This was our view as we walked into "The Famous Root Beer Saloon". I wasn't sure if I had just walked into an Alfred Hitchcock sequel, or the Aflack duck's family cemetery.
My husband and I looked around, and at first saw no one...just birds. A woman came out to greet us, poured us each a draft root beer. I drank a Sprecher - and it was delicious indeed!
However, the highlight of this visit was the "who", not the "what". A man came out to chat, and asked what brought us to the area. He sported a black bandana, white hair, beard, leather vest, and blue eyes peering out from behind a face that one could tell had enjoyed the 1960's...with all that observation implies.
"Wineries, huh? You staying the night?"
"No, it's only a 3 hour drive back, so we thought..."
"Oh, man, that's too long for me. If I was drinking wine 3 hours from home, I'd buy a bottle, tell my woman I'd be in the back of the car getting drunk and let her drive us home. Who's driving?"
I sheepishly looked at my husband. "He is."
"Well, that's bull. You need to let her drive. I'm tellin' ya, I'd be long gone in that back seat."
He mentioned he made guitars, so I volunteered we were musicians. He began to talk about taking his guitars to the NAMM Convention, and the success he was having with them. He brought out a beautiful sample of his guitar work, and a flyer with information about his guitar company, Zuni Guitars. He owns a sawmill on land in Michigan that has exclusive rights to trees bearing black curly maple - evidently a rare, desired wood for guitar making.
And then, I asked the 50 Million Dollar Question, "So why live in Alto Pass?"
To make a long story short (we were there at least an hour), this man worked for SIU-Carbondale until he was 39. He decided it was time to move on, so on his 39th birthday, he resigned, asked for his retirement contributions in a one-time lump sum, cashed the check, put the money in a duffel bag and headed to Michigan to fish. He eventually bought the sawmill. He has a home in Alto Pass, because it's near Carbondale. His passions are guitar making, taxidermy, and making deals with major guitar companies on the wood he sells.
I couldn't tell, while we were talking, if this was just a crazy man telling stories trying to pull our leg, or an eccentric millionaire.
After looking at his websites, seeing the guitars, and pricing black curly maple, I vote for the latter.
We finished our root beer, thanked him for his hospitality, and headed to find more wine. I remember thinking, "Now you don't meet someone like that every day." I'm guessing, possibly not again in a lifetime.
We went on a bit of a wild goose chase, heading northwest through back roads, crossing a dried up creek bed that laid in the road, and watching deer jump barbed wire fences under the canopy of thick green trees. The next winery was closed on Tuesdays...so we headed back the way we came.
Finally, we arrived at Starview Vineyards.
This picture was taken as we left - when we arrived, The tasting bar was packed, and we had to wait for an open spot. When we did taste, we found this was our favorite wine of the day. I tried a dry red called "Super Nova" that boasted of spice and buttery mouth-feel...and it delivered. Layered and rich...the best wine of the day, for sure. However, it being summer, hot and sticky, we brought home another strong selection, the "Moonlight White", which was crisp, light, and had a kiwi finish that was very refreshing.
It turned out the young lady who helped us was from Cisne, and was in the band there. She was a student of a friend of mine - small world!
The next winery we visited was Owl Creek.
The building was charming, a cottage in which the tastings were upstairs, and people could sit and enjoy their wines on an elevated patio under the shade of maple trees. The wine we took home we bought not for drinking - but to use as a dessert topping - Framboise. It truly lives up to their claim that it is the most intense raspberry flavor you will find in a bottle. The alcohol content is 17% - fortified with aged brandy - so this is not meant for anything other than a digestive after a meal - or to splash on fruit. At our "Happy Birthday America" meal, we did both.
The final winery of the day was a wonderful choice to end our adventure - Blue Sky Vineyard. The wines were good, the bread with dipping oil delicious...and the scenery...I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:
It felt like Tuscany-West. We also were invited to join another couple enjoying their wine and bread, and had a delightful visit. It turns out the lady had a daughter the same age as ours, and she was a teacher, so we could "speakity-the-same-lingety" (Austin Powers quote...sorry...). We parted ways, our new friends headed to an evening at the casino in Metropolis, us, headed back home.
My husband and I are nomads by nature. We like to move, go, explore...not be rooted. After a month decompressing from a stressful school year, we were due for a relaxing day adventure. We certainly got one! Good wines, good food, unique and memorable people...and a day to just "be".
And on those days (weeks, months) that our "crazy busy" life threatens to swallow us whole, I believe I will uncork a bottle of wine, inhale, then sip slowly...closing my eyes, remembering...
No comments:
Post a Comment