Thelma & Louise's "NO Labor Today" Road Trip - Part Deux

In Part 1 of Thelma & Louise's "NO Labor Today" Road Trip, Louise was feeling down in the dumps following a hard week of work.  To make matters worse, she was downright miffed when the beach we wanted to visit was packed to the gills (and gulls!) when we got there.  We were able to turn the day around by visiting St. Julian Winery Tasting Room (Union Pier, Michigan).  Because, if the beach wasn't available to lift Thelma & Louise's spirits, wine would do the trick. And if one tasting room was good, well two would make it even better.

The Laguna Blue SUV wasn't too far down the road before Louise saw another winery sign on the highway.  A quick exit to the right, and we were on our way toward Shady Creek Winery (www.shadycreekwinery.com) in Michigan City, Indiana. It was a little off the highway, but not so far that we got lost (a pet-peeve of Thelma's)!  There was a big, rustic barn and cars parked in the grass. That reminded us of a down-home party with our kinfolk, and it looked like a place to have a great time.

The front porch of the winery had rockers, chairs and benches to welcome folks, just like on the family farm. Louise especially liked the ones painted in purty beach colors and had to take a picture. (She wanted to load it up into the back of the Laguna Blue SUV, but that idea was given the kabbosh but real quick!)





When we stepped inside that big ol' building, our mouths dropped wide open - Heavens to Betsy! It was goll-darn beautiful in that place! It looked nothing like the barns back home. Thelma whipped out her camera and started clicking away. Whoo-wee, it was gor-gee-full with lots of glass and wood, and it was decorated real nice with art from local folks.

To top it all off, we got real lucky 'cuz there was a nice fella there pickin' on his guitar and singin' like a bird.  He sang some of the favorites of the wine-drinkers, and many were singing along.  (Louise, silly woman that she is, especially liked the fella's 'friend' and had to take a picture of him. We just hoped that critter's pose wasn't his opinion of that picker!)

Another lucky break was getting to partake in their tasting special of sampling five wines (instead of four) for free! Since Louise was feeling sad about missing out on the beach, it seemed right nice that Shady Creek Winery had a lot of their wines named for beachy things.  They have Rip Tide (red), Beach Glass (dry white), Sandy Feet (semi-dry white), White Caps (sweet, fruity blend), and Red Horizon (semi-sweet red blend).  Those wine names cheered Louise up almost as much as what was inside them there bottles!

Louise enjoying her wine

After we had finished on our samples, we each purchased a glass of wine.  Now, maybe it was just the day, but Louise - usually a red wine drinker - ended up with a white wine (Beach Glass) and Thelma - usually a white wine drinker - had a red wine (Red Horizon). Things were a little topsy-turvy that day, we reckoned! And it was mighty nice that they had $10 "Perfect Pairing Plates" for two (say that fast three times after having a few glasses of wine!) for folks to purchase while they drank their wine. We settled on the brie with an ice wine sauce and warm french bread (you know how Louise likes to feel oh-la-la with her French things!  She was feeling mighty fancy, for sure).

Busy Sunday crowd enjoying
good wine and music

So, we wandered upstairs to enjoy our wine.  Our friendly tasting expert delivered our plate of goodies, which was just like they said - perfect with our delicious wines. We listened to that picker playing his tunes, and we did a little people-watching. That balcony was a good place to see what folks were doing downstairs. From what we saw, lots of fun people had decided to visit that day.

We saw folks going out back and noticed that they had a patio and a screened porch out there. Louise was still hankerin' to have some sunshine on her face, so we headed out to the patio to finish our wine.  It was relaxing out there, and we liked the pond that had a fountain right in the middle of it. (It looked like a good fishing-hole like Thelma's grandma had back home.)

We finished our visit by buying Thelma's favorite, Red Horizon, for the fridge back home and headed back to the highway.  But the day wasn't over...not by a long-shot!  Thelma had a surprise in store for Louise.  What would it be?  Would Louise be pleased as punch?