Derby Day!

It's Derby Day! Aways a special event to be religiously watched on TV at my house... that's because Ed was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky! In our dating days, we'd always go down for Derby weekend and go to the Kentucky Oaks races (the day before the Derby).  My son, Michael, attended the Derby for years with friends-- so it's definitely a Bishop family interest. My picks for this year's race (after doing a bit of internet searching) are:

Revolutionary to win

Verrazano to place

Orb to show

Of course, I'm also rooting for two history makers this year: Kevin Krigger as the first Black jockey to ride in the Derby...

 and Rosie Napravnik as the first woman to jockey a horse in the Derby.

The most moving part of this show will be when they play My Old kentucky Home... 

 

Looking forward to later today to see what happens, although I'll be juggling a work engagement at the same time.

Wilmu Alumni Wine Tasting

Staying true to my New Year's resolution of increasing our social life and doing something new with Ed every month, I signed us up to participate in the Wilmington University's Alumni winetasting event at Heritage Vineyards in Mullica Hill, NJ last night.  It was such a pretty sunny day that the drive in across the bridge, (in the midst of Friday rush hour traffic!) wasn't too painful!

Heritage Vineyards sits in the middle of what are now new neighborhood developments, so it's a bit of a surprise to see this winery surrounded by houses.

Loved seeing familiar faces in our little winetasting crowd! Some of my Pi Gamma Mu honor society students, who've now graduated, were also there, as well as alumns who have supported me in the Polar Bear Plunge!

The tasting itself was a bit strange, and I have to admit that I've never been to a winetasting where you have to reuse your glass, even when switching from red to white!

Shown above is a popular sweet wine, Jersey Blush. While sweets are not my favorite, this one was fun and I brought home 2 bottles for my daughter. Does that not qualify me for a "mother of the year" award?

I also took home a bottle of their Chambourcin, a full-bodied red.

Ed said he tasted each wine they had. I can only say that I tasted 2 reds, 3 whites, and 2 of their sweet wines. The whites tasted like water to me, so I scratched that off my list. Two of the reds were decent, and were New Jersey Wine Festival award winners. The Cuvee was OK, but I like the Chambourcin better.

It was a fun get-together, but the wine-tasting itself left something to be desired. I was most bothered by having to taste a white wine in the same glass from which I had tasted a red. All in all, the event and the evening was a fun interlude.This last photo says it all!