good wine, Black Crowes, and Tom Petty

Well, I just got back from a nice little getaway. Ryan took me on little surprise outing on "The Winery Tour" of southern Indiana. We hit seven different wineries in southern Indiana in two days. It was a beautiful trip.

As we left Kokomo on Wednesday, I had no idea where we were going. All I knew was that I wouldn't be coming home that night. Ryan, knowing that I'm a big wine buff, decided that this would be something fun, and romantic to get me away for a couple days. What a sweetheart!!!

I also love to drive, especially in southern Indiana, where we actually have some beautiful land. The rolling hills, the Ohio River, the natural forests, and the caverns in this area have always been areas I love to explore. Driving, along with some good music, is the perfect form of entertainment to me. I have to say, I didn't miss the flatlands of Kokomo much at all.

The Oliver Winery (piture above) was the first we hit, and by far the most touristy. There was a lot to do and see there. The grounds were beautiful. They had georgeous gardens and waterfalls. There was a huge lake with picnic areas all around. It was perfect for being outside, enjoying the beautiful weather, and just sitting back with no worries. I believe that an environment like that and all that fresh air is good therapy for anyone. I felt great when we left there. (I'm sure the wine had something to do with that)

Some of the other wineries were not quite as elaborate, but the wine would have never given that impression. I think my favorite was the Winzerwald Winery. It is placed in the middle o the "Hoosier National Forest" so, of course, it was beautiful. They specialize in mostly German wines, which I was not very familiar with, but my palate was very pleased!!! I definitely spent more money than planned in there :-)

To end my week of fun, I went to the Tom Petty and Black Crowes concert last night. I think we headed to Nobleville underneath the rembrants of the hurricanes. The storms held off most of the night. Chris Robinson blew me away. I love that scratchy voice of his!!! That man kicked some ass on some blues and played some pretty mean harmonica for the crowd. It threw a lot of energy out to all of us braving the storm!

When Tom Petty came out, the skies kept getting darker. That didn't stop any of us though!! We just kept drinking and shaking our asses. We weren't going to let a little rain get us down. Before the rain actually started, we were all in awe over the spectacular lightning show overhead. It was absolutely beautiful!! However, the beauty was short lived. We tried to stay dry under our three dollar panchos as long as we could, but when the rain actually started to hurt, we decided it was time to go.

I think we made it through the majority of the show, but I guess I need to find someone that braved the whole thing to find out for sure.

Once again, good times were had by all...........