Winery Visits

We had a lovely time this past Saturday, August 11, at a new 12 Sisters Winery in Dillard, Georgia. We started out our day at Annette’s Café by eating a great lunch. Jeff had the chicken fried steak, collard greens and a salad. I had the country fried steak sandwich with squash. I had made a small carrot cake the day before to bring a piece to the waiter named Kenneth. He loved the wacky cake I had made Jeff on his birthday and Jeff told him that I make a “mean” carrot cake. So we took a piece to him and he was very appreciative of it. After lunch, we headed to the winery. Apparently from 1 to 4 PM that day, three wineries in Rabun County were offering a sampling of their wines. We chose the 12 Sisters Winery since it was their grand opening. The place was very nice with beautiful views.

    

They have a small shop inside a barn that had a beautiful bar area. We paid $5.00 to sample up to four wines and we got to keep the glass. All of their wines are dry except for one which is slightly sweet. Since I don’t like dry wines I told the server to give me the slightly sweet one. It was a nice wine but not something I would buy. Jeff tried the dry rose type and he didn’t like it. Then he tried the same wine as I did and felt the same way about it. It was OK but definitely not one we would buy. We sat outside under a table umbrella and enjoyed the scenery.

   

They had a canopy with seating under it plus a couple of chairs out in the open. The temperature was in the low 80’s and the place was not crowded. As a matter of fact, we saw more people who worked there than customers while we were there. We did find out from our server that she lived in the Forest Hills section of Tampa and her children graduated from Chamberlain High School. As we were leaving we spoke with one of the graduates and she was there when Jeff was an Assistant Principal, but she didn’t remember him. The other graduated after Jeff left Chamberlain for Riverview in 2001.  Needless to say, we won’t be going back to the winery since we didn’t really enjoy the wines. Their price for a bottle was $14.00 which wasn’t too bad a price. You just need to love dry wines.

We traveled to South Carolina on Monday, August 13, for Jeff’s 11:45 appointment at Lab Corp. Since he has his six month check-up in Valrico on August 23, he needed to get his lab work done up here so the results would be to his doctor when Jeff arrives for his appointment. What a challenge it was to find a Lab Corp business in this NE Georgia mountains area. There was one in Hiawassee, GA, but we think that was at the hospital, so we ruled that one out. The one in Seneca, South Carolina, was only an hour away. We had not been to that area for over 11 years, so it was a great trip. We left at 9:20 and got there at 10:25. As we were going through Seneca we noticed that there were many chain restaurants, retail stores and of course a Super Wal-Mart. The place was very nice! We went to the Lab Corp first in hopes of maybe getting in before the appointment time since we were early. Jeff took one step in and noticed the place was packed. He decided to wait until his appointment time. So we headed back on the By Pass 123 road and stopped at Pet Smart. We had Kozmo with us, of course, and she stayed in the truck with Jeff while I shopped for her. I picked up some new dog food for her since she got tired of the Rachel Ray food she had been eating for a month. I also got her something called Boo Bars, a snack treat, which has pumpkin and cinnamon in it. She loves it! It is made by Blue Buffalo. After shopping there we went to the Bank of America. The Bank of America that is closest to us is in Highlands, North Carolina, which is about a half hour away. This bank is beautiful and I could tell it is brand new. There was no waiting line and the people were very friendly. By the time that task was done we headed back to Lab Corp and got there at 11:17. Jeff came back out at 12:10. Apparently there was only one technician working in there. She had to sign people in, and then take them back on an individual basis to draw their blood. Jeff inquired and found that the other person who usually works there had broken her hand over the weekend, so this lady was on her own. Poor thing! Jeff said she was already tired by noon but was very friendly and upbeat. We will definitely go back there when blood work has to be done again while we are here in Dillard.

Since Jeff had to fast for his blood work to be done, we headed to get something to eat. We wanted to eat at Chick Fil-A but I could not believe the lines inside and out. So we headed down the road to Zaxbys. The food is always good at any Zaxbys that we have visited.

After lunch, we headed back towards Dillard. On the way back we stopped in Long Creek, South Carolina, at another winery called Chatooga Belle Farm. This place is outstanding! The views are magnificent! See for yourselves.

   

They have a small “farm” store inside a gigantic new barn. They have been here for three years and the place is immaculate. We bought two wines. One is a muscadine and the other is a scuppernong. Since they are dog friendly we walked Kozmo around the premises and sat down and just enjoyed the view.

   

The temperature was about 79 degrees and very comfortable. Apples are in season and although they had some there we opted to not get any this time. They had fresh raspberries you could pick yourselves as well. The place can also be rented for events like weddings, parties etc. We tried the muscadine wine last night and it was quite good! The price on it was $16 and we would definitely go back there and buy some. They also had some canned vegetables, jellies, ciders, souvenir items and literature about the area.

Well, as much as we dread the thought of it, we are headed to Valrico this coming Sunday and will stay there about 4 – 5 nights. It is time for Jeff’s six month check-up. We are not looking forward to the humidity in Florida this time of year. But, I will be able to see my great friend Linda while we are there and probably have some house cleaning to do while we are there.

‘Til next time…