We got up early this morning to start our road trip to Dubuque (one of our all time favorite cities to visit). We had planned to make a number of stops (popcorn store and then various wineries) on our way to Dubuque.
Our first stop was Rural Route 1 Popcorn. If you love popcorn (as my husband does) than this is the place for you. They have a huge variety of flavored popcorns (already popped) along with everything you need to make good popcorn at home (popcorn seeds, coconut oil, seasons, popcorn makers, etc.). They also have quite a large gift shop with all kinds of odds and ends.
Next on our list was four different wineries. Here is some info on each.
Spurgeon Vineyards & Winery near Highland, WI: This winery offered tastings for free and had quite a few wines I enjoyed. Most of the wines are on the sweeter end but they did have a good chardonnay and had quite a few really good fruit wines. The woman running the shop even convinced my husband (who doesn't drink wine) to try a few.
Whispering Winds Winery near Fennimore, WI: This is a winery I would not visit again. They did offer a free wine tasting but the owner was not very personable and not really interested in talking about his wines. The wines also were not of the same caliber as the wines I tasted at the other wineries.
Bauer-Kearns Winery near Platteville, WI: This winery offered tastings for a fee of $3.50 (the reasoning for the fee is that the owners found that a lot of college students would show up for a free tasting and then not purchase anything). It is an estate winery meaning that all their wines are made with grapes they grow themselves. Contrary to many wineries in the area, they had a fair number of drier wines including some reds.
Sinnipee Valley Vineyard & Winery near Kieler, WI: We almost didn't stop here as it was raining and we were both tired but I am so glad we did. This winery also offers free wine tastings. They grow all of their own grapes although also make a few non-grape wines. Their cranberry wine is excellent if you like a tart cranberry wine.
After our winery visits we headed to Dubuque to check into our hotel, the Super 8 in Dubuque. The hotel was very nice especially for the price we paid and it included a limited breakfast. Once it stopped raining, we went to check out Taste of Dubuque (an annual festival which includes local restaurants and music). We were greatly disappointed in the number of vendors and didn't stay long.
We decided to eat supper at Los Aztecas (in the same parking lot of our hotel) and unfortunately were disappointed. The salsa wasn't bad but nothing special and the chips were really thick. My husband said his meal wasn't bad (although nothing special) but mine was lacking flavor.
No comments:
Post a Comment