DAY 12: 12 TASTES TO A MIRACLE

The great thing about Day 12 is how it just basically evolved as we went along. I had sat down on Friday and spent about an hour planning out a wine tasting route from Massanutten, VA and then down Rt. 29 to Lynchburg, VA. Since we had one of those "free weekend" offers at Massanutten we had to go and tour the facility and listen to the pitch about buying a time share, even knowing that it wasn't going to happen. We did get a free weekend out of it to use within a year and a $125 Visa gift card just for going. Since the meeting was at 10:00 I had hoped to start on the wine trail by 1:00. The plan was to taste at least 12 different wines at approximately 7 different wineries that were doing tastings and then go the the Lynchburg Hillcats baseball game and see her long time friend Ronnie Roberts (Assistant GM for the Hillcats) later that evening.

Of course, things rarely go according to plan. We didn't get started on the wine trail until about 3:00 so we had to eliminate some of them from our plans as most of them closed at 5 or 6 PM. Why during the summer they don't stay open later on a Saturday I do not know. For the sake of not boring you to death I won't get into all the wines that we tasted but I will just give you the highlights. We started out at CrossKeys Vineyard which was absolutely beautiful. They were setting up to film a commercial while we were there but I think that we left just before they started. They were also setting up for wedding that was happening there later in the evening. While there we sampled 7 different wines and as usual we have such different tastes for wine, as I am more on the sweet side and she leans more towards the chardonnays and the table wines. We left with a bottle of CrossKeys Joy which is a their white table wine but little did she know, I already had my joy, just by watching my baby over half way to the day 12 minimum. From there we drove about 45 minutes to Afton Mountain Vineyards this is located of the top of Afton Mountain a short drive down Rt. 6. When we walked in it was a popular place with about ten others that were there sampling as well. While we were there Jennifer (who was absolutely wonderful and quite the Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson admirer) showed us four selections of their whites, 3 of their reds, and 3 of their sweeter wines. We also tasted some of the warm homemade bread which complimented the wines very well. At this point it was just a little after 5:00 and Jennifer was quite helpful in helping us decided that the only other winery that we had a chance to get to was Flying Fox Vineyard that was about 15 minutes down the road. However, when we left we saw a sign for Veirtas Winery that was only about a mile away. When I planned this trip this wasn't one of them on the list because Google said that it was a good 20 miles from Afton Mountain Meadows and that was too far out of the way for me. We knew that they stopped the tasting at 5PM and it was 5:15 but we decided to give it a try anyways. When we arrived we saw that they were setting up for a wedding in what was a beautiful night at an amazing location. We went in and they were quite adamant about how they had to end at 5 as there was an event that evening. My thoughts immediately thought about crashing the wedding as I think they were having crab cakes; however, we still had one more winery to go and a baseball game to get to. We proceeded about 15 minutes down the road to Flying Fox and arrived to find that we had the place to ourselves and admired the logo on the bottles that have a fox flying in an old airplane. While there we both really enjoyed their 2008 Fox White and learned that it is great for Sangria and both of us surprisingly enjoyed the Petit Verdot as it was excellent with chocolate. When we left a little before 6 to the baseball game we realized after seeing another wedding that the third weekend in July is tops for weddings at wineries and how much we just really enjoyed a relaxing day seeing some of Virginia's beautiful countryside. Of course it was better for me because it was just a backdrop to my beautiful wife. We also talked about getting some people together on a random Saturday and doing another one of Virginia's numerous wine trails. Anyone game?

We arrived at the baseball game in the top of the third inning to find that Salem Red Sox were winning 3-0. As an avid baseball fan Sandra loves minor league games and really enjoys watching both of these teams play. Since we were in Lynchburg she was cheering for the Hillcats but was still torn with them playing her home team. We were sitting right behind the Lynchburg dugout and had a wonderful time in what turned out to be a 4-2 Red Sox win but that wasn't the end of out time there. It was fireworks night and they let you go out in the outfield to sit and watch the fireworks. We went out and picked our seats right behind where the second baseman plays and proceed to see an amazing fireworks display. It really surprised me because there wasn't a special occasion for it and I didn't think that anything else could light up the night they way that Sandra had. With the exception of the July race at Daytona it was probably one of the top fireworks display that I have seen as it lasted what seemed to be over ten minutes. However, that still wasn't the highlight of the evening.


Less than a year ago the head groundskeeper for the Hillcats, Darren Johnson and his wife Suzanne found out that their 5 year old (I think) daughter Hannah was diagnosed with cancer. As all of you that know Sandra and as I stated in earlier blogs, her passion is trying to help people and families in situations such as these and to try and increase their awareness about all the assistance that is out there for them. This was even more touching to her as she has known Ronnie for years and Darren and Ronnie have worked side by side for over 20 years together. Typical, after all the fans had left, she proceeded to head out to the pitchers' mound, where Darren was working as he was talking with his wife, to talk to them about what her role is with Children's Miracle Network (she sits on the board) and the assistance that is out there for them. Hannah was also there and that was the first time that Sandra had met her. You could see her face light up and see what was a beautiful little girl as she gave her a big hug. Hannah couldn't stay long as she had to get to home plate to help stomp the dirt down. It touches me to watch my wife have such a passion and life long dedication to helping others that it truly makes me want to be a better person. This is the perfect example why I am doing this 40 Days Before 40 for her. As we left I just watched how Hanna went around the stadium like she owned the place and thinking about why organizations such as the Children's Miracle Network are so important and why everyone should take some time in some way to help or give, if not just a little, as it is so easy to overlook the things that we are blessed with on a daily basis. (There is a link attached at the bottom of this blog to the website to see how you can help). As we got in our car I couldn't help but think, on a day that was suppose to be for her, she has not only touched me again, but others as well. I sat there for a second and thought about her walking out to the pitchers mound, I sent her good friend Erin Hildreth (Director of Community Services at CMN) a text message that read, "Girl, you should be here because again, Sandra is making Miracles happen!!" Her response..."As Always!"

DAY 12: 12 TASTES TO A MIRACLE

July 18, 2009

28 to go...............