For some people the first sure sign of spring is seeing a robin. For others it's a patch of crocus peeking through the ground. For me, it's having friends and family gathered at my house about to embark on our yearly tradition...Lehigh Valley Wine Trail's March Madness Passport Program.
Friday night I pulled the pile of passports out of the drawer where they had been stored since Thanksgiving, then set out my wine socks, bracelet, earrings and pins. I've waited all year for this and I was READY!
Saturday morning everyone arrived right on time. You would think we were little kids on Christmas morning! The women were comparing what wine related items they were wearing and the men were making fun of us. We decided who was driving and set out.
The March Madness event is all the weekends in March and a lot of people like to spread it out. We now do four wineries on Saturday and the remaining five on Sunday. The out-of-towners in our group stay at the Historic Hotel Bethlehem, turning their weekend into a mini vacation.
The wine and food pairings are always enjoyable...this year was no exception. Luckily I already have LVWT's cookbook so I can recreate most of their offerings at home.
Saturday night we had dinner at Miguel's (new name for Cafe del Mar) in Nazareth. The service was great, even though we were a party of ten, and everyone raved about their meals. Our neighbors, John & Linda hosted dessert at their house, although by that time I really wasn't hungry and only wanted coffee.
I was sad Sunday afternoon as we finished the last winery knowing we were just hugs and kisses away from March Madness being over, but happy to have enjoyed two days of driving around the beautiful Lehigh Valley sharing lots of laughs.
Now I have 21 bottles of wine in our wine rack, two commemorative trivets, and eleven months to wait until we do it all again.
What is your favorite Lehigh Valley Wine Trail Event?