We’ve talked about Harvest Host overnight stops for RVs. They are farms, museums, vineyards, and other businesses that have empty, flat parking lots at night where RVs can stay free. If a shop is open, they ask that we stop in and buy something as a thank you for staying. Since this is the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, we couldn’t find a campground to stay in, so tonight we stayed at a vineyard.
We parked just inside the fence on the left close to the tasting room. Lovely spot. Four other couples joined us for an overnight here.
Rodney has been a farmer in this area for a number of years. In the spring of 2003, another farmer asked him to plant vines so he decided to try a new crop.
Here’s what he says about this on his website: “Rodney decided to plant 1,000 vines to give it a try. The only problem was there were not any vines available to plant. Because cold-climate grape vines were so limited, most vineyards had placed their orders for vines in the previous Autumn. Eventually, 120 vines were secured, of two varieties: King of the North and Swenson Red.” And the vineyard was started.
They now offer 5 different types of wine in the tasting room and for purchase.
Again from the website: “Also in 2004, it was decided that Red Trail Vineyard just might need a gathering place for the people who had been showing up to see what was going on at the Hogen Farmstead. Ever since our first planting in 2003, many people had stopped to check out first-hand the latest that they had heard, and some were even put to work before they had a chance to leave, doing planting and trellis work. So, a 100-year-old granary/bunkhouse was discovered near Casselton, ND and moved to a foundation at the Vineyard. It was later discovered that the site from which this building had been moved was also along the Old Red Trail, which was very appropriate. Work immediately began to convert this very old structure into a Tasting Room.”
They don’t ship, so we’re carrying the bottle with us until we can visit Susie later this fall.
If you’re ever in the Fargo area, be sure to drop by on Friday and Saturday afternoons. Also, they serve dinner on Friday nights during the summer so call ahead for a reservation.
Now we’re off to the northeastern area of North Dakota!
