Augusta Winery
The Augusta Winery had some very good wines but its location on the corner of two small town streets, while quaint, does not lend to the “winery” feeling. They had a good selection and I enjoyed the Norton “Cynthiana” dry red so well that I bought a bottle. They had some other great wines but not wanting to run out the budget too early I settled for just one bottle each.

• Atmosphere: 5
• Selection: 8
• Quality: 8
• Service: 6

Louis P. Balducci Vineyards
The Balducci Vineyards had a fantastic atmosphere overall with a beautiful view at the top of a hill although the parking lot and path to the main location was long and rocky. Surprisingly neither of us really found any wine we particularly liked while others might. We did however decide to have something to snack on while there and enjoy the view.

• Atmosphere: 7
• Selection: 5
• Quality: 5
• Service: 8

Blumenhof Vineyards and Winery
The Blumenhof Vineyards had a good environment that I preferred more than Emily but overall had a great Missouri Winery feel. I enjoyed both dry whites and really enjoyed the Cyn. So I bought one of each and Emily bought a bottle for herself.

• Atmosphere: 7
• Selection: 7
• Quality: 8
• Service: 7

Montelle Winery
The Montelle Winery had a large tasting area with a friendly staff and the view from the deck was fantastic. The quality and selection was apparent from the abundant customer activity throughout the location.
People seemed to be enjoying the food and Starbucks coffee however we didn’t find time to enjoy it ourselves.

• Atmosphere: 9
• Selection: 10
• Quality: 8
• Service: 8

Mount Pleasant Winery
The Mount Pleasant Winery was probably the most disappointing of the places we visited. While the facilities were extensive and laid out well with plenty of space it did not appear well kept when we visited. The staff was busy packing boxes while we tasted which was distracting. The staff person that tended us was probably the most disappointing aspect. He appeared annoyed and not very friendly although the other staff person at the tasting area seemed a bit more chipper. The most unfriendly aspect was the $5 cover just to taste 5 wines while all other locations had none. While it may or may not have been a result of these things we found no wines we particularly enjoyed.

• Atmosphere: 6
• Selection: 8
• Quality: 7
• Service: 4

Sugar Creek Winery
Sugar Creek had a nice “vineyard” feel and plenty of activity. The tasting area was a little small and appeared to just be a small shop design making tasting a little cramped. I really enjoyed a few of their wines but their selection seemed lacking compared to the others.

• Atmosphere: 6
• Selection: 6
• Quality: 8
• Service: 6

Augusta Brewing
We visited the Augusta Brewery just to round out our tour. While they didn’t serve wine we tried a selection of their brews. I found the Blonde and the Tannhauser quite tasty while the Stout had almost overpowering deep coffee aspects. We had their turkey pot pie and enjoyed the rest of the evening relaxing after a long day.

• Atmosphere: 7
• Selection: 8
• Quality: 8
• Service: 6

Link

Link [Via Digg]

Also, Geekdrive 2007 is still rolling along (well, no, I shouldn’t say that, it is probably stopped dead in the water) so if you would like to contribute to a destitute young professional who is lustful of technology you can head on over to teh Wishlist.

Link [Via... I can't remember]

It is always kind of startling to realize that it has really been that long, but it is a good feeling, a really good feeling. Emily is a really wild person, almost as wild as me in fact, which is why we have such a crazy time together.

Heres to more of those.

Anyway check out the new hotness below which is what I was in training for last week.

By the way Stacy, we don’t need any of those balanced opinions here on RDDN. The internets are chaos and garbage and we like it that way. So don’t go and mess up my program. Mmmkay?

The first being Eddie Money’s Take Me Home Tonight. Yeah, I know, corny, but for some reason I heard this song on Friday night out at the bars and it just struck me. Cheesy 80’s Rawk and all. And by the way, I love 80’s Music, so if you don’t like it you can just Shut You Pie Hole.

The second is The Fray’s Over My Head (Cable Car), cause… well… I am just feeling the song.

Late Addition: Jane’s Addiction Jane Says (Live Version) off the album Kettle Whistle (Sorry, would provide a link but nobody has the song so you can stream it.)

just a short description of any good memories people have from there [Busch Stadium] – waiting in line for tickets, memorable games, or personal stories that happened to them there, first dates, last dates, whatever

Update: What does this all mean? Well, it means you should tell your best Busch Stadium story in the comments section of this post and if it is too indecent to print there (I know my stories are) then send them to me in an email.

Update: Link to another article.

1) If you would like to get something I really need, buy a Dell gift card that I will use towards purchasing a new Dell monitor as mine is currently changing groovy hues of pink and purple on random occasion. Each person who wishes to contribute can buy me a gift card here. Now, I believe the lowest amount you can buy is about $50. I know that only my family who owes me so much due to the happiness I bring to their lives and the various women I… ahem… provide other services for will be able to afford this, so if that is to rich for your blood (you cheap bastards) then try option 2 or 3.

2) If you would like to get something more personal, you can always just go to my Amazon Wishlist Page. There are some cool stuff on there. I am hoping to put some excercise clotheses on there cause I am really into working-out lately so that might be something for you to look at. Otherwise the rest of the stuff is a safe bet. If that is not enough garbage for you to pick from, you can go to my secondary list with all kinds of wacky junk on it.

3) You could be the most awesomest friend evar and buy me a iPod Video 60GB Black MP3 Player with “I am the Internet.” engraved on the back.

4) If you want to be a rebel, just get me whatever the hell you want to.

So, to help this perdicament I have decided to hold the “Nerd Drive” just like I did a couple years ago because it was quite successful and made it easy on people. The thing is that there are a couple of ways I could think about going about this whole thing.

• I could make a wishlist online of things I want and people can pick off that, but not find what they want or just think it mostly junk like DVD’s and Books.
  I have compiled a fairly decent Amazon “Nerd Drive 2006″ Gift List here. Some of the stuff might look weird to you, but its what I need and like.
• I could ask everyone to buy me gift certificates at some place like Best Buy and pool all those together to get what I really need like a iPod (Yes, I need one, cause I have known about them even before they were and are out, I had one of the first MP3 players, I have the largest music collection, it would be awesome for working out, and I am the only person on earth who doesn’t have one) or a nice Dell Flat Panel Monitor for my computer (my current one randomly turns hues of pink and purple at random). The problem with this is that I completely destroy a persons fulfillment in getting a special gift from themselves to me.

Please leave your comments on what you think I should do in the comments section (notice the link down there) below.

Be safe everybody, it’s the holidays and I want you all to be around for them.

I’m not kidding. I still am pretty freaked out. I’m not talking about someone cutting me off or something stupid like that. No, I am talking about a friggin CONCRETE Truck coming down Providence directly at me laying on the horn and flying through the interesection as I am crossing through it. I guess the universe determined that it should be mearly fractions of a second that seperated the fate of the person behind me from mine… and I hope they are okay.

Not to be overly sappy here, but I guess this is a good reminder of how important it is to value our time on this planet. Unfortunately I haven’t been doing so lately, I have gotten too caught up in the more trivial things.

Go ahead on over to my Flickr Pool (Badge on the Left) and take a look.