Recently, while planning a fun trip to Ohio Pyle State Park (one of my favorite places btw) I came across the Laurel Highlands Pour Tour. If you haven’t heard of the Laurel Highlands, then you should. It is a really beautiful mountainous area that is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. It spans across three counties, Westmoreland, Somerset, and Fayette. The Laurel Highlands is home to so many fun things to do. Ohio Pyle is just one of the great places I love to go to in the area. When I came across the pour tour I had to see what it was all about.
A little information on it and a glimpse into our first two stops.
The Laurel Highlands Pour Tour is basically a self-guided tour through all the great breweries, wineries, and distilleries in the area. You can either download the app, or signup for a physical passport. As you visit these awesome places you can check-in at each place. When checking in through the app, you upload a photo of your beverage and tag your location. If you get the physical passport, once you purchase something you ask for a sticker for your passport to mark that you have completed that check-in. The goal is to visit as many places as you can. Throughout your time visiting each place, enjoying great drinks, and amazing scenery you can receive prizes for hitting different levels of the tour.
When on the app, the coolest part is that it tells you a list of all the places and how far they are from your exact location. It is kinda my favorite part. That way I know of all the cool places I need to check out and how far away they are.
Even though I downloaded the app just to check it out, naturally after looking at it I had to do it. I also ordered the passport for fun (which is free btw). In the meantime, I decided to download the app and hit two places last weekend. On our way to hit some trails at Ohio Pyle, we stopped at Ridge Runner Distillery and the Christian W. Klay Winery.
Stop #1 Ridge Runner Distillery
Both Ridge Runner Distillery and Christian W. Klay Winery were right across the street from each other. They were also basically on the way to Ohiopyle so we had to stop. The distillery was super cute, mostly outdoors so would definitely recommend going when its nice outside. The bartender was amazing, very friendly and entertaining as well. I had a caramel apple martini which was sooo good. I also bought a bottle of the root beer moonshine to take home for the family to try, which was also really delicious.
Stop #2 Christian W. Klay Winery
The winery was also amazingly beautiful. I will say I am sad I didn’t take too many photos, but I will definitely be going back. We both went with a sweeter wine, the staff was really good about helping people pick out what wine is best for them. They let people sample a few different wines before purchasing a glass. Most of the seating at the winery was also outdoors, but they had some places with tents, and roofs overhead which was also nice. The views were stunning. The winery is also pet friendly which is a fun benefit.
I have been visiting the Laurel Highlands area for years, and never knew about these places. I am so glad I learned about the pour tour and downloaded the app. Heres some links for ya incase your interested.
Laurel Highlands Pour Tour Website here.
Check out some other fun things to do in the area such as…
Thanks for joining me today guys!! I am going to try to document my pour tour trips for you guys and if I am lucky I will get through them all at some point.
