Haunt Jaunt to Arrington Vineyards

Saturday night my husband and I caught up with some fellow University of Arizona Wildcat Alum (aka the Music City Cats) at the Arrington Vineyards. Arrington is a little hamlet 25 miles south of Nashville. The vineyard is only about 15 miles from where we live though.

I’ve seen a lot about the Arrington Vineyards online. It’s a hot topic among Nashvillian bloggers and writers. Of course, being the slow learned I am, I only now understand what all the fuss has been about.

The only other winery I’ve ever been to was the one at the Biltmore Estate. St. Augustine had the San Sebastian Winery, but we only ever drove past it. Biltmore’s winery was very nice. It was a great tour capped off by a fun free tasting session. And the location? Gorgeous. It’s right there smack on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate. If you were dropped there blindfolded you might make the mistake of thinking you’d been transported to France. (Especially if you see the mansion, which was modeled after French chateaus and therefore looks exactly like one!)

I’ve never been to Napa Valley, so I don’t know what the terrain is like there. (Either the countryside or the architecture.) However, Tennessee’s countryside reminds me a lot of what I see on certain stages during the Tour de France.

Saturday as we found our way to the vineyard, I felt as if I’d been transported overseas when the grape-vine covered hillsides came into view. Directly beneath the building which houses the gift shop and wine tasting room is a sprawling grass-covered hill. Dotting it as we rode the courtesy golf cart up from the parking lot were a plethora of picnickers.

See, the Arrington Vineyards hosts free concerts on Friday and Saturday nights, in addition to Sunday afternoons. They encourage people to bring their friends and families (or a date, it’d make a romantic spot), pack a picnic, and enjoy the magnificent vistas, the music, and perhaps even a bottle of wine. (Which of course their hoping you purchase in their gift shop!)

We’re not big drinkers, be it wine or anything else, so the chances of us venturing to the Arrington Vineyards on our own was nil. But we’re always game for catching up with people. We’ve been wanting to catch up with the Music City Cats, so…since the winery wasn’t too far, it was a gorgeous night, and we were in the mood for an adventure, we headed out.

I, of course, was on the lookout for a ghost story, but I didn’t find one.

I did, however, find a very cool place I’d highly recommend to travelers coming to Nashville. The drive will take you through some of the prettiest countryside these parts have to offer. Though small, the vineyard offers up huge atmosphere.

In addition to the image above that I captured literally on the fly (I held out my camera and snapped as the golf cart whizzed past), here’s a few other images I caught. (Sorry they aren’t sharper. My photography skills are a constant work in process!)

Courtney Mroch

Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.

Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.