Impromptu Lu Mil Vineyard trip – Saturday, September 9

Due to uncertainty over the path of hurricane Irma, Silver Coast Winery postponed their planned September 9^th Purple Feet festival.  Bill Bertrand and Jo-Ann Craig had worked extremely hard in planning a CFMC outing to the winery to participate in the festival.  The new date for the festival will be Sunday, November 5^th and we hope there is a good turnout for this event.

Several days after Silver Coast Winery canceled the Purple Feet event, hurricane Irma changed its track further west and it became clear that Irma was going to give the southeast North Carolina area a big break.  In fact, the weather forecast for Saturday, September 9^th was expected to be beautiful.  With the forecast of a beautiful day and less concerns about the impact of Irma, Judy and Rick Judson proposed an impromptu event to the Lu Mil winery in Elizabethtown, NC.

Our group included nine Miatas and one extra vehicle.  In attendance were Bill Bertrand, Jo-Ann Craig, Paul and Rebecca Reinmann, Don Lee, Frank Pain, Leon and Beth Rooks, Sean and Jenny Hsu, John and Trudy Williamson, new members John and Grace Martens (and some of their family members), and hosts Rick and Judy Judson.

The group gathered at Hardees on Village Road in Leland at 10:00am to form into a caravan.  Jo-Ann passed out popcorn refreshments to all attendees which was a nice treat (thanks Bill and Jo-Ann).  The planned route was a more scenic drive, taking the group by White Lake and Singletary Lake.  To our surprise, we ended up passing by a triathlon going on along Route 53 as we drove towards Elizabethtown.  Also, we didn’t know we would meet up with a motorcycle club at Lu Mil (also out for an outing on a beautiful day).  The drive to Lu  Mil was perfect for “top down” and we enjoyed the wine tastings at the tasting bar inside the winery.  Everyone brought a picnic lunch which we enjoyed on the covered porch looking out to the view of the vineyards.   Several club members took a stroll around the vineyards while Grace Martens and Rebecca Reinmann opted to pick grapes in the vineyard to take home.  Others took advantage of their unusual gift shop, taking home jams, jellies, and of course bottles of wine.  Before departing the vineyard, some of the group took a scenic drive through the vineyard and checked out their cute rental cabins.

We thank all of the club members who joined us on this impromptu outing.  We couldn’t have asked for a nicer day and a great time was had with wonderful friends.