mo wine please

one of our favorite things to do is explore local missouri (and a few kansas) wineries. i like how you can get to know the winemakers, see the facilities, and get generous free samplings at the places around here. most are actually kid-friendly, but it really makes for a better date outing without the munchkin.





wineries we've visited:

jowler creek - a newer winery off the beaten path, but i'm so glad we found it after two tries. it's owned by a nice young couple with two little ones, so they are very kid-friendly. jowler creek wine is my favorite missouri wine because they really know what they're doing. she grew up in sideways country in california and took viticulture classes in college; he grew up a farmer. match made in winery heaven. try the critter cuvée and butterfly blush.

=> side note: work actually took me once to solvang (one of the sideways towns) where i was able to do a tasting at lucas & lewellen. luke broke my glass from there, so he needs to take me back someday to replace it, right?

riverwood - my second favorite, riverwood is in an old schoolhouse next to some bluffs and railroad tracks north of weston. very nice people here too. love their blush of innocence.

fence stile - we ventured to this newer winery out in the sticks of excelsior springs during a nascar rain delay. we took e along, and after he got carsick on the rolling hills, the lady pouring wine offered him some nice sparkling grape juice which he drank down in two gulps. very pretty and quiet, with a pond next to their grapevines.

pirtle - in an old church in weston, pirtle has been around for as long as my wine memory goes back. a picnic basket and bottle in their shady garden makes for the perfect date. this is where i first fell in love with missouri wineries. their chardonel is the best.

holy-field - a nice kansas family winery that's been around for a while. we try to stop by whenever we visit legends at village west or kansas speedway. love the sunset blush.

wine barn - a newer kansas winery owned by two neighboring couples. sal was our wineaux for the day. huge free tasting (see below), and sal will pour you some more from his private stock if you chat him up. we went home with an armload of bottles.

still on the "to-taste" list:

van till farms

inland sea

hermann wine trail

and many more..

maybe someday we'll make it to napa or tuscany, but for now i'm happy to have my missouri wines.

tommy

do you ever run into a certain someone all. the. time? maybe it's someone you know, maybe it's a stranger.



well i keep running into this guy and it's starting to drive me crazy. i don't know him, but i'm fairly certain we went to college together.



the first time i ran into him was several years ago. i was in a gym class in my office building and we were running in the stairwell. he was coming down as i was going up and i said, "isn't your name tommy?" he just said no, looked at me weird and continued on his way. well what i should've said was "didn't you go to truman?" because that's where i know him from - i think.



the awkwardness continued since several times after that when i'd run into him in the building. awkward because he'll just stare at me. i'll give a friendly smile, but nothing in return. no smile, no hello, just a stare.



then it progressed to day care. apparently we have the same work schedule because he would drop off his kid at day care the same time i drop off e, i would follow him to work, into the same parking garage and into adjacent office buildings. some evenings we would drive back together. this is ridiculous.



i got used to walking past him about once a week over the lunch hour.



then i take a vacation day to see top chef on tour when it came the kc and there he was again!



then i saw him on the trail by my house. i said hello this time with nothing in return. maybe he has social anxiety?



then about two weeks ago i saw him at the grocery store. that day i was not in the mood. i had no makeup on and hadn't washed my hair in two days. we go to grab our carts at the same time and intersect about five times down the produce aisle. i say screw it and head straight for dairy. didn't work. i see him about six more times before i can check out and get the hell out of there.



saw him yesterday at lunch. saw him this morning in the parking garage. not a smile, not a hello.



one of these days i swear i'm just going to say "dude, really, we see each other everywhere."



guess it could be worse. could be someone you drunkenly made out with at a party. or an old boss. or both. guess i'm glad i have my tommy.