Stone HIll

Yesterday, Claire and I toured Stone Hill Winery, just up the hill from Hermann. Stone Hill is the oldest of the 82 wineries in Missouri, and before prohibition, it was the third largest winery in the world. This was our third trip to the winery, but this time was purely for educational purposes. Claire is taking a Food and Wine Writing course at Mizzou. I found drinking wine for the sake of journalistic research staggering ;-)'

Big barrel.

Claire taking copious notes.

Claire having barrels of fun.

Faux champagne, demonstrating just
waiting for five years.

Hermann looking much like a Rhine River wine bourgh.

Vineyards settling in for a long winter nap.

50 something again

Tuesday, I said hello to my next year with friends and family.

The sunset as seen from the Les Bourgeois Blufftop Bistro.

R to L: me, Pat, Claire, Luke and Mark.
Mark and I share the same birthday. Always have.

Sporting an awesome, authentic Lansdowne
rugby shirt form Claire.

Memorial Service

Saturday we celebrated the life of Pat's
boss and friend Sandi Abell.
Pictured above, Pat shared stories of
researching, publishing, traveling
and working with Sandi.

Leg of lamb

Claire is a wizard in the kitchen.
Check out this leg of lamb.
I ate all 7.5 pounds in one sitting.
Yumm.

New office furniture

Turtle Walk

Because of conflicts, my birthday was pre-scheduled for October 9. After wandering aimlessly through central MO for half the morning, Pat, Rosie, Mr. Bojangles and I chose to hike around Little Dixie Lake. The sky was blue. The wind calm. The temperature perfect. And the leaves were just beginning to rustle about our feet as we slumbered down the path. During the hike, we happened across quite a few box turtles hiking the same loop. At the risk of indicting the "tortoise and the hare" theory, at the end of the hike, there were no turtles celebrating victory in the parking lot.

Despite not seeing the turtle next to her,
Rosie found an interesting bug.

Pat makes a new friend.

Pet the puppy break.

Holy schmoly, another three-toed box turtle.

And a remarkably awe inspiring sighting --
a large flock of migratory box turtles
landed on the trail all around us.

PA hike

Mike and Ryan from Boise, Idaho. 

We ended the work week with a relaxing hike
on the mountain ridge above Pine Grove
Mills, PA. The oak trees were just beginning
to turn color.

Roots N Blues N BBQ

Shemekia Copeland sharing her big voice
and soulful love songs.

Pat is all smiles because Tab would soon
take the stage.

The McGee's balloon drifting over
the festival.

The shining prince of bayou blues, Tab Benoit,
wailing on his guitar .

Tab sharing the stage with his friend Anders Osborne.

Big crowd.

Mark your calendars today for the next
Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival in Columbia.