Pink Lightening

Yes, it's true, I saw pink lightening. It was awesome! I don't know if lightening is always pink when one is driving directly under a thunderstorm, but it certainly was in this case. I know when my mom reads this, she is going to want to know WHY I was driving under a thunderstorm--she really did teach me better, I just don't always listen. Let me answer that question for all of you, just for the fun of it. I was under a thunderstorm because I took a two hour detour that completely destroyed the head start that I had on the storm when I starting driving out of Illinois. Honestly, it's the most worthwhile detour I've taken in a long time. I took a chance on a little roadside sign for Cameo Vineyards and Winery and I am so glad that I did. Before yesterday, I thought Illinois was all corn fields and Wal*Marts. No no, not the case at all. In Greenup, IL you will find a gorgeous homegrown winery featuring some of the best wine I've ever had. Owners Sonya and Dan grow all of the grapes on their 10 acres, care for the vines and tend the store where they sell the fruit of their labor. I drove off the interstate on a whim and ended up chatting with Sonya for 2 hours about wine and being a business owner and following dreams and men and kids and what it's like to live in Illinois and, well, the list goes on and on. It was fantastic. She told me about how she and her husband had worked in corporate America for years when they suddenly decided that wine was what they wanted to do. They quit their jobs and starting spending everyday in the fields, cultivating vines and caring for the fragile plants. That was nine years ago. Imagine taking a major leap like that, not knowing what will happen, and then having it all working out? She was so candid with me, I almost forgot we had met only a few hours prior. That is one of the greatest things about the Midwest, instant friends. Sometimes, they are what we in the industry call IBFs: Instant Best Friends. IBFs are not really the kind of friends you want to make, they like to chat A LOT and they usually hover. In this case, Sonya was the complete opposite. She has that great Midwestern quality about her where she can speak to a complete stranger like an old friend just because it's the right thing to do. Bottom line, it was a great two hours. On to the winery. I wish I had some photos of the building but I didn't have a chance before I headed back into the rain, so I'll do my best do describe it instead. It's spacious for a smaller house, one large room out front with the tasting bar and then the production room and small office in back. The front porch is perfect with wooden rockers and a little grassy spot before you hit the gravel driveway. Off to one side of the building is a little patch of vines--just a fraction of the 10 acres that grow the rest of the crops. This house has a great story behind it. Sonya explained to me that all of the materials came from an old barn that used to stand on Dan's grandfather's land and when they decided to open the store, they took the materials and reconfigured them into a great little structure. It really was perfect. It had the old country feel to it, but it was absolutely immaculate and there was nothing kitch about it. The wall boards were aged, the tin on the tin roof was really tinny and the bricks on the display wall behind the counter looking like they had been there for decades. A girl could really get used to hanging out in a place like that! I apologize for the quality of the picture, it was raining really hard...so here's the link to their website to get a better view: www.cameowine.com. Check it out, it's fancy :)