Revisiting our past

I had the opportunity this past weekend to have a reunion with someone I hadn't seen since high school. For those of you keeping score at home, that makes it just shy of 30 years ago. I know that some people are a little shy about appearing on the Internet, so I'll just call him "Bob" to help protect his anonymity.

"Bob" and I happened to reconnect on Facebook and we figured out that that since he had to be in the area attending to a family matter, that it would present an excellent opportunity for us to make acquaintance with each other again. "Bob" had suggested either a Civil War battlefield or a winery as a place for our meeting. I don't know about y'all (I can't help but adopt some Southern speak) but I personally find relaxing at a winery a better choice for a conversation than trekking across a battlefield. With that in mind, I selected Barrel Oak Winery in Delaplane, VA as a nice place to meet up. Well let me rephrase that, Barrel Oak Winery selected itself as the place for our visit.

The weekend prior to "Bob" coming out, Ms Cocktail and I decided to scout the area looking for a place that met our criteria for a meet up. There were some very simple standards that must be met 1) it had to be close to our house and the town "Bob" was staying at, 2) it had to be Corvette friendly, 3) it had to serve wine. Items 1 and 3 would be easy to find but item 2 can sometimes be tricky. Both "Bob" and myself own Corvettes. Mine is from 2004 and is the last of the C5 model. "Bob's" is a bit more recent C6 model. I wasn't sure if "Bob" would be driving his Corvette down for this trip, but I had to make sure that the road up to the winery would allow the Corvettes without undue stress to either the car or the driver. Since wineries and their associated tasting rooms tend to be located on farms, it is always best to check out the approach routes before taking a low slung sports car on up there. Even though the tasting room for Barrel Oak sits up on a hill with a quarter mile dirt road to travel, the road is well graded and and once you arrive at the top, the views of the foothills of the Shenandoah mountains are just lovely. Case closed.

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