From the category archives:

Spring Tour

Event Recap: Iroquois Steeplechase 2012

May 15, 2012

This past weekend, Team VV and Whale Force One rolled into Nashville for the 71st running of the Iroquois Steeplechase at Percy Warner Park. This was our second year at the event, and we were excited to once again return to this beautiful setting for this lively event! We were also excited to see so many fans sporting VV, including the custom product from our Nashville store. Custom Steeplechase coozies proved to be the hot item on the infield as well as the always popular whale hats. A few lucky fans even grabbed VV ponchos early on! We were also luck to have Miss Nashville on hand, live music, and of course, an appearance by the VV Whale! Thanks to the Steeplechase staff for making us feel welcome again, and to all the VV fans who stopped by our tent!

Check out more photos on our flickr feed!

Tagged as: coozies, horse racing, iroquois steeplechase, nashville, spring tour, vineyard vines

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Event Recap: Charleston Race Week 2012

May 1, 2012

On April 19th, the VV team arrived in Charleston, SC for one of the biggest sailing regattas of the year: Charleston Race Week! Despite some early rain and clouds, things cleared up and set the stage for a great few days of sailing, Dark and Stormys, and lots of VV swag. We were once again excited to make custom CRW vineyard vines product, as well as give out coozies, water bottles, and the famous pink whale hats. Thanks to the amazing race week staff for being so welcoming and accommodating! (And congrats to Team VV sailors John and Molly on their win – more on that soon!)

Tagged as: charleston race week, regatta, sailing, south carolina, vineyard vines

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Event Recap: Keeneland College Scholarship Day 2012

April 27, 2012

On April 6th, the VV team arrived in Lexington, Kentucky for Keeneland College Scholarship Day. Throughout the day we experienced great weather and even better horse races. The first 1,000 students to arrive received limited edition vineyard vines baseball hats. Also given away were croakies, stickers, sunglasses, whale hats, lanyards, and limited edition coozies. To top off the event, we hosted an enter to win contest where we gave away a YETI cooler prize pack which included a VV YETI cooler, two VV beach towels, and a $100 gift card! Stay tuned for a post on our next tour stop at Charleston Race Week!

Tagged as: horse racing, keeneland college scholarship day, vineyard vines, yeti cooler

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Event Recap: Carolina Cup 2012

April 6, 2012

Team VV headed down to South Carolina last week for the Eightieth Annual Carolina Cup and the second stop of the 2012 Spring Tour. We started the trip off at Brittons of Columbia where we had a fun Pre-Carolina Cup event filled with great custom Cup coozies, corn hole, tunes and a great giveaway package. After getting suited up for the Cup at Brittons, our next stop was The Springdale Race Course for 80th annual Carolina Cup. The thousands of college students who made the trip to the race track were greeted with custom cup coozies, sunglasses, croakies, lax pinnies, whale hats and anything else they could get their hands on. Throughout the day you couldn’t take two steps without seeing a whale hat and VV sunglasses bobbing through the crowds of excited students. Overall, we had an absolute blast, met a bunch of diehard VV fans and saw some great exciting horse racing. Thanks again to everyone who came out for the fun and to all of the Carolina Cup organizers for hosting us!

Check out more photos on our flickr page!

Tagged as: carolina cup, horse racing, south carolina, spring tour, vineyard vines

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Spring Tour 2012: Killington, VT

March 20, 2012

The 2012 vineyard vines Spring Tour kicked off this past St. Patrick’s Day weekend up north at Killington Mountain in beautiful Vermont. Spring skiing was in full effect when we arrived Saturday morning at the Snowshed Lodge. Skiers and riders were greeted with Irish green signature VV swag that they sported all over Killington’s sunny slopes. The crowd enjoying a beautiful St. Patrick’s Day with whale hats spotted across the mountain was quite a scene, and team VV even got to enjoy a little spring skiing as well! Thanks to everyone who came out – now, on to the next stop!

Tagged as: killington, patchwork suburban, skiing, spring tour 2012, vineyard vines, whale hats

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What’s Travelin’: The Return of Whale Force One

May 24, 2011

As you may have read right here on the VV blog, our Spring Tour wrapped up after Steeplechase in Nashville a few weeks ago. But, it didn’t officially end until the patchwork suburban, known as Whale Force One, made it back to VV headquarters in Stamford, CT. The drive from Nashville to Stamford gave us one last chance to have a little fun on tour and catch some sights. Here’s a few highlights from the 16 hour drive!

Getting ready for the loooooong drive…

The Sun Sphere in Knoxville!

Lots of trucks, and lots of hills…

Tempted to take a detour to Charlotte to check in on our upcoming new store!

Getting artsy with the camera…

We stopped in Natural Bridge, VA where we ran into a dinosaur, a gorilla, and a pink diner! (Alas, we did not have time to see the actual “natural bridge” rock formation).

Pennsylvania showed us a giant paint can and an oddly placed truck…

The Tappan Zee Bridge means we’re getting close to home!

Home sweet home!

Thanks again to everyone who came out to our Spring Tour events! We had such a blast, and we hope you did too. Stay tuned for info on the Fall!

Tagged as: nashville, natural bridge, patchwork, road trip, spring tour, stamford, vineyard vines, whale force one

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That’s A Wrap! Spring Tour Recap

May 23, 2011

“Adventure: defined best as a journey from which you may not come back alive – and certainly not as the same person” -Y.Choinard

Well, after thousands of miles, plenty of road side pit stops, flat tires, mishaps, and a series of succesful events, the vineyard vines spring tour completed the arduous journey back home. There’s something to be said for a good ol’ adventure. We met such incredible people across the country who, by all means were truly living “the good life”. The high fives in parking lots with fans, countless photos taken of “WhaleForceOne” and more than enough laughs made this trip that much more special. Looking back on things, when we started off on this tour, it’s pretty clear we put a few or well, plenty of great memories in that life experience pile. That’s what it’s all about right?

We want to take the time to thank each and everyone one of you who kept up with the tour, let all of their friends know when we were arriving and showing your support for vineyard vines all over the south. Here’s a little photographic recap for a little reminisicing. It’s hard to imagine this ALL happened. Let’s look at the numbers…

Texas A&M showing their vineyard vines pride with Whale Force One – 15,000 + Miles Driven

10,000 + Whale Hats given out on Tour

1 Day of Incredible Surfing in Palm Beach Florida

1,000 + games of corn hole

5,000 + Sunglasses & 2,500 + Croakies given out

25 + um… “Whale’pearances”

About 20 + Whale Dances – We know you can’t help it!

100 + BBQ meals on Tour….

The journey continues for us, as we get ready for a fantastic summer. WhaleForceOne will be bopping around the Northeast making stops at some of our events and other happenings. If you find yourself next to a patchwork suburban, you’re doing something right. The Fall will bring about a lot of new updates and news on what we’ll be up to. Be sure to check in and see what we have lined up. In the meantime, from the Spring Tour crew to you, thank you for everything. You made this tour possible.

Tagged as: spring tour, vineyard vines, vineyard vines spring tour, whaleforceone

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Event Recap: Iroquois Steeplechase – Nashville, TN

May 17, 2011

This past weekend, the vineyard vines Spring Tour wrapped up in Nashville with a stop at the famous Iroquois Steeplechase! We set up shop near the grandstand with our tent and on the infield with Whale Force One (our signature patchwork suburban!).

Things got a bit muddy due to a passing shower here and there, but the aptly named “Whale Force Too” handled it in style!

This was our first time at this event, and we were excited to see so much VV being worn, including some custom Steeplechase gear from our new Nashville store!

We stopped by a few tailgates to hand out goodie bags to winners from our Nashville store’s facebook page…

Whale Hats continued to be popular, as well as whale tattoos and stickers!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hi to us, and a huge thanks to the Steeplechase staff for making us feel so welcome! We can’t wait for next year! Be sure to check out our flickr feed for tons more photos!

Tagged as: horse racing, iroquois steeplechase, nashville, vineyard vines

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vineyard vines at the Kentucky Derby!

May 11, 2011

The races have been run and the VV truck packed up as we’ve returned from an amazing week at Churchill Downs, culminating with the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday! For most of the team VV crew, it was our first time in Louisville for this event, and we can say that despite not picking any winners, we had a blast and met so many amazing people!

Our trip began with a unique look into workout day early in the morning on Thursday, May 5th. This turned out to be a great opportunity to see the track and horses up close.

We also had a few media appearances with the whale, who quickly made friends with a giant Mint Julep!

Friday was Oaks Day, a prelude to the Kentucky Derby with the main race featuring Fillies. Our store up in the Turf club was open for business showing off the VV Kentucky Derby Collection, as well as our spot on the infield with the patchwork suburban, known affectionately now as “Whale Force One.” We gave out tons of stickers, tattoos, and whale hats to fans, both new and old!

vineyard vines kentucky derby

Saturday, May 7th was the main event with tens of thousands of people pouring into Churchill Downs for the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby. The VV-wrapped tractors groomed the track between races as lots of great costumes and hats stopped by the VV tent to check out the VV catalog and grab freebies! As we continued to hand out goodies to visitors to our tent, we had no idea that the foam whale hat would become the most coveted item on the infield!

vineyard vines kentucky derby

We snapped tons of photos of Derby-goers with the VV whale and Whale Force One sporting tattoos, whale hats, and Derby stickers! Be sure to visit our flickr feed to see them all!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our store and infield spot! It was a treat for us to have the opportunity to attend this event and to meet so many wonderful people. Also, a huge thanks to the staff at Churchill Downs for being so accommodating and helpful during our stay!

Tagged as: churchill downs, kentucky derby, kentucky oaks, mint julep, spring tour, vineyard vines, whale hats

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Event Recap: Foxfield Pre-Party @ The Backyard, Charlottesville, VA

May 3, 2011

Well, here we are with the final stretch of the vineyard vines spring tour. We were able to link up with the Backyard in Charlottesville, VA for a Pre-Foxfield Races event on Friday April 29th. To say the least, this place was awesome and the staff super helpful. The students and vineyard vines fans who made it out were greeted with coozies, ping pong balls, stickers and plenty of good times to go around ten fold. The night was perfect and with everyone excited for the next day events at the race-track, the energy in the air was contagious. We could barely sleep Friday night in anticipation for the next day. A huge thanks goes out to everyone who attended and well, if you made it there we like to imagine you were living “the good life”.