Grape & Wine Festival

The past 2 weeks have been busy for me.  I addition to starting back up teaching labs for a couple of courses at the university I also manage to catch a cold (likely from being at the Uni!) that put me out of commission for a few days.  Luckily, I started feeling better in time to join in the Grape & Wine festivities!

I grew up looking forward to the Grape & Wine festival every year.  I have fond memories of heading downtown to watch the parade and running around Montebello Park with my bears (because they use to have a teddy bear picnic for the kids!).  As I grew older I grew to appreciate the wonderful local vendors, food demonstrations, and of course the wine!  And you can't forget the music - there are always bands playing in the park.  The have kids acts in the afternoons leading right into 80s band revivals or cover bands (the Caverners, a Beatles cover band, have secured the Friday night spot for as long as I can remember).  The always put on a good show and bring out the crowd.

The first weekend of the festival includes the "Pied Piper Parade" - where the kids dress up and parade through the streets.  I remember going with my cousins when I was younger, and after my niece was born I decided that it would be a good tradition to keep going.  I believe this is the 5th year Miss R and I have attended, and the 3rd we are actually participating in.  This years theme was Heroes - so of course she dressed up like a Fire Fighter just like her Opa.  It was a great costume to wear since mother nature decided to let the rain pour down all day.  We both had a great time despite the rain, and Miss R even won a prize for best costume in her age group in addition to getting her picture taken for the local paper!

This past weekend was the "big" event - the Parade.  It also meant a lot of the bars and restaurants in town had special events going on all weekend.  We had amazing weather - sunny and warm all weekend!  I managed to make it to the park all 3 days, if only for a bit, connecting with family and friends, and bumping into people we sometimes only see during Grape & Wine.  Definitely a successful G&W!  Cheers to living in the Wine Region!