Most of you all probably saw on social media that I spent the weekend with my hometown/childhood friends! Even though we all went to different colleges and live in different cities we are great about keeping in touch. Truth be told, I actually feel like we’ve grown closer as we have gotten older and matured. I think we’ve started appreciating our realtionships more. We all commented this weekend that our friendships have really helped us get through the hard times, good times, and now we know we can count on each other with anything the future holds! The importance of friends means so much more than it to use. If it wasn’t for these girls we probably wouldn’t all be where we are today!   And let me just say, we have been through it all!  literally!!

Since we’re all slowly settling into adulthood we’ve decided to make it a tradition to do a girls getaway once a year!  We started our 1st one off with wine, personalized tees, and lots of fun memories!

Let me introduce them to you all! From right to left, we have Mikaela, me, Taylor & Lindsay! I met Mikaela in middle school.  We use to keep this purple notebook and pass notes back and forth in it! I found it the other day and started laughing at some of the things we use to write each other!  I’ve known Taylor since I was little! She grew up coming to my bday parties, then we ended up getting close again in high school.  Every time I think of Tay I remember her sleeping over and always calling dibs on ‘the cloud blanket’. It’s this blue, fluffy comforter that my friends use to fight over. Tay always ended up getting it though (even when she ding dong ditched my neighbor and they came after my dad.. she probably slept with it that night).  And last but not least, Lindsay.  Or L.C. as we call her. I went to elementary, middle, and high school with her!  Growing up I would call her every single morning before school.. then after school I would ride my golf cart to her house (perks of living by one another). We’ve been through it all together.. halloween trick-or-treating, trips to KYA/Kuna, soccer, boyfriends, student ambassador, family vacays, and etc.

Most all of my hometown memories have these girls in them!! Love them all so much!
Keep scrolling to see some pics/details of the vineyards we visited and wines we tried!

We started the wine trail off at Starview. We tried 5 different wines but agreed the Sangria’s were the best! I also got a message from someone saying they have great slushies!  We were going to try one but we wanted to pace ourselves!

Next up we stopped at Alto Vineyards.  I tried the Black N Blush (my friends fav), Cherry Berry (very very sweet and tastes like cherries), Chambourcin, and two others.  I actually liked the Chambourcin because it was a red, dry wine! Right up my alley!

We didn’t plan on stopping at Von Jakob but since we were so close we figured we might as well.  Honestly don’t remember what all we tried because we just kept passing them around.  This was a winery we were in and out of in no time!  Still good though!

Our fourth vineyard on the trail was Owl Creek. I was more interested in the ciders here!  They had two seasonal ones (pictured beside the pretzel bites) & we all tasted each others!  We ended up sitting at Owl Creek, talking, until we realized half our day was gone!  I think I remember this one the most because we were really enjoying each others company and the ciders!

We ended the day at Blue Sky! I ordered a red bottle with Lindsay and we munched on cheese! This was a beautiful venue, inside and out! Definitely recommend stopping by there!

Overall, I think the Shawnee, Illinois wine trail has quite a few vineyards. We visited about half of them. I really want to go back and finish the trail just to say I did it and try out the rest of the wines! If you have ever been please share any recommendations you have or what you loved about it!

(To my girls: M-kk, Tay, & L.C.- I love you all and can’t wait for our next girls trips!!!)