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Monday, August 25, 2008

Water and Wine

Being that the weather has kept us from doing our usual weekend outdoor excursions for the past couple of weeks, Adam and I woke up early on Sunday with one thought" BEACH!!". Horseneck Beach in Westport, MA specifically. I spent many days at this beach as a child and introduced it to Adam a few years ago. Ever since then it has been one of our favorites.

We left the apartment at 8AM since it takes about an hour to get down to Westport and we wanted to secure a good spot. It was cloudy and kind of foggy when we left but, trusting in the forecast (which I know is often a sad mistake) we pressed on and as we drew closer to Westport the clouds lifted and the sun shone and we got pumped.

The beach is located on a beautiful reservation and as you approach the actual beach you have these views out the car window.



Then once you arrive and park, you have this view as you boardwalk it to the beach.



The weather was perfect and we were there early enough that we could enjoy some time with just a few other people on the beach.

The nice thing about Horseneck is there are actual waves. If you are at all good at body surfing, you can definitely get into it. I am good at looking like I am about to body surf and then getting sucked under and thrown into the sand but that can be fun too. In any case it's easy to just jump or swim over the waves if you go out a little further before they start breaking. The other nice thing about this beach is you can walk out quite far into the water and still not be over your head.

I love me some beach!



We hung around until 1 or so and since my complexion (and Adam's) is such that we pink up fairly quickly even, it seems, with repeated SPF applications we packed it in in search of a place to have lunch.

The first place we checked out, a charming place called The Back Eddy located a few miles down the street, was quite nice. Actually too nice. We took one look at the other patrons in their crisp polos and linen dresses, and ourselves (me in my bathing suit and cover up, Adam in his swim trunks and Incredible Hulk tee) and decided this place was not really for us at this stage of the day. We were more in the mindset of fried clams and fries, not oysters rockerfeller and toast points.

Moving on.

We headed back towards the beach but this time drove past it into super cute Westport. Once you get out of the beach area you immediately hit farm area and pass miles and miles of cornfields.



Presently, I caught something out of the corner of my eye



Did you say WINERY? Them's magic words!

I had heard of the Westport Rivers Winery (my parents had encouraged us to check it out a few times) but had never gone. The fact that they were just opening for the day as we pulled in felt like fate and so we went into the main building to check out what they had.

One of the first things we saw was this sign



Wine Tasting? More magic words! We signed up for the next tasting and got to enjoy a nice selection of their locally made wines all of which were DELICIOUS.



Our favorites were the Imperial Sec (sparkling) , the Cabernet (a surprise!) and Chardonnay and on the way out we were sure to pick some up. It was nice to sample some new wines, and to support a local business. The views weren't too shabby either.



Westport Rivers Winery is the largest winery in New England. They offer tours of their vineyards, tasting classes and special wine dinners from time to time. If you are ever looking for something to do and you live in the area, it is worth the trip down for the day. You could even pick up some nice cheese, do the whole winery tour and pick up a bottle or two and have yourself a little vineyard picnic! Get directions here.

Anyway it was the perfect day to spend the day and we capped it off by cracking open the cabernet and having along with a delicious dinner of balsamic and garlic marinated steak tips and wilted spinach. I look forward to cracking open the Chardonnay later this week and having it with some citrus grilled chicken!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so jealous. I wish I had your weekend so bad, you have no idea. Wanna know what I got to do? Back-to-back baby then wedding showers...both Saturday AND Sunday. Oh. My. God.
And as an aside - I finally started blogging again. I know it's been ages, but I have valid reasons, honestly! (o:

Jennifer said...

I've been trying to plan a wine tasting with the Boyfriend since last Christmas. We may just make the extra long trip and hit up your weekend locale! Thanks for the great tip :)

Sarah said...

yay Nicky! Welcome back!

SIB - You might be interested in the Coastal Wine Tour. It's basically a self guided tour of wineries from Truro, MA (the Cape) to Rhode Island. You can see them all in a few days, stay at B&Bs along the way. Here is the website http://www.coastalwinetrail.com/.

Miss A said...

What a weekend! And that beach is absolutely picturesque!

I love going on cloudy days. When I was on vacation last year, my cousin and her family went to a small town 25 minutes from where she lived to a water park. Granted this "water" park was nothing but a large pool with one waterslide and a bunch of cool water poles for kids... the sky was cloudy and the wind was a tad cool, but there was no one there. We had the place to ourself and it was beautiful.

On the way back there was nothing but cornfields lining the highway. I took tons of pictures. I love things like that.

Anonymous said...

I live in Westport (and work in Boston, how's that for a lovely commute?) and the Back Eddy would've let you in...it's only half as pretentious as it looks haha! Anyway the food is good, but very spendy as you probably saw! The Bayside is a good little restaurant right near the beach. It's a little overpriced, but not bad.
Anyway glad you had fun in Westport! (most people think Conneticut when I say where I live)

Sarah said...

Oh I am jealous of you living in Westport - what a cute area! I should have mentioned that The Back Eddy did let us in and the hostess was as nice as can be...it was just not really what we had in mind for a casual lunch. I would definitely go back there for a nice dinner on the ocean though it looked like a nice spot!

Greens and Pinks said...

I'm psyched that these New England wineries are so awesome. Have you been to Nashoba Valley Winery in Bolton? We love it - you should def. check it out - wine tastings, orchard, little pond and they sell cheese - so, so fab.

Sarah said...

I know, right? New England rules. I have not tried out Nashoba but I plan to this fall, thanks for the tip! Also, Flag Hill in Lee NH is super cute
http://ilookgood.blogspot.com/2006/05/i-feel-fairly-confident-that-if-i-tell.html

Rebecca Jill said...

I'm almost positive my sister and brother-in-law visited the Westport Winery when they were in New England about 5 years ago this fall. We're big into wine and love our local wineries here in the Triangle are of North Carolina.
The winery was such a serendipitous find for y'all. Yay!

Stacey said...

I love that you two go in search of lunch and end up with a wine lunch. :)

Lys said...

Fab pics and now you are making me seriously homesick for New England... and I NEVER say that :(