A brewfest? A wine fest? Who cares, a fest is a fest!

Festivals are such fun! The smells, the foods, the drinks, and the people (who are sometimes responsible for a portion of the smells…) Ahhhh, festival season… as children we love the fall fests, the Halloween fests, the fourth of July and other summer fests as well!

But as adults, (and you can be honest with us J) some of our favorite fests involve more adult beverages. 

Enter: the beer and wine festivals. 

DC has a brew fest every year, as does Lake Anna in a more southern county, and don’t even get me started on the various Oktoberfests. There is an Oktoberfest at Ft. Belvoir, one in Vienna, another in Martinsville, in Strasburg, and even an Oktoberfest dinner here at the Fort Myer O’Club!

This is one celebration we should send up mounds of frothy thanks to the Germans for sharing. 

Then there are the wine festivals that are sprinkled around our area. There is the Yorktown Wine Festival, the Fall Wine Festival & Sunset Tour at Mount Vernon, and the Rock the Grapes Festival at Veramar. Wait…that last one sounds veeeerry familiar…

It is! Because we here at Family & MWR have championed a chariot to whisk us to the Shenandoah Valley this Saturday to enjoy the bounty of the harvest! People use that phrase for wine, right? Moving on.

Have you purchased your ticket to join us (this Saturday, October 3) as we meander aboard the air conditioned cabin of the bus, complete with a wine & cheese service?  Yes, that’s right! We’re serving our guests wine, cheese, and grapes on the way to the festival. 

What better way to welcome autumn to our area than to sip wine and enjoy the changing leaves in the Shenandoah?  It’s going to be a beautiful, relaxing and memorable day trip.

Pray for no rain!

 

Visit us online at www.jbmhhMWR.com or call the Community Activity Center at 703.696.3470 for more details.

~A

Fall didn't fall, it bounded!

I thought I’d finally figured out Virginia’s weather pattern. Oppressively hot summers, blaringly cold winters, and puffs of spring and fall. Then today’s unnecessarily chilly temperatures greeted me as I left home. I was under the impression that fall gradually, even gently, made its way in for the season- not stampeding in like a herd of moose! 

I was, apparently, wrong. On both accounts. I have neither figured out Virginia’s weather pattern nor does fall gently dance in atop a big, fluffy cloud. 

One day we are outside breaking down the summer activities, having to take breaks to bring out body temperatures down from the borderline deadly levels, and bam! The next day it’s hoodies and gloves.

Now, I’m not complaining about the cooler temperatures. I truly do love fall; it is, hands down my favorite season. 

I just wish we had a gentler transition between the two. 

But now that autumn has made her way back to us, it’s time to embrace the season and all of its festivities!

It’s time for Oktoberfests, wine fests, and beer fests! It’s time to wiggle into jeans and leggings and slip into Uggs and boots. Of course, the Uggs reference is mainly for the ladies, though if you gentlemen feel the need to embrace your inner femininity far be it for us to criticize! 

It’s time for pumpkin spiced everything! It’s time for cinnamon smells and bonfires…snuggies, cozy socks, homemade soup, and trees that glow with red and gold leaves!

Until next year, adieu, summertime! Adios and vaya con dios, warmer weather! 

Since so many people are adoring fans of autumn, Family & MWR plans autumn activities for those in the JBM-HH community to enjoy! Visit our website for up-to-date information on all of the “happenin’s!”

www.jbmhhmwr.com

~A