First, we slept in. No alarm, no people or dogs waking us up, so the day started out nice just because of that. I have been exhausted for the past probably two months...ever since moving Mom and Curt to Winona in early May, and then Mom being in the hospital for 3 weeks until she finally left us, and by finally I mean it was totally unexpected in the big picture of things. I'm having all kinds of feelings about it, but that is a post for another day. Right now, I want to focus on today and how wonderful and relaxing it has been!
Once we got done with our showers and Vince got home from the post office with my mother in a box and I got done crying about it (also a post for another day), we left for one of our favorite local destinations...Cabin Coffee in St. Charles. Best coffee evah!! My husband and I sat on the log furniture, ate our breakfast, sipped our coffee and talked. It was very sweet and therapeutic...no rush to be somewhere, and no guilt about not doing something for someone else. I finally began to feel normal again.
After that, we were off to make a couple stops in Winona and then on to the main destination of the day...Elmaro Winery! It's been around for a couple years and we've heard so many awesome things about it. Today was the first time we went and it...was...fantastical!!! As we drove the country road that led to the vineyard, we both commented about how it reminded us of Door County...the trees lining the county road, and the beautiful homes and landscaping tucked away behind them. I felt myself relax already. Vince had pre-arranged a picnic basket for us, which we enjoyed on the patio. The view was beautiful, the weather was perfect, and live music from a couple playing guitar and djimba added to the ambience. We enjoyed a bottle of wine, some sausage and cheeses, and each other. It was a little slice of paradise on earth.
I think we could go to this place every weekend and never get tired of it. After our picnic we went to the wine tasting tent - something we have come to LOVE to do together. There was not one single wine that we tried that we didn't like...best wine tasting experience to date, and that's saying a lot because we have probably been to a dozen other wineries between here and Door County. And to make the experience even better...THIS girl was our wine expert :)
This is Kari, one of my bestest friends since our early teens, and also the person responsible for hooking us up, so we can either thank her or blame her depending on the day - ha! Just kidding, I am forever grateful that God used her to bring Mr. Wonderful and I and all our wacky and wonderful kids together :)
So after forcing ourselves to leave this place, we made a stop at this new yogurt place in Winona called "Nate and Ally's", because we hadn't had enough treats for the day. Super cute place. Then, the last stop on our date day was to go to the movies and see what I have been waiting for MONTHS to see........"Finding Dory"!!! It was as great as I had hoped.
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