A Little Bit O' Country Done Me Good

...turkey-lurkey-doo, turkey-lurkey dat...

...I eat my turkey then I take a nap.

That's pretty much how it went. I had a fabulous trip to a little town just Northwest of St. Louis, Missouri. And when I say little, I mean l-i-t-t-l-e. Think Little House On The Prairie...where the Grandpa owned all the land back in the day. Yep, that kind of little. Tiny. And I loved everything about it.

What a better way to top off Thanksgiving dinner than to watch The Santa Clause on a very large screen TV while eating popcorn, then Peppermint Chip ice cream? It was grand. And for the first time in who knows how many years, I actually am feeling the festiveness of the season. That NEVER happens. Ever.

*****

Black Friday brought everything but black. The (almost) fam and I escaped to a historic old town called Kimmswick to spend our day. The streets were filled with Christmas shops, antique shops, and candle shops galore. The weather was absolutely gorgeous...sunny and in the 60's...with just enough crisp air to make it that perfect autumn day. We ate lunch at the infamous restaurant, The Blue Owl, which had me strolling down Loveless Cafe memory lane.

The night brought us to a revamped dive bar known as Mustang Sally's. The jukebox in the corner was one of the first all digital jukeboxes I've seen. The selector screen even let you order the CD's and have them delivered directly to your house! Unfortunately, the music selection was ripped away from beneath us when the DJ came in to spin some of his finest (i.e. - horrible songs from the 80's that five out of five 80's teens had no recognition of whatsoever). I really Really REALLY wanted one of the hot pink Mustang Sally's tank tops. In no time it would've become my latest cool vintage tee.

*****

Since Missouri is the second largest wine producing state in the US, Saturday was winery day. Mmmmm. We picked the two best to visit: Stone Hill Winery and Adam Puchta Winery. Stone Hill was nestled in the hills of a little German town called Hermann. The scenery was beautiful and very old-fashioned. It was almost as if we had gone back in time. Adam Puchta was a bit more rustic, but the wines were matched which several different flavors of cheesestraws, which brought some delicious flavor surprises. Between the stash we flew back with us and the bottles that we're getting for Christmas, we'll be well-stocked for a long, long time.

All in all it was a perfect Fall trip, just as I was hoping. Even better, actually. It was nice to be in the Central Time Zone again...somehow it strangely felt like home.