I love rainy days… always have.  Rain seems to slow things down.  It refreshes and cleanses.  But when you are running winery or festival tour rainy days can have a negative impact on the number of people willing to venture out.  I am not quite why that is the case. 
 
I can remember the best days at amusement parks being the ones where it was cloudy and raining off and on.  And as kids, didn’t we love to go out at the end of a rain shower and play in the puddles?  Have you ever taken a long walk in the rain?  It really can be a relaxing experience! 
 
Today we have all kinds of water resistant, water proof and breathable clothing to wear out in the rain.  It’s different then our childhood when wearing a raincoat was the equivalent of being inside of a zip lock bag and suffocating.  Our ugly rubber boots of childhood now have colors and patterns to support a fashion statement.  We have all kinds of technological and fashionable advances to shed, repel and block rain in style.  So why are not more people out in the rain? 
 
And umbrellas; we all have gone through many of them, either lost or broken.  Several years ago at wet spring soccer games I lost two or three umbrellas to torrential rains and wind.  The kids never stopped playing but many of the parents headed to their cars to sit it out while wearing their water resistant, water proof and comfortable breathable clothing.  I ended up afterwards buying a “Gust Buster” umbrella with the guarantee of being able to hold up in a hurricane.  Well, who uses an umbrella in a hurricane anyways?
 
It’s time to start rethinking the rainy day strategy.  Rainy days are perfect for friends and family to get out together.  The crowds are usually much smaller.  Winery and bourbon tours are perfect adventures to soon forget its raining outside!  So be brave and go “singing in the rain”.
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