I can't believe it's already July! I'm just catching up to normal life after our annual family trip to the Outer Banks. It was a great trip, and I took a lot more photos than last year, so I've decided to break them up into multiple blog posts. Let's be honest, my blog posts are usually way too long anyway, right? So, today, I'm sharing specifically about our evening excursion from Duck to Sanctuary Vineyards. (Also, full disclosure: while I'm switching up my blogging strategy, I'm going to try to get better at Pinterest, hence this ultra-pinnable graphic below. ;))
My favorite part of traveling is having new experiences (read: photography opportunities) so I was really looking forward to exploring a new place for at least one evening of our week. I am so thankful that Alex planned this excursion, that cousins Carolyn and Jonathan wanted to join us, and that Afton's grandparents agreed to take care of her so that we could have rare adults-only fun!
Our excursion began at Kitty Hawk Kites in Duck, which was just a short walk from our beach house.
We took an exhilarating motor boat ride across Currituck Sound to the mainland of North Carolina--Jarvisburg, to be exact. Then we hopped on an ATV for a quick jaunt through the vineyards. It was so beautiful!
We had an interesting tour of the inside of the facility--this is where the magic happens! (Side note: this spot is also a wedding reception venue!)
Tasting time! Sanctuary is known for its dry wines, which are honestly not my favorite. Truth be told, I'm most definitely not a sophisticated wine connoisseur and tend to only drink wine if it tastes like candy. Needless to say, I didn't like all the wines we tried (though most of those around me did), but I was pleasantly surprised that there were some sweeter ones at the end, and they were delicious! My favorite was a muscadine wine called Sweet Serenity. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! ;)
After our tasting, we headed next door to The Cotton Gin for a tasty dinner and some live music, with a side of beautiful surroundings!
Of course I had to take a little walk to explore all this beauty!
It was such a fun, relaxed, wonderful evening with some of my favorite people!
Thank you, Sanctuary Vineyards (and Alex, Grandma, and Poppa, too)!
Stay tuned for images from the rest of our Outer Banks trip. If there's a photo from this post you'd like to see in my Etsy shop, let me know--I have a running list! And if you haven't already, sign up below to stay up to date on my adventures!