started the trek back to our car. Along the way, my liquid courage bubbled up a bit... and the next thing I knew, I was standing in a line waiting for “The Zipper”… which was by far the most terrifying carney ride I’ve ever seen. This thing spins around in the air, as your chair flips and flips and flips. I don't know who dared who... but in the end, I was sitting in a tiny caged in seat next to one of the guys in our group, praying that the door of this thing wouldn't fly open in flight. It didn't help that the only thing keeping the door shut was a tiny metal pin. Safe. It also did not help that we were hands down the oldest people on the ride. About two spins in and the ride controller had to stop the entire thing to scold me for holding on to the side of the cage instead of the front... obviously.

To end the night we headed to McFaddens just outside of Dallas to celebrate "Halfway to St. Patty's Day" with green beer and more shamrock shaped decorations that I think all of Boston has in the actual St. Patty's Day parade.

Only in Texas.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Only five more days until I'm back in Boston / Newport for a long (and necessary) weekend away. I absolutely cannot wait! 

Cheers.