After a long week, I crave one of two things: a large glass of wine or a fun weekend with friends. Luckily, thanks to our friends at Mohegan Sun, I am able to enjoy both of those this weekend. The Mohegan Sun invited the four of us to their Sun Wine Fest ‘12 as media guests.

The Sun Wine Fest brings together over a thousand different beer, wine, and liquor brands in their Grand Tasting Event which is held in Mohegan Sun’s convention center. In addition, their Main Culinary stage will feature demos by Bobby Flay, Todd English, and other area chefs!

Theodora and I boarded the train at 6:00 for New London, Connecticut after a bit of a delay at Penn Station. As you can probably imagine, we were very excited to visit the café car for some evening wine.

This mini bottle of Kendall Jackson definitely came through for the win as it was both tastier than expected and the perfect amount to split. Since we’ve barely seen each other since the holidays, the 2.5 hour train trip flew by. Luckily we didn’t piss off our neighbors in the quiet car too much.

Once we arrived in New London we discovered an adorable town complete with a main square, ice skating rink, and plenty of bars and restaurants. Theodora and I enjoyed a $4 Long Trail at Y Knot Lounge while we waited for Anne and Tina. The owner was adorable and told us all about the town while we enjoyed our beer.

The bar even had a list of unpaid tabs hanging above the liquor section!

Tina and Anne picked us up a few minutes later and we were on our way to Mohegan Sun. I was amazed when we arrived. Mohegan Sun is literally a single compound which combines the Connecticut countryside with Las Vegas’ shows, gambling, restaurants, and cigarette smoke.

The room has a beautiful view of the surroundings and features a large bathroom and two full size beds.

We headed downstairs for our 10pm reservations at Ballo, the newest addition to Mohegan Sun’s restaurant repertoire. Inspired by the hills of Tuscany, Ballo focuses on bringing together the beauty Italian cathedrals and fresh, locally grown Italian food and produce.  

We started with the same wine Tina enjoyed when she was at Ballo back in December, Pio Cesare Arneis. We paired the wine with crusty bread and amazing butter, which was in olive oil and sprinkled with herbs.

When you hand four hungry ladies an amazing menu the result is a table filled with delicious food. Instead of ordering entrees we split four of their appetizers and vegetables. Everything we ordered was devoured within seconds, but the winners were the Brussels sprouts and crispy artichokes.

The doughy pizza, topped with sweet sausage, caramelized onions, and pepper, was the perfect amount to share between the four of us.

Dinner at Ballo was the perfect beginning to our Mohegan weekend and great fuel for this morning’s workout. Though we were moving very slowly this morning, we eventually made our way outside for a run along the Mohegan Sun grounds.

While there are two parks within a fifteen minute drive of Mohegan, we felt like keeping it simple by running here.

Clearly, Anne’s thumb was very excited about this run. While there were no actual trails around the grounds we found a few surrounding hills, dead end streets, and most importantly a land fill. Yes, for one reason or another there is a prettier than expected landfill about a half mile from Mohegan Sun through which we may or may not have run.

The other speedy ladies were running 5.5 miles today but I only needed to do 3 since I ran 7 miles yesterday. We kept a 9:37 pace for the first 2 miles which means that today’s run was more like a speed workout for me than a recovery run. It was great being able to chat with the girls as we explored the grounds.

Clearly we had to take some pictures at the top of the hill.

After our morning run we satiated our hunger at Season’s Buffet, which was complimentary with our media pass. The buffet was very impressive and had options for anyone. Since we know the rest of the day will include lots of drinking and eating during the Sun Wine Fest, we figured it was best to start with a hearty but healthy breakfast.

Anytime I eat breakfast or brunch in a restaurant with an omelet station I take full advantage of it. Omelets seem to taste better when someone else makes them! My omelet included egg whites, mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, and cheddar cheese. We were all thoroughly impressed with their fruit selection, especially the fresh pineapple, which was delicious.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Saturday!

*The Mohegan Sun was kind enough to cover the cost of our hotel room and tickets to Sun Fest 12. All other costs are our responsibility.