The Upstate's Own Little Vineyard!

Phew. I've been terrible about updating this blog lately, I know...but the good thing is, that's because we've been so busy experiencing more of what Greenville has to offer! I have at least three restaurant reviews to write, for instance. But first I want to talk about CityScape Winery in Pelzer!

This little vineyard is about a thirty or thirty-five minute drive from Greenville. Though the actual vineyard is a bit new, and though our South Carolina soil will really only produce one time of grape (that being muscadine), CityScape is currently aging, flavoring, and bottling their own wines - and doing a great job of it, I might add!

Though anyone over the age of 21 can drop by for a tasting, they don't have fixed hours and request that you call first - #864-329-0615. I actually scheduled a group tasting for Steve, myself and some friends on a Saturday afternoon in November - though I contacted them over a month in advance and they were almost fully booked for the day we requested! However, this was more because we had a large group (over a dozen people) than anything else, so if you just want to visit with a friend or two calling the morning of should be plenty of notice :)

The owners of CityScape are friendly and knowledgeable and above all willing to share that knowledge - to the point where you can even purchase a wine-making kit from them and they will give you detailed instructions on how to make your own wine!

Usually a tasting at CityScape costs $10 per person and includes a souvenir glass. Sometimes they will offer Groupon/Living Social deals though, so keep an eye out! Not only did we get glasses, but they served plenty of crackers and cheese and hummus and even some little cake bites to complement the 10-12 wines that we tasted.

Now, because they have to buy the juice from outside sources and age and flavor it themselves, in general the wine isn't going to be up your alley if you're used to extremely high quality wines or are very picky about wine - but I honestly enjoyed the majority of the ones we tried and in general it was just such a fun experience - and right in our own backyard, nonetheless - that I seriously can't suggest a visit to CityScape enough!

We were even able to go down to the outbuilding where they have the wine barrels and bottling supplies. As an extra plus, if you order wine from CityScape they will even help you design your own bottle labels - such as for weddings, birthday or anniversary parties and the like.

The CityScape store offers all of the wine types that they have in stock, of course, as well as fun gifts such as t-shirts, wine charms and the like. The great thing about participating in a tasting is that you can figure out which wines you want to go ahead and buy before heading home! Personally I enjoyed their Pineapple Reisling the most, so you know we bought a bottle of that :)

Although CityScape participates in a lot of upstate activities (in fact, they were present and doing a wine-making class and tasting at the Grown-Ups Night at the Children's Museum back in October), if you haven't been down to the actual vineyard for a visit and tasting, trust me when I say you're missing out! And don't forget to leave a little extra money in your bank account in order to purchase some bottles of their wine :)

Personal Event Recap: Roaring 20s Party at the Art Bar

Phew! It has been a crazy, busy month for us and I have seriously slacked here at the GreenvilleSCape blog! The last time I posted I mentioned that we were having a private event at The Art Bar on Main, so I think it's only fitting that first things first I write about that party :)

We booked the Art Bar for this party about a month in advance. Thankfully they do not require any sort of deposit, just a minimum amount of sales that you need to make when holding a private event there - $1,000 total in the upstairs bar, to be exact. The room fits up to 60 people, so this is obviously an affordable amount...but I knew we'd be lucky to have 30 people show up and therefore decided on a menu of heavy hors d'oeuvres that would be included in a $10 per person "admission"/"cover charge".

The menu that the Art Bar created included all sorts of snacks - some of their delicious flat breads, merely cut in smaller slices; homemade hummus and pita chips, cookies, and more. For $10 per person it really was a great spread.

The only issue we really ran into was that the upstairs back bar really isn't big enough to hold a full range of liquors and mixers. The bartender also offered to have three specialty mixed drinks available for purchase upstairs, along with the usual beer and wine selections. We were back and forth a bit about what drinks to offer, and in the end he chose a Wassail (a warm spiced Christmas "punch"), Gin & Tonics and Godfathers (whiskey drinks). Originally I had mentioned a Planter's Punch (just as "20s" as the drinks that were chosen) and I do wish we had gone with that over the Godfather, only because that was a very strong drink made of whiskey and amaretto and it was a bit much, to be honest.

The Wassail...yum!

Now, we were able to get other mixed drinks and shots from the downstairs bar, but unfortunately only the single bartender was assigned to us. There was a waitress bringing the food and we were given the impression that she would be taking drink orders as well, but to be honest she was impossible to catch. At one point we had probably 35 people at the party and the bartender was definitely overwhelmed. Therefore my only suggestion to the Art Bar and anyone thinking about booking a private event there is to make sure that there are at least two employees for every 30 people, especially if one of those employees is going to be running back and forth getting mixed drinks from the downstairs bar.

In general, though, the venue was really great. The Art Bar's upstairs has it's own stereo system and you can bring your own iPod to hook up, which was an awesome option that we took full advantage of. It's a roomy yet cozy area and even when we had those 35-ish people up there it never really felt "too" crowded. And again, it was lovely to not have to deal with some sort of crazy/nonrefundable deposit. And we did end up making the minimum sales of $1,000, though just barely!

And of course the theme itself was a blast ;)

(Though as always some silly people did not dress up...::rolls eyes::)

Roaring 20s Holiday Party at the Art Bar

Hi readers! (if any of you are out there, haha) I wanted to make a general announcement that NEXT Saturday - December 10th - GreenvilleSCape is hosting a "private" holiday party at the Art Bar. This event is being run through the Greenville Libation Lovers meetup group. It will have a Roaring 20s theme and we are encouraging everyone to dress the part! Flappers, gangsters and dappers all welcome :)

The cost for this event is $10 per person and that includes food. Of course, there will be specially chosen mixed drinks, wines and beers available for purchase as well.

If you're interested in attending this event, you can check it out its page with the Greenville Libation Lovers or email me at taralynne1213(at)gmail(dot)com. Though it is technically a "private" event, it will be a great way to have a fun different night out and meet some new people. However, you must sign up before the event in order to attend as spots are very limited.

Have a great rest of the weekend! We'll be back next week with a post about wine tasting at City Scape in Pelzer :)

Our First Road Warriors Game

Last year was the first year that Greenville had a hockey team since the Grrrowl ceased operations in 2006, but unfortunately we had a packed fall and winter and weren't able to make a game. Still, we'd heard positive things and as soon as we had a free weekend this season I purchased tickets. We even splurged on very good seats when we attended the game on Saturday November 5th :)

The Road Warriors were playing the Florida Everglades this night. Parking around the Bi Lo Center was running just $5 (a far cry from the insane $20 that is charged when a popular concert comes to town), but we parked in the free Richardson garage and braved the chilly night and 10-15 minute walk rather than pay. Probably a good idea, as beers at the hockey games run $8 a pop :-/

The Road Warriors games have the usual three periods, but for whatever reason the "intermissions" are 20 minutes each rather than 10, which seemed a bit unnecessary to me. I understand that they want time for the zamboni to do its job and that they also want to entertain the people at the game, but unfortunately the entertainment is so reminiscent of that at the Greenville Drive games that it felt even less necessary than it would have otherwise.

Race between Sonic products rather than Bi Lo veggies ;)

The game was okay, though to be honest the Road Warriors - from what I can tell - aren't very good. Though they only lost by a couple of points, it was mainly because of questionable defense. I'm no hockey expert, but hey, I grew up in New England on the Whalers and the Wolf Pack, so I know a bit ;)

Of course we enjoyed ourselves, but between the price of decent seats and the cost of beer, I think it will be a while before we get back to a game. And unfortunately, apparently a lot of other people feel similarly - I doubt even a quarter of the seats at this game were filled. It was actually kind of sad to see how few people attended a Saturday night game :-/ I can only say that maybe the Bi Lo Center/the Road Warriors should consider lowering at least the cost of seats, and possibly the cost of seats and concessions. With a bit of advertising this would boost attendance and once that happened, we would probably have a better chance at keeping the Road Warriors in town rather than losing them the same way we lost the Grrrowl.

Dark Corner Distillery

Greenville's very own aptly named distillery, the Dark Corner Distillery, opened recently on North Main Street - so you know we took the time to check it out as soon as possible. To be honest, I wasn't sure quite what to expect, but I will say this - I wish we had stopped by earlier, rather than 20 minutes before closing, and I wish we hadn't also been on our way to a hockey game - more on that in a moment ;)

When you first enter Dark Corner, you are in a little retail shop featuring some great upstate souvenirs - Dark Corner t-shirts, moonshine and shot glasses, mini age-your-own-whiskey barrels, books about the Greenville area and more. This is why I wish we hadn't been on our way to a Road Warriors game! I seriously would have bought out that store and yes, I do plan on going back for that very reason.

Through a door in the glass partition and you've basically entered the actual distilling area. Here is where they stock and sell their bottled moonshine, here is where you can see the stills where they make that moonshine, and here is where you can even taste their products. They sell their bottles for $38 each, but I definitely suggest taking the time to taste the moonshine before buying...if only to know what you're getting yourself into.

While I'm not sure that I personally could stomach more than the little taste I had of Dark Corner's moonshine, they do have a list of some interesting cocktails to try on their website, which is helpful. We tasted their whiskey as well while they discussed how they came to the decision to open Dark Corner. I only wish that we'd had more time to hang out and hear about this great new downtown business. I can say that we will definitely go back to pick up a bottle of our own moonshine and probably spend far too much money in their shop!

And of course, hopefully get some more tastes of the products they distill on site :)

Greer Oktoberfest, Take 2

Last year we arrived at Greer Oktoberfest a little later in the day - sometime after 5 PM - and really enjoyed ourselves. This year, we decided to arrive a little earlier in hopes of shorter lines and the option to try more food. I had been hoping to meet some friends there, but it ended up just being Steve and I and that's probably for the best. Let's just say that the weather did not want to cooperate! Though it was sunny for Oktoberfest this year, it was also the South Carolina version of freezing. Especially for early October. And the wind!

Trying to keep warm at Oktoberfest

Needless to say, we didn't get as much time in at Oktoberfest as I would have hoped. We wandered around the shops, but unlike last year didn't see much to catch our eyes. We did enjoy a few beers, and I was happy that they again had some local brews from Thomas Creek along with the Spaten options.

We also watched a little bit of the traditional music and dancing, including seeing some locals (mostly children) get out there and dance. Probably to keep warm. It was really cute and had I not been so cold and had I had a couple more beers, I may have gotten out there to dance with them ;)

Dancing at the main stage

Unfortunately, we didn't make the best food choices. Steve had a good sausage on a roll type thing from the Bavarian Pretzel Factory. I picked up a pretzel from the same place, but it was cold and so hard I could barely bite into it. Disappointing, to say the least. Also, I think we were totally spoiled with schnitzel in Germany and Austria this past summer, too, because the schnitzel we had at Greer Oktoberfest was just awful. Really greasy/oily and the breading slipped right off the pork when we tried to eat it. Yuck. Whatever restaurant was selling this crap should be glad I don't remember their name.

Seriously disgusting schnitzel.

I will say that I regret not getting food from Ember, because whatever they were whipping up both looked and smelled delicious. Oh well...there's always next year!

We headed home fairly early because of the weather (I'm not kidding when I say I should have brought gloves!) but we'll be back again next year for another go. Greer Oktoberfest really is a fun little event and to be honest it's the one time of year we have good reason to drag ourselves up there ;)

Grown Ups Night at the Children's Museum

Last month we finally got to check out Grown Ups Night at the Children's Museum! I was pretty excited about this because we missed the one they had earlier this year...obviously I don't have kids, so I never look at the Children's Museum website and I'm certainly not a "fan" of them on Facebook for that same reason. The Grown Ups Night event doesn't appear to have much advertising outside of these two mediums, so it's easy to miss out on. But who doesn't want to go eat good food and drink some wine and beer and act like a kid for a few hours?

"Found Object" Stegosaurus

We pre-purchased our tickets but arrived only to find that people who pre-purchased tickets had to wait in line to pick them up and get in...while people who were buying them that night got to walk right inside and buy their tickets! Other than a slight price difference ($15 each for pre-purchased; $20 each to buy at the door) there doesn't seem to be much incentive to buy your tickets online before the event. Especially if you're only one person buying one ticket and not part of a couple buying two...that extra $5 to not wait in line outside sounds good to me! That said, I do think there should be more incentive outside of a price difference for those who buy their tickets beforehand. Just sayin'.

There's a random pirate in the upside-down room!

I was actually pleasantly surprised at the many and varied food options offered at this event. There were wings, bread and dip, chips and dip, meatballs, fried mac-n-cheese balls, cupcakes, fried oreos, ice cream/gelato...the list goes on and on. Unfortunately, the drink options weren't as great. The fact that all food and one drink was included in the ticket price was great, but the fact that there were just a couple wine choices, a couple beer choices, and a hard cider that they ran out of within about an hour was disappointing to say the least. Some mixed drinks would have been nice, but if all they could have was beer and wine they should have had some better options! How about some local brews - Thomas Creek, RJ Rockers? Maybe try to feature regional wines?

Why is the asparagus so big and the eggplant so small?

We're excited about anything Star Wars

The Children's Museum is in fact really cool. And they had a great local DJ - DJ EZ - as entertainment. We got to play in the "Supermarket", climb in the suspended maze, experience the wind tunnel and pretend we were construction workers. We even considered going to the wine making seminar, which was unfortunately a disappointment - the room was really hot, the seminar lasted way too long, and the wine tasting at the end was sad. Just tiny little samples in tiny little plastic cups :-/ I guess that's why it was free, haha.

It's a good thing they time how long you use this magnet thing, or Steve would have hogged it all night

I hate that it sounds like I'm doing a lot of complaining about this event, because we really did have a good time. I think if they had had more/better drink options (especially at $4 a beer!) and it had been a bit less crowded, the event as a whole would have been ten times more enjoyable. We may give it another go in the future, and I do think that it's the type of event that everyone should make up their own minds about and therefore at least check out once :)

If only to climb in that suspended maze and play in the wind tunnel. For real.

Yay Greenville!

Yahoo travel has named "America's Best Downtowns" and that's right, Greenville is on the list! With the likes of Chicago, San Antonio, Portland and Savannah, no less :)

With help from Frommer's and Livability, factors such as "attractiveness, accessibility, diversity of offerings, shops, restaurants, proximity of parks and cultural options" were considered. Greenville was one of the smaller towns listed and these places were picked for the list thanks to "easily navigable downtown areas and unparalleled attractiveness".

Go check out the list and see how our beautiful little city stacks up :)

Sippin' Safari, Take 2

Last year's Sippin' Safari at the Greenville Zoo was plenty of fun, so of course we decided to hit it up again this year. Only this time, we didn't spring for VIP tickets...because last year we didn't feel as if they were worth it. The VIP section was shoved off in the back corner of the zoo, away from everything. They didn't really have that many extra wines to taste and the food was all of the cheese-and-cracker variety. We got cute little beanie flamingos but, well, we're grown-ups and don't need cute little beanie flamingos. VIP tickets are allowed entrance half an hour earlier, but Sippin' Safari is on a Friday night and us being grown-ups, we can't get there early enough to make that extra half hour truly count. Considering the difference in ticket price (literally double the cost - $30 for regular tickets vs. $60 for VIP), we simply couldn't justify it this year.

Of course, as luck would have it, this year they moved the VIP section to an area right smack in the middle of the zoo and were giving out nice-as tote bags rather than stupid beanie animals. But what can you do?

We arrived at about 6:20, ten minutes before the gates opened to all us "regular" people. I would say that we were inside by about 6:35 or so, even though the line was a bit long - they actually opened the gates a few minutes early. Now, last year we were shuffled to the left so that we could "experience" the VIP area - which means that I had no idea whatsoever that just off to the right are the Greenville Zoo's elephants!

After that we were of course free to wander, munch and sip on the great food and wine offerings presented by Bi-Lo!

Visiting our favorites...the Siamang Gibbons!

And our second favorite...the leopard! It always has good poses for us.

And of course...another good kitty.

Now...I have to take a moment to say one thing and one thing only: Dear Greenville Zoo & Bi-Lo, can you please have Sippin' Safari on a Saturday or Sunday? Because although the event lasts until 10 PM, by about 8:30 most (if not all) of the animals are away for the night...which takes away basically all of the atmosphere. Last year they left the reptile house open a bit later, and that helped, but this year it was locked by 8 PM! What's up with that???

To be honest, Sippin' Safari is fun. Especially if you've never been. As I said, you get to sample lots of tasty food and wine; doing it in a zoo just makes everything better. But now that we've been for two years in a row, we may just skip a year.

Unless of course they reschedule it for a Saturday or Sunday in 2012...then we're totally down. Just sayin'.

Fall for Greenville 2011: Some Thoughts.

Fall for Greenville ended yesterday, and because I have a few timely thoughts on the festival I wanted to get my you-know-what together and write this post ASAP ;) You see, when we moved here in 2009 we missed FfG by two weeks...which led to my being extremely excited for it last year. Of course I was looking forward to it this year as well, but it wasn't until I heard that the Dirty Dozen Brass Band would be playing Saturday night that I allowed myself to get totally psyched up about it.

Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Wells Fargo Stage on Washington - Fall for Greenville 10/15/2011

Now don't get me wrong - last year it was definitely crowded when we attended FfG on Saturday evening. But this year it was so much worse. I mean, I could barely stand it. When I returned for a brief period yesterday to use up the last of my tickets, it wasn't even half as bad as it had been Saturday night - and yet it was still crowded. Which brings me to my first point - there really needs to be better tent placement and crowd control at this festival. Huge intersections with tents at opposing corners were entirely clogged with people waiting in line...why why WHY would you put a ticket tent and a beer tent across from each other like that? Those are the booths with the longest lines for the most amount of time.

Another thing I don't understand is why the tents don't have designated, roped off queue areas. This alone would keep large crowds of people waiting in line, for, say, food from the Sabroso tent (this tent was the most crowded food tent I saw all weekend. Constantly.) from blocking practically the entire road.

Last but not least in regards to my less positive notes - the beer. You see, last year a craft beer "cost" 6 tickets. This year they were 7 tickets. You buy FfG tickets in sheets of 8 for $5 a sheet, which means that each ticket is worth approximately 62 cents. That means that last year a beer was about $3.75, and this year that same beer would set you back about $4.37. That's a pretty big hike for a single year, folks. And on top of that, they completely changed the beer tasting option so that it was nothing short of a total rip off. Last year it cost 6 tickets for the tasting, and with those 6 tickets you could sample seven beers. Each sample was about 3-4 oz, so you were definitely getting your money's worth. This year, you had to pay 3 tickets for a sample cup, and then each 2 oz sample (and believe me, they only meted out 2 oz per sample) cost an additional two tickets. I realized after two samples that this was, as I already mentioned, a rip off. Too bad I had already wasted those tickets on the little sample mug.

Tired of the FfG beer prices...time for drinks at Rey's!

Now, I don't want it to sound as if I didn't have a good time - because even with the crowds and the sky-high beer prices, I did. There was some great music - including that from the band I went to see Saturday night - and some yummy food. I was able to sample the pulled pork sliders and lobster mac-and-cheese from Soby's, the doughnut burger with homemade chips from Grille 33, and the salted chocolate caramel cupcake from Chocolate Moose. On top of that, some friends and I agreed that the food portions were notably bigger this year - and that's always a plus :)

Also, I'm not sure if the city officials stepped in to make a difference or what, but parking was much more affordable this year. In 2007 we were forced to pay $20 to park two blocks off North Main. Last year we had my sister bring us and pick us up so that we wouldn't have to pay for parking or worry about driving. This year, the Richardson garage was free as always (though of course it filled up early, though I was able to park there yesterday afternoon) and all other parking was just $5. No matter how it happened that parking was capped at $5, I'm happy that it was!

All that said, yesterday was obviously far less crowded as a whole and I think next year Steve and I will make it a point to do our FfG day on Sunday :)