If you know me, then you know I am a hard cider FANATIC. So when I saw a Groupon for a hard cider tasting in the small town outside of Charlotte I grew up in, I was all over it. 

Since I was in town for Eric's last show, we headed out to Windy Hill Orchard on Saturday. Apparently I had gone to the orchard many times on field trips as a kid, but I had no memories of it, so I was excited to explore it and the town of York again. It was a perfect day weather-wise, which unfortunately meant every other groupon-user in Charlotte had the same idea! We originally planned on picking some apples before doing our tasting, but by the time we arrived all the trees looked sadly bare. That was fine though, because we were there for hard cider tasting right? Right.

After waiting in a long line for our first glass of cider, we sat down to listen to the live band and enjoy the afternoon. However, as soon as we sat down we realized the place was swarming with yellow yackets – Eric's worst nightmare haha. We spent the rest of the afternoon running around the property, trying to avoid any yellow jackets and get each of our six tastings. Unfortunately, we only got to 4 before a yellow jacket landed on me, I threw my glass on the ground and we ran for the car.

Despite the terrifying experience, the cider was extremely good. There was a great one brewed with hops, a tasty rusty gold flavor, and one that tasted pleasantly like Christmas. I already can't wait until the weather gets a bit colder so I can go back and buy a couple bottles. So the lesson learned here? No more buying groupons, and stay out of fruit fields during yellow jacket season!