"A hint of grapes"

It was one of those gorgeous fall weekends in Michigan.  And that even includes a crazy storm early Saturday morning that woke everyone in the house up.  It was all so fitting considering it was the weekend before Halloween.  10 of us packed up and headed up to Traverse City for Kristen's bachelorette wine weekend getaway.  

After a week full of rapid strep tests, urgent care visits, and two days off of work, I made a last minute decision to stick with my plans to go up north.  I had been on meds for 24 hours, was feeling much better, and was surprised to get my blessing from Scott to leave him with the boys for the whole weekend.  I figured chances like this don't come around too often, grabbed my belongings, and got on the road as soon as possible.  6.5 hours later (rush hour + stopping for food + a 4.5 hour drive normally) and we arrived.  Mind you it was 11:30pm, crazy windy outside, and the house was set back in the woods on a lake.  Perfect setting for a horror movie.  #iwatchtoomanyscarymovies

We wasted no time dropping the bags off in our rooms and cracking open a few more bottles of wine.  We had some catching up to do to the other 6 girls who arrived earlier that day.  A dance party in the kitchen, a few rounds of Ellen's "Heads Up" game, and several empty bottles of wine later, we called it a night at 2am.

Saturday morning we were all awoken by the vicious storm.  But, the clouds parted and we were graced with some sporadic bouts of sunshine.  We all bundled up in some warm sweaters and boots, ate a quick breakfast, and hopped in the party bus to hit the wineries on Leelanau Penninsula.

It's truly all about who you know.  It just so happened that one of the girl's on the trip's architecture firm is doing work for the Brengman Brother's winery.  So, yup, we got the hook-up.  A private wine tour inside and outside and many bottles of wine both in the bottle and in the barrels were opened and shared.  While I can't say that the wine trivia was the most fascinating to me, I enjoyed seeing things behind the scenes.

Our short stop ended up being close to a 3 hour visit at Brengman Brother's, so we boarded the bus again and headed to Chateau de Leelanau for some more tastings and lunch.  The lunch was quite the fiasco, but was much needed for many of us.  We were ready for more wine!

One last stop at L. Mawby for some sparkling wines and dressed up employees in their Halloween outfits and our time ran out with the party bus.  We headed back for some relaxation and much needed naps.  We decided to order pizza in and hang out at the house Saturday evening.  After all, we had bachelorette gifts to open and a penis cake to devour.

We ended the night with several rounds of Mad Gab and Cards Against Humanity.  Seriously, both of those games are going on my Christmas list this year.  They were so much fun!  Although...I don't think I'd play Cards Against Humanity with my family.  It's a little raunchy...

Sunday morning we hit the road anxious to get home to our families and normal Sunday funday activities like laundry and grocery shopping.  It was a great little getaway and I can finally say I saw up north in the fall.  But, man, there's nothing like pulling in the driveway and having your 3 year old run out of the house and into your arms.  Maybe I should leave more often for moments like that...

My little ham at my parents' house a few weeks ago...

Such a serious, passionate guy...