Pumpkin Picking at Harvest Valley Farms, originally uploaded by IheartPGH. Continue reading
Photo: Pumpkin Picking at Harvest Valley Farms
Category Archives: Just Outside of Pittsburgh
Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!
First Tasting of the Day at Stone Hill Winery
The almost husband (AH) had to head back to Pittsburgh Sunday morning but luckily I had lined up some friends to pick me up and visit the three remaining wineries on my itinerary. AH and I ate breakfast at R&R Station in Mt. Pleasant. The Trainwreck, a mixture of eggs, peppers, onions, cheese, ham, bacon, and potatoes was quite good and the AH dug his biscuits and gravy. It was only after he abandoned me that I noticed the articles posted around about the paranormal activity that had taken place there over the years. Luckily, Rachael and Ben (RK and BK) were right on time picking me up and whisked me away to the Stone Villa Wine Cellar. Continue reading
Christian W. Klay Winery
The view at Christian W. Klay
Yesterday my almost-husband (AH) looked over at me and said “what happened, did you get lost on the Southwest Passage?” I rolled my watery eyes, blew my nose, and said “no, I have so much more I want to write about but I feel like total crap!” Today, I woke up feeling much revived and decided that I should devote some time to one of our favorite stops, the Christian W. Klay Winery.
If you remember, when I last wrote we had just left the Lone Star Restaurant after filling up on their delicious coconut cream and lemon meringue pies. Our itinerary showed that we were scheduled to meet with Christian W. Klay’s owner, Sharon. Apparently in some kind of pie coma, we pulled in to the offsite tasting room and wine cellar and wandered around until the helpful staff pointed us to the top of the road where the vinyard was.
Pit Stop
Coconut Cream and Lemon Meringue
You know when you are famished and you pull over at the first place you have seen for miles and you don’t know whether you will be glad you did? Well, the AH and I were glad to stop at the Lone Star Restaurant in Markleysburg where we were able to fuel up for our visit to the Christian W. Klay Winery. The cheeseburger special was served on homemade rolls with crispy fries. We couldn’t help but order two slices of pie from the mirrored display – at the Lone Star those are made from scratch too. Our choices were too numerous to count: chocolate, peanut butter, peanut butter AND chocolate, apple, Dutch apple, cherry, peach, raisin, pumpkin, blackberry, and raspberry. We went with old staples coconut cream and lemon meringue and were not disappointed. The lemon meringue was tart without being cloying. The coconut cream was a rich pudding with a cloud of meringue topped with toasted coconut. By the time we left the Lone Star our bellies were full and we were ready to move on the the next stop. The Lone Star doesn’t have a website but you can visit on your next trip to the Laurel Highlands at 4922 National Pike, Markleysburg, PA.
It's Just Honey and Water, Honey
Labels wait to go on the bottles at Glades Pike Winery
After a leisurely morning at the Summit Inn (yes, free coffee and they had a fire going) we headed to the first winery on our itinerary. Glades Pike is about an hour away – and watch those rural routes, signage can be difficult to see. We arrived at Glades Pike, open since 2002, around 12:30, and were welcomed by the staff, despite the fact that there were several customers already at the tasting bar, Liz, our contact, quickly had us set up with a tasting menu. We explained that we didn’t have a lot of experience with wine, but having lived in the Finger Lakes region we were aware that in certain regions of the United States, grapes grow differently and local wineries tend to excel at certain grape blends. In my experience, drinking white in the Finger Lakes can be trancendental, but drinking reds is like sneaking your friend’s grandmother’s Manechewitz when you are 13 – grape juice with a kick.