Tucked away about 30 miles south of Nashville, you’ll find a real gem of the mid-state: Arrington Vineyards. It’s easily accessible no matter where you’re coming from, and yet – you feel like you’re a hundred miles away from the bright lights and booming sounds of Broadway. With an extra day to rest and relax last weekend for Memorial Day, my girlfriend and I decided we’d make the drive down to Arrington to spend the afternoon enjoying the scenery and beautiful weather.
First things first, picnics are welcome at Arrington Vineyards, but you have to put together your basket strategically. It starts warming up in Tennessee this time of the year, so step one is to acquire a cooler and fill it with ice and water. You’re going to be drinking wine all afternoon, so you definitely want to stay hydrated.
On occasion, you might see a food truck or two parked on the grounds, but I prefer to pack my own snacks in order to avoid eating too much heavy food in the heat. On Saturday, we packed a cheese flight, a veggie tray, a fruit platter, and some crackers and pepperoni to enjoy with the cheese. There may or may not have been a couple of bags of chocolates in the cooler as well. We took a blanket to spread out and lay on, and a couple of chairs just in case we grew tired of lying on the ground.
Spoiler alert: we did NOT grow tired of lying on the ground. We got a late start on Saturday, but that was at least in part by design. I’ve never seen the sunset from Arrington, so I wanted to make sure we captured that on this trip. We arrived a little after 1PM, and thanks to a cooler my family bought us for Christmas, I was able to wheel our stash up the hill. Another pro-tip: if you can get something on wheels, DO IT. Do everything you can to avoid carrying a cooler up that steep hill – unless of course, you’re content to camp out in the lower lawn area of the vineyard. We usually try to head up top because it’s less crowded and honestly, I think the view of the area is better. I thoroughly enjoy seeing the hilltops in the distance.
We found our usual spot, spread the blanket out, and proceeded to be lazy as hell for the entire afternoon. On the weekends, they serve frosé, so that was item #1 on the agenda. That’s some dangerous stuff – it’s so refreshing. But, they also offer wine flights, and of course, wine by the bottle. Our recommendation would be the honeysuckle wine. Completely reasonable prices, especially considering it’s free to get into the vineyard to begin with.
We went through a few rounds of snacks, wine flights, and frosé before we decided it was time for an actual meal around 5PM. Luckily, Burger Republic and Smokin’ Buttz both had trucks parked on the premises. Burgers it was. I took a book, mowed through some pages, and felt the stresses of everyday life simply melt away.
By the time golden hour arrived, I was ready to take it in. We got up and walked even further up the hill…as far as we could possibly go. We stood on top of the hill and surveyed the scene before us. I don’t feel a natural high too often, but standing up there and seeing the way the sunset threw light all over the hills of Tennessee gave me one.
We explored the property a little more before deciding we’d be old people and try to beat the traffic home (the grounds close at 8PM). We packed up, strolled back down the hill, taking in the views along the way, and hit the road with only a few minutes to spare before closing. Our night concluded with a nice drive through Nolensville and across Antioch back to Hermitage. If you’re in the Nashville area, it’s the perfect way to kill a summer afternoon, and I can’t imagine a better setting to take in a beautiful golden hour.
For more on Arrington Vineyards, check out their website.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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