A North Carolina Vineyard and Llama Farm

What’s better than wine?! Wine AND llama’s!!! My good friend Caroline wanted to go to a vineyard to celebrate her 22nd Birthday, so when I found out about Divine Llama Vineyards located in East Bend, North Carolina, neither of us could pass up the opportunity to go. Our friend Cassie lives a lot closer to Divine Llama Vineyards than Caroline and I do as students in Raleigh, so it was a great place to truly meet up. The wine and llamas along with the breathtaking views of its location in the stunning Yadkin Valley made for an amazing experience.

Fall Foliage

On the way there, Caroline and I could not believe how stunning the views of the Fall foliage were! Unfortunately, the leaves have not changed that much on the trees in Raleigh as compared to its Western, North Carolina counterparts. As someone who lives in Northern Virginia, the leaves are in a Fall Foliage around this time of year and stay that way into November, so this was super nice and refreshing to see again. I missed it!!! When we got to the vineyard, the Fall leaves were in their glory this weekend as we could see them all across the vineyard and while looking at the mountainous views from afar. In fact, while I was texting a friend, she said that this weekend that we went to the vineyard was the peak of the Fall foliage. No wonder the leaves looked absolutely breathtaking!

The Wine

Upon arrival, we made our way to order some flights. If you do not know what a flight is, it is a tray with tiny samples of wine. We each got four wine samples in each flight, where I chose all of the sweet flavors. Although I have a savory tooth for food, I have a much greater sweet tooth when it comes to my wine! The flight was definitely enough wine for each of us to enjoy, and it didn’t break the bank for our college girl budgets ($10 each!). However, if I was willing to and had not bought another bottle the previous day, I definitely would have purchased a bottle of wine to take home. Personally, I thought that because I was going to a vineyard that attracts people for its llamas that the wine would not nearly be as good as anywhere else, but I was clearly mistaken!!!

The Best Part: The Llama’s

As you would have guessed, the llama’s are what attract several tourists to Divine Llama Vineyards. Once we had our wine, we had headed off to see the llama’s. The llama’s were kept down a hilly path away from where people purchase their wine. However, you can take your wine with you and sip it as you admire the llama’s. Along the way, we saw rows and rows of grapevines and took in the amazing views of the Yadkin Valley. Then, BOOM, llama’s EVERYWHERE you turn!!! The llama’s were definitely managing their own business for the most part or wanting food, but I really enjoyed getting photos with my friends and these gorgeous creatures.

Even though I was expecting suburb llama’s and not the best wine, I was truly in for a splendid surprise when the wine and llama’s were both extremely impressive!!! The experience at Divine Llama Vineyards was one for the books – it was super fun to interact with the llama’s, other visitors (social distanced of course), and enjoy their wine. Not to mention, the prices are hard to beat here, as you only have to pay for the wine and merchandise, which means you can enjoy the llama’s and only the llama’s for FREE if you so choose to. Divine Llama Vineyards is also owned by two families that are friends with one another, which makes it a sweet small business – something that we should all be support now more than ever before. I would definitely come back here with friends, family, or even on a date! The best part?! I got to celebrate an amazing friend like Caroline!!!

XOXO – Katie <3

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My Social Distanced 21st Belated Birthday Outing

A special thanks to my great friend Cassie for making my 21st Birthday sign! Love you always girl <3

It’s rare that we hear the words birthday outing and social distancing in the SAME sentence. For most of us, we think that it is practically impossible to have a birthday or celebration outing of any kind without keeping the social distancing protocols in mind. As someone who is strictly following the current social distancing protocols that still wanted to get out and have some fun with my girls, I got creative and decided to have a belated 21st Birthday outing with some of my best girls when I came back to Raleigh. By getting together with my girls for a good time while still maintaining our social distance helped us to still have a great time while being safe.

Part 1 – The Vineyard!

To begin our outing we went to none other than a vineyard aka one of my FAVORITE places to social distance!!! We went to Cloer Family Vineyards in Apex, North Carolina which is one of the few vineyards in the Raleigh area that makes their own wine there. It is also family-run, which I LOVE as someone whose always down to support local businesses. The staff at Cloer Family Vineyards were also really good about keeping up with the current social distancing standards, as each table had a sheet on it that was both green and red. A green sheet on a table meant that it was clean, while a red sheet on a table meant that it was not. In order to maintain our social distance and stay safe, we decided to enjoy our bottle of the house Chardonnay outside. As of right now, most of my activities with others are outside, as I can better keep my social distance. At the vineyard, there were only four of us including myself which was real nice to both promote social distancing and keep it intimate!

Part 2 – Dinner in Our Trunks!

As previously mentioned about 1000+ times in this post, I am very strict when it comes to social distancing. Initially, I wanted to go to a hibachi restaurant. However, after quite a bit of thinking I decided that I wanted to play it safe and order from a local sushi favorite of mine and eat it from the trunks of our cars instead. The great part about ordering takeout was that we could all order from the restaurant of our choice! For the dinner portion, I had two more friends join that were not at the vineyard outing. I still had a small group, which made it intimate and special, but also perfect for celebration during this era of social distancing.

Social distancing or not, making memories with friends and family, especially for celebration is always a blessing. When we get together with others we can make memories that can and will last a lifetime. Through having my belated 21st Birthday celebration both social distanced AND an amazing celebration, I truly had it the best of both worlds.

XOXO – Katie <3

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The Northern Virginia Winery that I Love

Whether for a girl’s, family, friend group, or mother-daughter outing, a vineyard is an excellent place to catch up with some of the people that you care about. One of the things that I have looked forward to the most was the many outings that I would have at vineyards. Luckily for me, I got to have my first friend outing with one of my best friends: my Big Sis Stephanie at Meredith. Since I know I will be planning many more vineyard gatherings in the future, I thought that I would start to share some of my experiences at the vineyards that I visit. So, I am going to share my experience at Bull Run Winery, which is located right next to the Manassas National Battlefield Park in Centreville, Virginia.

Since I turned 21 in a temporarily social distanced world, I knew that my 21-related outings with friends would be postponed. Although the majority of my first two months being 21 were spent at my house, I have luckily been able to get out a bit and even see a friend for a social-distanced vineyard outing! Even before quarantine began, Stephanie and I have been wanting to check out The Winery at Bull Run due to its historical significance. Fortunately for the both of us, we were successfully able to execute a social-distanced Big/Lil vineyard outing just a sheer two months later. For the both of us, simply getting outside and sharing a bottle of wine was good for our souls!

Historical Significance

The Winery at Bull Run is located in Fairfax County, Virginia – a county located just south of Washington, DC in Northern Virginia. The 2012-established winery stands on 225 acres and is located right next to the Manassas National Battlefield Park and an equestrian farm. To represent the historical significance of Northern Virginia, the winery was construct to symbolize two types barns in the area. Today, the Winery at Bull Run is the largest working farm in Fairfax County, Virginia – a primarily suburban county. It also serves as a venue for many events, such as weddings. Check out more information on the history of The Winery at Bull Run here.

My Visit

Upon pulling into the winery, I was in awe at how gorgeous it was! With its luscious acres and acres of grapevines to barns galore and a few murals, I knew that Stephanie and I made a good choice of a vineyard to meet up at. Excitedly enough, the drive in was only just the beginning of a spectacular afternoon out!

Due to Covid-19, only the outdoor tables were open to visitors – everything else, including the barns and murals was closed off. Visitors could only go inside to order a bottle of wine while taking the precautions of standing 6 feet apart and wearing a mask. Stephanie and I decided to meet up and each bring a family member with us – Stephanie brought her dad and I brought my Papa. Typically, visitors have to reserve a table at the winery. However, since my group and I showed up on a Wednesday afternoon and it was not crowded, we were luckily able to get a nice table in the shade with a view.

When it came to food, to save money, we each grabbed out picnic baskets and coolers and brought in our own food. The Winery at Bull Run lets their guests bring their own food but not drinks. Stephanie and I both brought nuts, while she brought some cheese and crackers and I brought some prosciutto and salami. For drinks, we all decided to split a bottle of The Winery at Bull Run’s 2018 Chardonnay. The best part was that Stephanie and I unintentionally both wanted the Chardonnay! The Chardonnay was definitely a great choice, and I LOVED getting to enjoy it on a hot summer’s day with some cheese, prosciutto, and crackers. Cuisine-wise, I have to say we definitely had typical vineyard experience at a fraction of the price!

Along with amazing wine and gorgeous barns, The Winery at Bull Run also offers historical tours and tastings. The tours and tastings were not available when we went due to the coronavirus, but Stephanie and I are definitely putting a tour and tasting when it’s safe to do so. In addition to tours and tastings, I am pretty sure that the winery also offers concerts and other lively events, which I hope to attend when it is safe as well.

Ever since I rode through the main entrance of the winery, I knew that I was in for a treat. The wine was delicious and the opportunity to bring your own food to go with it at a fraction of the cost was such a plus. Besides the food and wine, there were breathtaking views everywhere that I turned. I definitely would like to come back with Stephanie as well as with some of my family members and friends. Knowing that I visited The Winery at Bull Run while social distancing was such a great experience, I know that coming back when social distancing measures have been lifted a bit more will be another experience for the books!

XOXO – Katie <3

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