The Great River Road

Adam and I took a little vacation recently in honor of our five years of wedded bliss. The fact that this coincided with another wedding and that I had PTO days to burn only added to the merriment.

OK, now, here's the deal: the southeastern corner of Minnesota is that rare little gem that very few souls have actually discovered. I would absolutely rank it among the top five most scenic and delicious routes I have ever traveled. And I have to apologize in advance, but it was autumn in Minnesota and I could not put the camera down. Also, I discovered two - TWO! - little editing presets on the Google+ page and I really could not stop myself. That is two more presets than I ever had before.

We begin in full color at the Great River Road Visitor and Learning Center in Prescott, Wisconsin, overlooking the confluence of the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers.

In our excitement to see the Wabasha eagles, Adam took (several) photos of the (fake) eaglets at Prescott. 

The first highlight of our trip occurred when an older couple offered to take our photo because they "just love young couples in love." 

I guess we fooled them! (Because we're not that young.)

Our next stop was the Maiden Rock Winery and Cidery, which combines my two favorite fermented fruits. Adam, being a beer guy, was not as impressed as I was, even though he did find the largest apple I had ever seen.

 

On to delightful little Stockholm, Wisconsin, home to a large assortment of metal chickens (although, unfortunately, not the giant variety) and our first encounter with amazing pies.

 

Adam couldn't decide between the sugary-sweet pecan pie and the savory bacon/pear/blue cheese pie, so he ordered both and laughed at my sad little turkey sandwich. And then he shared a bit of the pecan pie with me, because - after all - it was our anniversary (belated, of course).

Next stop...EAGLES!!! I had been looking forward to this detour for awhile, and not just because it placed us firmly back into Minnesota territory. The National Eagle Center in Wabasha is a sight to see, and I believe it only gets better on the coldest, stormiest days of winter when hundreds of bald eagles gather on the open waters of the Mississippi.

 

 

Here's another travel tip: plan your tourist activities for weekdays during the school year and just stay home on the weekends. I guarantee you will be the youngest traveler by at least 3 or 4 decades.

Since we scheduled our activities with the older crowd, the children's learning center was widely available for our personal use.

 

 

I really didn't like the way that Columbia was looking at me, and no one seemed to care.

The five rescue eagles on display have all had injuries that could not be rehabilitated and now travel extensively around the state and nation for education and outreach. A worthy second act.

Wabasha's riverfront. Another beautiful river town.

 

   

We continued our travels down to Winona, stopping first at a random "scenic overlook", scenic being the operative word. Winona is a crazy/beautiful town; it looks like an island surrounded by imposing limestone bluffs and everywhere you look you just think nature. So many birds, trees, flowers, rivers, wildlife, fields, sunsets...  I could hardly handle all the beauty and briefly encouraged Adam to start job-hunting.

 

 

 

 

There would by many, many more photos like these except that Adam caught me at work and encouraged me to hasten. The winery closes at 6:00, after all.

We swung into Garvin Heights Vineyards for a quick tasting of local wines and then drove the backroads to Lanesboro for the night.

Lanesboro prides itself on being the Bed and Breakfast Capital of Minnesota, which was a major motivation for our visit. Unfortunately, we were ultra-busy at home right up until our vacation and did not secure a B and B reservation. Fortunately for us, Brewster's Red Hotel right on the main street was an amazing and more affordable alternative.

This was our view upon arrival.

We grabbed a very late dinner across the street and settled in for the end of day one. I promise that days two, three, and four will not be so long. Day one could not be topped.

Belated Days!

I appear to be on a belated streak lately, so I suppose it's only fair that I also missed my own birthday (32!) and anniversary (5!!). Why, yes, thank you, I did have a very good day!

Adam surprised me with a fancy-style bistro set from the end-of-summer section at Lowe's. The red table and chairs clash with the pink and purple garden I was trying to achieve this year, but there's always spray paint and next summer.

I also received a "My Favorite Things" collection of essentially Adam's favorite things: ginger ale, ginger gummy bears, herbal tea, green tea, dark chocolate, and bath salts (the legal kind). I'm not going to argue that I also enjoy these fine things, but anyone who really knows me understands that my actual favorite things are Coke and M&Ms, which - if I remember correctly - was last year's birthday gift.

Pickles came out to spy on our party. She was angry because she was not invited.

After we gave TJ rat poison (Kidding! Prop photo!), we noticed that the hot air balloon season had started. It's a nice perk of living in the valley.

With Adam's parents in town, we took them (like all of our visitors) on a trip to Aamodt's Apple Farm, which also operates the hot air balloons. There are only so many apples one can eat, so I was very excited to watch the inflation of a hot air balloon.

Note the one guy holding down the whole balloon, right.

It was altogether a very nice weekend. 

Keeping with the spirit of this post, please watch for more belated stories. At this rate, I'll catch up to our leaf-peeping vacation in southern Minnesota by snowfall.

I Don't Only Drink GoShots

 Sometimes I brew and drink beer.

The picture below is the wheat/pale ale beer I made a few months ago. It's definitely a hybrid taste. Too bitter for a wheat beer, but not bitter enough for a pale ale. Here are some thoughts from well-respected members of the TJL community.

The wheat beer was enjoyed on a hot Saturday evening after a day full of toil. I was surprised by how much I liked it, as this type of thing is not normally my bag. It had a smooth and full mouth feel with a taste that I can only describe as creamy steel. In a positive way. This beer was nothing if not unique, and did not in any way taste like a homebrew, which is the lone metric I employ. I give it 15 Bryant McKinnies out of 20.

                                                            -Reasonably good lawyer Robert Williams

It has mellowed. It tastes much like an IPA now, but with a slight molasses aftertaste. The molasses isn't quite in sync with the hoppy bitterness, but overall it strikes me as a good beer, way different than what it was 6 weeks ago. 

                                                          - Businessperson Tim Mooney

The Surly Furious clone was my first attempt at dry hopping. Dry hopping is adding hops to the beer after fermentation has occurred to help infuse it with addition hop aroma and flavor. My attempt tastes good, but not great. Most bottles were over carbonated, had gunk at the bottom, and would foam like crazy when opened. I think I did something wrong.

I received the photo below and a comment on this beer from a fan of the blog.

The Furious I was a touch less taken with, since as you can tell from the Surly glass, I did everything but wax my taint for this tasting. The circumstances were right: I had just finished a slice of pizza, my taste buds were 'ulated, and my glass was frosted. My first taste, adulterated with a BBQ chicken from the local pie shop, hit me just right -- 100% authentic Surly Furious. Subsequent gulps tasted less legit however; the pizza clearly kept my taste buds off balance during the initial swig. However all in all, a tasty entry if a little homebrewy. I give it 2.7 Petey Pablos.

                                                                                         - Robert Kasperdad

Robert is right. The next time I dry hop, I going to do it in my fermenting bucket and not my carboy. That should help. Here is another picture. Too foamy and almost muddy looking. Thank God it is still enjoyable to drink.

I also brew, bottled, and have begun consuming a Moose Drool clone. The reviews on this beer are much more positive than I expected.

A great dark flavor without the "weightiness" of a traditional dunkelbier. Ultra-drinkable with a nice, hoppy initial, but a smooth, almost woody finish. I can count on one hand the times I've had multiple drinks by myself, but I dispatched the second bottle immediately after the first. No big, overwhelming flavors (and also without the heartburn-inducing acidity of so many black ales), but that's what contributes to how easily it goes down. Easily the best Moose Drool clone I've had.

                                                                              -Former Prescription Landscape Employee

It's better than Moose Drool the original.

                                                                             -Andy (Marlene's husband) Strom 


Currently, I am working on another batch of apple wine. I used to call it hard cider, but cider is typically sweet and this stuff is not sweet. I made this batch very similar to my first attempt, but added a little maple syrup. It all comes down to the yeast and I used the Montrachet white wine yeast again. My yeast friends will work hard on all those delicious sugars to help it taste winey. No sugar in their path is safe, so the results will be deliciously dry.

Last week I bottled a bourbon barrel porter. It was a normal porter to start with, but I soaked 2 cups of Maker's Mark in some burnt oak chips and then dumped the whole thing into the carboy. I did some sampling over the last few weeks and thought it tasted too burnt, but I think it should turn into a really great beer as long as I leave it alone for a few weeks.

I'm sure you are all asking yourselves, How does he do it? Here are photos of the Noble Trappist Ale I brewed a couple weeks ago to help you understand the process.

Steeping the specialty grains.

Waiting for them to reach 175 degrees F.

Adding the malt extract and starting a 60 minute boil.

Cracking open the hops. 

Giving the hops a good sniff before adding.

A late addition of some clear Belgian candi sugar for taste and alcohol boosting.

Jeremy shows up to help with the stirring.

We have to cool the goodness before adding yeast.

Checking the initial gravity to help determine alcohol.

I don't have pictures after this, but we dumped the beer in a bucket, added yeast, and let time take over. All signs point to a good batch of beer. Let me know and I will save some for you.

I plan on one last GoShot post for the year. I am saving them for Jake's wedding in October. Drinking the last few packets among friends will be a fitting end to the summer of GoShots.