His/Hers

On most trips, once check out comes the vacation is over.  You reluctantly return home and enter back into the blahs of everyday life.  Not for us!  After another delicious breakfast at The Captain Wohlt Inn (featuring a century old french toast recipe and award winning sausage from a near by town), we said goodbye to our little attic room that we had called home for the past two nights.

But our adventures were not over.  We started our day hiking on the Katy Trail, a 225 mile railroad turned recreational trail.  Our last hiking experience in Missouri, as some of you may remember, ended abruptly with a tick attack that needless to say ruined our hiking spirit.  By some stroke of God or luck or coincidence, the first time that David needed antibiotics in over a decade, happened to be the weekend they were free!  Take that ticks.  Anyways, with great reluctance we attempted to rebuild our faith in hiking in Missouri.  We were off to a great start.  The trail was very wide and well kept and was lined by corn fields and beautiful farms.  We even saw a local resident enjoying a walk on the trail.  It seemed that hiking had been redeemed…for a brief moment.

After passing us while we were off taking pictures, the resident, a young women, turned around and started walking back towards us.  She informed us that just ahead, blocking the path, was a snake.  And yes, it was poisonous.  And yes, there are many of them in the area. And yes, she had to warn us to be careful.  My Fight or Flight was on full alert and let me tell you, it was ALL flight and NO fight.  So we flighted ourselves right back to the safety of our car.  I decided I would save my love for hiking for when I returned to the West Coast, but then my sister informed me that she, just last week, had to flight herself back to the car because a mountain lion made itself known on her hike.  Maybe I don’t like hiking so much.  I take that back…I  love hiking.  I don’t like animals.  Yes, I said it and I don’t care if you think I’m cruel or unloving.  I don’t like animals…or at least not the ones that want to hurt me.

The rest of the day panned out perfectly.  We went to another winery, had a wonderful picnic of cheese, bread, salami and fruit, returned to the brewery for one last sample, and visited a pie shop I had been dying to try out.

I haven’t talked much about the food we have eaten (which is very out of character) for one important reason…it wasn’t that spectacular.  But there were a few highlights:

Homemade apple pie with vanilla ice cream at Time for Pie.  Nuff said.

Amazing potato salad at Montague’s (which accompanied a so-so pulled pork sandwich). Think cold mustard-potato-salad-flavored mashed potatoes.  Mmmmmm…..  If you remember my BBQ post, this definitely ranks up there with the other best pulled pork sides.

Our picnic meal was fabulous.  We got a loaf of multigrain bread, regular and dill Havarti cheese, homemade sausage, an apple and a knife and cutting board all in a neat little basket for a very reasonable price.  For those unprepared for a picnic, it was perfect and the most delicious meal we ate there.

Ricky’s Chocolate Box- we found a shop that had amazing chocolates.  I had such a hard time choosing but eventually I decided on a S’More (graham crackers with marshmallow all covered in thick, rich chocolate) and a German turtle (chocolate filled with carmel, coconut and pecans.)  David chose a simple carmel turtle. The grand total…$9.00.  For three chocolates!!!  I was shocked.  Now, they were amazing…and huge…but think of all the S’Mores I could have made with $9.00!!!

Day 3 was a wonderful end to a wonderful weekend.  We returned home refreshed, inspired, and oh so in love!

Click here for all our pictures from Hermann.

Apparently I’ve been tapped to give a brief rundown of the wineries we visited while in Hermann this past weekend. Each winery had their benefits and drawbacks. For example, Oak Glen had the most scenic view, but their wine was awful. We had to do our best to choke down the samples, just to feel like we put in enough time to take pictures. So go to Oak Glen for the view, not the wine. More promising, however, was the Adam Puchta winery, as well as the wine from Bommarito Estate. Both had good Norton’s–the Missouri state grape–as well as several other varietals that were easy to drink. We learned that the key to Missouri wine is that almost everything is sweet and most of the reds are heavily oaked. Consequently, it took some time just to get used to a different wine making process. In the end, we found that some of the red blends resemble what we were most used to–Adam Putcha was helpful here. But there were a couple of surprises worth noting. Brenna (and even I) liked one of the Dry Roses’ that we tried. Kinda girly, I know, but what can I say, it was pretty tasty. My favorite surprise was not the Rose, however, but a Cream Sherry from Stone Hill. Typically, I do not like Sherrys, but this had a really unique Butterscotch finish. Brenna didn’t try it.

You can view all of our pictures here.

This weekend we had a fabulous trip to Hermann, MO, awarded Best Weekend Getaway by the Riverfront Times. Hermann is a beautiful town in the heart of Missouri wine country.  German settlers decided on the area of Hermann because it reminded them of their home land.  Due to its origin, the town is full of German culture…from the names of the buildings to the menus at the restaurants.  When the town was first settled, 66 wineries sprung up around the area.  With prohibition, the vines were burned to the ground and the wine was poured into the Missouri river, leaving the people and the economy of Hermann in despair.  It wasn’t until the 1950’s that the wineries were restored.  Throughout the weekend, we had the pleasure of touring five wineries all within 5-15 minutes of the historic downtown where we stayed.

We picked the perfect weekend to visit…beautiful foliage, warm weather and bright blue skies.  Our experience was wonderful.  We arrived Friday afternoon and settled into our little Bed and Breakfast, The Captain Wohlt Inn. The owners, husband and wife Mat and Kent Wilkins, were true models of hospitality.  Their advice, which was plentiful, was always spot on which made navigating the town a delight. They genuinely care for their guests which made us feel as welcome as family. This was the best B&B experience I have ever had, and I have been blessed with many B&B experiences in my short life. The breakfasts were wonderful and there was always a plate of cookies waiting to be devoured. We called the room our little hobbit hole.  It was an attic room with vaulted ceilings which we gladly accepted as we were able to pay much less for it.  Except for the slightly claustrophobic shower, the ceilings and size of the room didn’t become an issue at all.

Our first day in town we toured the Tin Mill Brewing Company. Even in wine country a Richmon vacation can not be complete without beer. Considering it was a block away from our B&B and served $1 samples, we were frequent visitors. Our first day in town we also visited the Kunstlerhaus, one of Mat’s wonderful recommendations.   The name translates to “house of artists” which is very appropriate as it is a gallery/store featuring work from 30 local artists.  We were awed and inspired by the local talent, the appreciation of art, and the sense of community that this place had to offer.  We walked away with a beautiful serving bowl and some little Christmas presents which must not be named. Below are some pictures from our first day in Hermann.

View all of our Hermann pictures here

Soulard is one of our favorite neighborhoods in St Louis.  It also happens to be filled with many Best Of’s.  The farmers market is Best Place to People Watch, the mini donut stand within the market is Best Donuts, and a little park nearby was honored Best Public Park.  Today was the perfect fall day to enjoy grocery shopping with our new camera.

At the end of the day, we came home with 8 apples, 7 bananas, 2 cantelopes, 7 green bell peppers, 3 bunches of asparagus, 4 lbs of red potatoes, 2 bouquets of flowers and 2 whole farm fresh chickens for a grand total of $20. Yes, we will miss this place.