Monday, May 14, 2012

grapehounds

Grapehounds 2012
Wine and greyhounds are two things in life that make me infinitely happy, so I was pretty excited that we finally got to attend Grapehounds this year. It was a beautiful weekend to check out Virginia wineries and it was even more fun since we got to bring Gravy with us while supporting greyhound rescue.

Six wineries in the Leesburg area were participating in the event, and Larry, Gravy, and I were able to taste wines at four of them: Lost Creek, Hidden Brook, Willowcroft, and Quattro Goombas.
Grapehounds 2012
Grapehounds 2012
I learned that it is darn near impossible to take a decent photo when you have a leash in one hand and a wine glass in the other. It is even harder if you are also toting some wine bottle purchases, and maybe a couple of fried catfish sandwiches and an order of hush puppies. Once the wines from the tastings hit your bloodstream, camera operation becomes even more challenging...

And those are my excuses for the sub-par quality of the day's photos...
Grapehounds 2012
(Notice the sweet little girl pup who squeezed in between my two boys for some lovin'. That's my favorite place to be, too!)
Grapehounds 2012
It was so fun to see the tasting rooms full of greyhounds. I think greyhounds are the only breed where you could have a room full of dogs co-existing so peacefully. A lot of greyhounds are leaners, and I loved sipping my wine and looking down to find several greyhounds leaning up against me!

Also, if you look closely, you might notice a couple of funny-looking greyhounds...
Grapehounds 2012
Grapehounds 2012
"Hey, who let the short guy in here?"

Grapehounds 2012
Gravy was happy to have some one-on-one time with us without his pesky little brother tagging along. He was definitely not shy about making himself comfortable wherever we went. While we sampled the wines, he sampled the floors and had a mid-afternoon snooze on the floor of each tasting room:
Grapehounds 2012
He also got to sniff some butts. The finer things in life for both dogs and peeps: butts for the canines, vino for the humans!
Grapehounds 2012
Grapehounds 2012
Grapehounds 2012
"Driver, take me to the next winery! And if you don't mind, please keep it quiet until we reach our destination - I need to catch a little shut eye..."
Grapehounds 2012
Grapehounds 2012
Grapehounds 2012
After a great day, we made it home with ten bottles of wine and one tired puppy. The three of us had a fantastic time, and since we learned that many of the wineries are dog-friendly all the time, we're looking forward to spending summer weekends sipping wine in the mountains with friends and pups. Who's in?

5 comments:

Mike Kirkpatrick said...

I'm in. Just let me know when.

Brandi said...

Thank goodness I'm muted on my conference call right now because that imposter photo made me burst into laughter. LOVE that.

I don't have a pup, but I'm happy to tag along on any outdoor adventures.

Michael Wurm Jr said...

So when I saw this tweet the other day I assumed you were joking or made a clever spelling error.

This is totally awesome.

And, like Brandi, the impostor comment seriously made me laugh out loud. Too perfect.

Funnelcloud Rachel said...

Brandi & Michael - Those little dachshunds cracked me up, too. I grew up with dachshunds, so it was extra funny to me to see the wiener dogs standing under the greyhounds for shade!

Brandi - Yes, definitely tag along - even if you're not a wine drinker, lots of people brought picnics and hung out on the winery grounds enjoying good wine, food, and views!

Shari said...

Just learned of your blog, and I love it! Your pictures are great! Of course, Gravy is such a super handsome guy. I read your 3 years with Gravy post. I can't wait to get there. My husband and I adopted Hazel this past February. I relate with the becoming a "greyhound person". It is funny how other greyhound people search each other out- whether on the web, just driving by in your car, on walks, etc. Thank you for sharing!
Shari (hazelgreyhound.blogspot.com)