Fortunately for us here in Charleston, we did not sustain any real damage from Hurricane Irene. So, the day after Irene left our area Steve and I went to the Irvin House Winery in Wadamalaw, SC for their annual Grape Stomp Festival. Just a sidenote: The owners of Irvin House Winery also started a fantastic vodka distillery called Firefly - home of Sweet Tea Vodka. The distillery is also on the same property as the winery and for $6.00 per person, has tastings as well. If you've never tried it, Steve and I recommend mixing 1.5 oz of Firefly sweet tea vodka with Lemonade. It's delicious and dangergous because you can't taste the alcohol. Anyway, they also make some delicious wines with the Muscadine grape, so the the flavor is very distinct and the aroma is much like grape juice. 
The winery had a portion of their harvest available for sampling the grapes. Eating a muscadine grape is not like eating a grape from the grocery. The skin is very thick and it's difficult to just bite part of the grape. If you try this technique, it will squirt all over you (experience talking here). So, you have no choice but to put the entire grape into your mouth, but be careful of the seeds. If you bite into one, they are very bitter.
There was also a Lucy look-alike contest. It was entertaining to see all the ladies dressed as Lucy. The lady in this picture was the winner. She did a very good Lucy impersonation.
It was a nice break for us to sit under the trees in the South Carolina heat and share a nice chilled bottle of wine and listen to live music. We did have to wonder if switching to wine is a function of getting older. We seem to gravitate more toward having a nice glass of wine when we're relaxing rather than a beer these days. Back in my twenties, I swore I could never be one of "those" red wine drinkers.
Change is good y'all!
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