wine to your motha

For those looking for a getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city to sip America's finest - a wacky (and I used that word lightly until yesterday) tour operator offers bus tours up to the Hudson Valley vineyards.  Despite popular belief and contest from the West Coast and Long Island, upstate New York is home to America's oldest vineyards and wineries - not to mention award winning blends.  Yesterday my friends and I treated our mothers to a wine bus tour ...


Twenty women from all corners of the tri-state area (friends, their mothers, aunts and sisters) hopped on The Little Wine Bus and headed up to Hudson Valley vineyards for some wine tasting in celebration of Mother's Day. Compared to the last time I took the LWB, there was a little more education and not enough 'tasting'. [Last time I had taken the tour we played catchphrase on a cliff and karaoke'd the whole ride home before a friend faceplanted in the middle of 9th Avenue]. 


We would have been much better off if we were a few more bottles deep when the "Little Wine Bus" proved to be the "Little Wine Bust" - breaking down on the way to the last vineyard.

Luckily there was enough sour cream + onion chips and electronic catchphrase to keep (most of) us happy until the taxis arrived.  Two hours later - a caravan of yellow cabs, a scenic route through Hicktown, NY and a dust storm, along with a driver that was hitting on my mother (read text msg: "ew mom, I think he's hitting on you" "if he touches me i'm going to SCREAM") - we made it to the last winery. Dismissing proper steps for wine sipping learned that morning, we knocked back about seven glasses of local blends and ciders, hoarded onto the bus after a LONG, LONG day ... and headed back to NYC.


Despite the detour and delay, it was a great way to spend a day with my mom and friends. 
Happy Mother's Day.
-HMOH