Travel Day

About 500 miles

After a three week extraction from civilized society, I've been rudely thrown back into the vicious blog rotation. Welcome back.

Our room at the Hotel Julien is really quite fabulous, but I get a bad night's sleep due to indigestion from the Star Brewery restaurant fare. Perhaps they need a new chef.

Johnny drags his feet getting up and we consider having breakfast at the hotel restaurant, but in the end we decide to chop an hour off our trip and eat in Davenport. We also consider heading off on a scenic road along the Mississippi River, but there is so much fog that we end up just jumping on a US highway.

IHOP in Davenport is good fare, and they fix Janel's and my runny scrambled eggs just right.

Johnny completes a yawn

We zip down I-74 through Peoria, IL then I-57. In Effingham, IL, we finally get off onto IL33, and Mandy starts squawking. The drive is really pretty down IL130, then IL1, and IL14. As we approach the IN border Mandy pipes up that toll is imminent. We look ahead and see a pretty but decrepit old bridge and a lonely tool booth. Inside there is a nice old guy who asks, "Are you traveling or are you getting somewhere?" We laugh. Old guy: "Do you know the story of this bridge? I love to tell the story." We sit about 3 minutes while he spins out a story of competing bridges, and that this one is still barely able to exist financially (it sort of looks that way too). A car finally pulls up behind us, I reluctantly suggest that perhaps we should move on. The bridge takes us into the pretty little town of New Harmony, IN.

We arrive at the Love Boat on Westlake Drive in no time. Linda and I are both alarmed to detect no smoke from the Green Egg, but we then can immediately smell it once outside. Whew.

Made it! Yay!

Feels so good to be here!

Mmmmm!

Like mother like daughter

Long drive, about 500 miles. Approaching the West Side from IN62 is a very nice way to come in, scenic roads with light traffic and miles of corn and soybeans.

Arrival beverages and an hour of welcoming outside on the porch. It feels really good to be here. The beautiful new stonework on the steps and walkway is admired by all, which replaced the old worn out wood planks.

Beautiful new stonework

The talk turns inevitably to food, and the dinner process soon hastens. An elegantly prepared menu for the next 3 or 4 days has been prepared by Alice. We read only tonight's dinner menu (but SOME read ahead). On the slate:

Tenderloin Filets of Beef, pan seared
Assorted Mushrooms, sauteed in butter
Baked Potato with choice of Butter and/or Sour Cream
Fresh home-grown Tomatoes
Salad Greens
Mom's hand-made French Baguettes
Beverage of Choice

Oohing and Aahing over the menu

On deck for tonight

Chef Chuck adds skewers of shrimp to the table, which sous-chef Janel expertly prepares on the Egg. Everyone enjoys the addition, none more than Johnny, who gobbles up about 20 of the tasty bugs.

Head Chefs Alice and Chuck

Pan searing in progress

A masterful addition

Final preparations

During dinner, a recounting and re-enactment of "The Shooting of the Shrew" takes place. Alice is asked, "How did the shrew get in?" Alice: "Well, you know, these things just happen, he just snuck in the door when someone came in."

Time to eat!

And time for some wine!

Marching toward 20

Adjournment to the basement lounge. We talk at length of Thailand and Chapman while I involuntarily fall asleep. It's been a long but good day, and good to be home in Evansville.