Vino Piazza Dinosaurs in Lockeford?

The small, pastoral town of  Lockeford is home to about 4,000 people and Big Al, a 26’  full sized reproduction of  an  Allosaurus.  Seem like an unlikely combination?  That was what we thought as well until we visited Vino Piazza, located at 12470 Locke Road.  The Piazza started life in 1946 as the Lockeford Winery.  It closed in the 70s and it lay dormant and deteriorating for almost 30 years.  When the county put it up for auction most people could not see beyond the trash and graffiti to see the possibilities the building offered. 

This was not a problem for Don and Karyn Litchfield.  Don was a Geologic Engineer with many years experience in environmental clean up and Karyn has a graphic design background and a great imagination.  The two saw the potential and began a two year odyssey to bring the old building to new glory.  It is now has a Tuscan Winery style and is home to nine individual tasting rooms as well as a two restaurants to round out your visit.

The Litchfields are also the owners and operators of the Olde Lockeford Winery, located in the old distillery building.  This is a place you could spend hours looking through the collection of fossils, minerals and many research quality cast dinosaur replicas usually seen only in museums.  Several of the replicas have names like Neal, the skull & frill of 65 million year old triceratops, Stan, a full-sized head & neck of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and the main attraction, Big Al, a 26’ recreation of a full-sized Allosaurus.  There is also a real fossilized nest of Hadrosaur dinosaur eggs and a 50 billion year old meteorite.  Continued ...