Wine & Jazz at Longwood Gardens

As I kick off the summer of 2019 there will be a rebrand of my blog which will begin with Motivational Mondays followed by Wellness Wednesdays and end with Fun Fridays.

If you had an opportunity to read my post about Middletown the Play or a chance to read any other reviews then you know it was about lifelong friendships.

I too had an opportunity to celebrate a lifelong friendship with Donna, who once was a supervisor of mine at IBM, but is now a lifelong friend of mine.

Last year she and I had plans to attend the annual Longwood Gardens Wine & Jazz Festival but there was torrential wind and rain that caused it to be canceled for the first time ever!

However, this year the weather was perfect and we were able to enjoy ourselves and celebrate our friendship all day long at the 2019 Wine & Jazz Festival.

Having lived in Delaware most of my life I had never attended Longwood Gardens which is about 45 minutes from Middletown. It was an amazing place even though the sun was hot and the wine was free (as part of the ticket price) I was able to stop and enjoy all the flora that surrounded me!

Wrist Band Tickets and Signature Wine Glass

For the price of admission to the Wine & Jazz Festival our tickets included 10 free wine tastings from over 14 Pennsylvania wineries and we savored wines from California, Washington, New Zealand and Italy.

As a diabetic even with pre-diabetic numbers I only took tiny sips and rinsed my glass thoroughly. However, there was one that I loved; Fire and Ice and there was one that I didn’t like has evidenced by the expression on my face.

Longwood Gardens is massive, we walked and walked for what seemed like miles and there are actually over 4 acres of Conservatory land.

However, beginning at 2:00 p.m. there were Jazz performances throughout the gardens and we had an opportunity to listen to Ensemble Novo at the Beer Garden while we relaxed and had a light lunch.

Ensemble Nova, inspired by the music of Brazil this Philadelpia-based band creates a tropical chill vibe with a unique sound of tenor saxophone, viberphone, electric and nylon string guitars, brass drums and percussion.

As Donna and I returned to the Wine Tasting Stations, we came across several people including this lovely lady Nancy, whose T-shirt caught my eye.

She stated that she too was a Blogger but didn’t do it full time; her husband instead insisted she was more of a blabber. But in the few five minutes of us blabbering, we made a connection that was motivating to say the least.

Lancaster County Cider – Live Fee, Dine Well Drink Real Cider

The Longwood Gardens Wine & Jazz Festival was an awesome event for friends and family of all ages, races, sexual orientations, ethniticies and backgrounds, it was definitely a positive motivator that we should all strive for.

Next we walked over to the Pumphouse Plaza to listen to the High & Mighty Brass Band who is known for their unique ability to combine classic New Oreleans funk and R&B with Hip Hop influences.

High & Mighty Brass Band has shared the stage with legends such as Dr. John, Rebirth Brass Band, and Trombone Shorty. They delivered both fiercely entertaining and refreshingly inspiring performances that had people up dancing on the lawn.

What a great motivator – sun, fun and jazz and an empty wine glass!

We ended the day by walking over to the Orchard to listen to Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra.

Running out of storage on my phone to take any more pictures I was able to go live on Facebook so check it out if you get a chance.

Headed by celebrated trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis the Uptown Jazz Orchestra skillfully combined riff playing, spontaneous arrangements and New Orleans secondline groove in a celebration of all school jazz.