Put a bird (or several) on it at this great birding and wine tasting destination
In my quest to discover every place to combine wine tasting and hiking in the continental United States, I found this great winery, Winter’s Hill Estate, on the Willamette Valley Birding Trail.
Tiny Travels: 7 Ways a Tiny Wine Country Town is Saving Summer
Small towns slay summer doldrums. Don’t believe me? In Oregon wine country, it’s actually possible to fill all those late sunsets with every kind of party and none of the hassle. With a scene set for late-night strolls, nightlife that is just happening enough, and spaces meant to maximize the easy living of the wine country lifestyle, McMinnville might be just the right place to go big on summer.
Read the full post here.
Tessalation! by Emily Grosvenor (Herndon, VA: Mascot Books, 2016)
Tiny Travels: Date night sucks. Day dates are where it’s at.
We have finally decided that date night sucks and we’re terrible at them.
On our last one, we explored a little area of SW McMinnville, (BOLD CLAIM ALERT!) the most romantic place to go on a day date in June.
Read the latest Tiny Travels post here.
The best guide to Oregon Wine Country has four legs
I’ve lived in the capital of Oregon wine country, McMinnville, Ore., for five years and have been a travel writer all that time, but I’ve never experienced something as life-shifting as being up in the Red Hills on a horse. It is, without a doubt, the best way to go wine tasting.
Unless you’re afraid of horses. If that’s the case, don’t do it 🙂
You can read about wine tasting and and horseback riding in my latest Tiny Travels column here.
The McMinnville AVA: A Detective Mystery
It just so happens I’m in the travel detective business. It’s bad business to have an American Viticulture Area (AVA) right in your backyard that you don’t know. It’s like a clue hiding in plain sight. From what I’m hearing on the streets it’s the stuff dreams are made of: Sloping hills ripe for trodding, cool breezes wafting from the sea. The whole place like a lover waiting to be touched.
All we’ve got is, maybe the McMinnville AVA will have the best wine in the history of wine and maybe it won’t. But the fact is it’s there, it’s waiting and for most of us working stiffs it’s so close you can almost smell it.
Astoria: The rare, four season destination for families
If you’re looking for a three-day trip for the whole family within driving distance of Seattle — one you can take every season of the year — you can’t do much better than Astoria, Oregon. Read more at Parent Map.