Hot Chocolate Wine Tour

When anyone asks me what I did this summer, my answer is going to be, I went places. Most people know that I like to design my summer adventures around Groupon, then I throw that all out the window and just see what I can get into. This summer I have basically just spun in a circle. Let me explain.

          Terry and I were toying with the idea of opening a bar here in Odenton, but it turns out they want to loan money to people with actual bar experience who want to open a bar. We thought about it and realized, huh, maybe the bar ownership thing is for the younger at heart, and we turned our sites towards another adventure that will be rolling out in the next couple years.  Coming to that conclusion however, switched my summer plans around quite a few times. I was going to take a bar tending course, only to cancel it so I could take a couple students to summer school each day who really could use it and I am hoping our time together this summer will be a game changer so they can be better than their circumstances because they are so bright and powerful.  Before that however, I did a few wine tours and classes all in the name of research! 

          So of course I found this deal on Eventbright, that was a wine tour arranged by Borden Transportation. So last minute, I bought my ticket and asked Terry to drop me off not knowing what I would be encountering.  I got on this bus and at first I have to admit, everyone was looking at me to see if I was expecting another friend to come with me, or see if I knew anyone else on the bus. When it was clear, no, I was just an obnoxiously friendly person who intended to make friends as I went along, people were more than willing to meet their fate as my new friends. So off to Big Cork winery we went.

          The first thing that happens after a few introductions was the gorgeous woman who is obviously made for in front of a camera, Celeste, started setting up her mobile picture booth. This created a bit of fun for the ride up, and I soon realized everyone on this bus beyond myself was model beautiful, even Eric the official hustler and husband to Donyale who was a wine at home consultant. Eric was actually insanely polite and would trip over himself to be helpful, making sure his place on this trip was to frame all the beautiful people on the trip and just have a good time. He and I sat next to each other so you can only imagine the earful he got from time to time. Then there was Kelly who was letting everyone know how the make-up world lived, and obviously I was on a missed opportunity there. I could do a hilarious youtube channel on Make-up Fails: How to Create Beautiful Face Dingle-berries.

           So long before the photo booth moment, I suppose I should point out the elephant in the room. Yes, I was the little marshmallow floating around in this bus full of hot chocolate.  Not only was everyone drop dead beautiful on this bus, but I was the only white person on this adventure.  It didn't bother me any however, but I could tell that everyone noticed and it wasn't until they could read that I was just fine with it that we were able to really get down and party. To be honest, I felt right at home but there was no getting around the differences between us, (especially with the current political situations). I was comfortable like me of days back in Oakland which were quite ordinary and the color of my skin was noticed but not a problem, unlike my time in Jamaica as and eight year old with cornrows... that was not so comfortable.  So the party took off from there. (BTW, an eight year old white girl with cornrows was a great idea of a mother high off her heels, but incredibly offensive to everyone else and uncomfortable when my scalp got sun burnt.)

Big cork was a great little boutique winery. The guy pouring was a bit of a geek, which I totally dig, and they had the best selection of picnic foods including warm bread, cheese and spreads. Hello Heidi Heaven! 

Needless to say, I got my usual haul... you know, enough for the whole bus... because this was a good/needed addition the Hormel cheese and cracker tray that we had and they went well with the two bottles of wine I had opened for the trip to the next destination. 

        

        The next stop was a Meadery. The woman spoke Russian I think, and was very charming but I can't say as I found anything at this cute place that struck me as wonderful at Big Cork. What was fun however, was that Lisa, the owner of Borden Transportation led us in doing a round robin to talk about who we are and what we were all about. Turns out that there was a lot of really talented and business minded people all around me. It made me sad when we decided to abandon the wine bar idea that I wouldn't have much to collaborate with these people about but I hope to still see them for our future ideas too. Celeste runs this great non-profit who helps re-introduce convicted persons back into functional places into society, which we all know from all the research is really what needs to happen so that is very exciting to me and I hope to learn more about those endeavors.  Being on the beginning (so to speak) of the school to prison pipeline, this is a cause near and dear to my heart. 

    So this little adventure was supposed to be a wine learning experience, which it was... but everything happens for a reason.  I learned a lot more and I have a feeling this path will lead me to even more to learn. Here's the thing guys... even just naming this post was hard.  Working with kids at school, it's hard to know where the line is and what can be considered borderline racist. I had a great time with new friends, but because our skin color and backgrounds are different, there is a spotlight placed on this story. But that is not a bad thing my friends. When I talk to my students about racism, they often don't understand the difference between noticing a difference and racism.  We notice, but our world just doesn't teach us what we are supposed to do when we notice differences, just as we don't always know what to say when someone's in a wheelchair.
                I tell them, noticing differences is not the problem.  Being afraid of them, judging them or even ignoring them is even more of a problem because it's ignoring pieces of people. Instead, notice without judgement on the differences and embrace what you love about the person. Step into the unknown and learn something new, but don't allow silence to be dangerous.  (Steps off soapbox) 

Happy Living my friends!