(From Kent County Tourism)
It was a cold and rainy in Kent County, Delaware the weekend of January 11-12, but that didn’t stop a dozen new customers – with Good Libations Tour passports in hand – from visiting the Painted Stave Distillery, Kent County’s new craft distillery.
Just three days before, the Mid-Atlantic Region saw thousands of Good Libations Tour passports – from Dover to Baltimore and Washington, D.C. – as part of a “soft opening” of the new tour, aimed at bringing visitors to the county. The promotion is also evidence of a growing number of wineries, breweries and even a distillery in the Kent County area.
Within two days of launch Kent County Tourism had also been contacted by a Baltimore-based tour operator, seeking information to plan a Good Libations Tour, packaged with a visit to the Air Mobility Command Museum.
“We are pleasantly surprised at the response starting right out of the gate,” said Cindy Small, executive director of Kent County Tourism, the organization that also produces the annual Delaware Wine and Beer Festival in October.
Three of the five, Harvest Ridge Winery, Marydel; Mispillion River Brewing, Milford; and Painted Stave Distillery, Smyrna, are new having opened in November, 2013. They join Fordham/Dominion Brewing Company in Dover and Pizzadili Winery and Vineyards, Felton, in rounding out the five stops on the tour.
“You can download a passport from the website, which is www.GoodLibationsTour.com, or pick one up at 300 visitor information locations throughout the Delmarva, Baltimore and Washington areas,” Small said.
Once tour-goers visit all five of the locations and have their passports initialed, it can be mailed in to win prizes, such as wine glasses, t shirts and other items.
“The popularity of hand-crafted libations goes hand-in-hand with the ‘buy local’ initiative that is sweeping the nation,” Small said. “We started the Delaware Wine and Beer Festival five years ago and each year it has grown in popularity, scope and attendance, so the Good Libations Tour is a year-round extension of our marketing initiative to bring wine, beer and spirits fans to Kent County.”
