Who is "Wine-ing" Now?

 There was no whining at Morgan Creek Winery!  At least not the one that Verl and Clara took us to.  It was a beautiful setting amongst the well manicured grounds and the scenic backdrop.  Plus there was a pianist later on to entertain us as we ate,

A view from our table looking out at the barn.

Verl came out to check on Don and Clara.  Hmm, did we get the right wines ordered for the guys?

 I guess so!  Two light and two dark.  Looked like two small glasses of water and two root beers to me but I knew it wasn't.  

The menu was very limited, but the wood fired pizza was excellent.

And so was the raclette on a toasted bun offered as one of the appetizers.  

We were thankful for the food, the wine, the scenery and the chance to spend the evening with great friends.

Signs of the Times

 All the signs we've seen and photographed got my brain working.  What do signs do?  So here is my take on the different ways they impact our lives:

1) Give you instructions of what to do, or not do:

2) Give you an idea of where you are at while providing additional information.  

3) Provide you with tidbits of history.

4)  Lead you to the best roasted chicken meal in Minnesota.

5) Guide you to the correct trail.....hopefully!

6) Leave you in a conundrum:  Do I go in?  Or wait until we get somewhere else?

7) Provide times of performances. 

8) Make you wonder what in the world the sign meant!  Am I overeating?  😜

The Two "S" Places to visit in Minnesota

 We discovered that two of the popular places to visit both start with S.  Schell's and Schmidt's.  You think they might be German?! 😄   One has great beer (if you are a beer drinker) and the other smoked sausages and meats.  

We arrived in New Ulm on Saturday afternoon.  The next day we were at Schell's Brewery, enjoying the cool weather with no humidity!  Amazing for August in Minnesota. The brewery has been in New Ulm since 1860 and is the second oldest family owned brewery in the U.S.  During Prohibition they had to be innovative since they couldn't sell beer.  One way was selling chocolate candy made by Hershey.  They also sold most of the walnut trees on their property because walnut wood was at a premium at that time.  Like they say "Where there is a will there is a way".

That day they even had live music, so there were quite a few people enjoying their drink of choice while listening to the guy sing and play his guitar before we took the tour.

The grounds are amazing, with a large Victorian house that was built by the family and inhabited for many decades.  It no longer is occupied.

I still have no idea of what Clara, Verl and Don were talking about when I took this photo!

Below is a  view of the back of the house with the unique water fountain built like a gazebo.

Let's just say that Don and Verl REALLY enjoyed the beer tasting after the tour!  Verl got Clara's samples and Don got mine!  They were quite talkative and a bit high by the time we left and headed to Carl's Corner for dinner.

 

We stopped by Schmidt's Meat Market in Nicolett after our first bike ride in Mankato.  The smell of smoked sausage immediately hits your nostrils when you step into the front door.  Oh my!

I've never, ever seen so many different sausages: regular, garlic, Minnesota style, Wisconsin style, etc.  Since I no longer have my small camera, I had Don take these photos.  It was better than being a kid at a candy store.  There was also so many types and varieties of jerky, smoked meats and cheeses.  It was hard to decide what to buy.  We did end up with one sausage, a garden cheese, bratwurst and some beef patties.  Bet your bottom dollar that we are stopping by there on our way to Wisconsin for more of this good stuff.

Seeing New Things in New Ulm

 What is the first place to visit while in New Ulm?  The Glockenspiel of course!  We arrived before noon so we could hear the whole set of chimes.  During December Christmas music is played.  It can either be set to run by technology or by keyboard.

Since it was already lunchtime, we proceeded to the rest of the downtown area.

The weather was absolutely perfect for lunch on the deck at Lola's restaurant.   How in the world were we so lucky that it wasn't hot and humid???  Loved all the cups that were hanging by the outside side door!

After our lunch we headed over to the famous Herman the German statue that sits on a bluff overlooking New Ulm.  He is quite impressive. Until a few months ago, you could walk up the stairs leading up to the statue.  Now there is a charge of $3.00 per person and a person in the booth making sure you paid😒.

Next on the agenda was Martin Luther College that is used by our Lutheran synod to train teachers and pastors.  The beautiful building now referred to as "Old Main"  pictured below was built in 1884.

It was a great time to do a tour of the campus by ourselves.  There were few people around so we wouldn't interfere with the students yet all the buildings were open.  The Chapel of the Christ building is much, much newer! What a beautiful church for all the students to worship in.

Currently we have one granddaughter who is in her senior year there along with her new husband.  Tatum and Jonah will be living near campus in an apartment for their last year.  What an exciting time for both of them!

In the "Naber-hood"

 Long time friends, Verl and Clara Naber, have a summer home in New Ulm and we finally got to stay with them.  They have a lovely old, restored farmhouse that was built in 1888!  Their quaint home still has some original floors and doors still in excellent condition.  Below is a pic that shows Don and Verl on the front porch.

Just across the grass is the house that was built first, in 1881.  

A look inside confirmed the date that the original farm painted on one of the inside walls.

The nearby barn was constructed a few years after the original home.

Verl and Clara closed in the former front porch and made it into an Arizona room. Perfect for sitting in the mornings and afternoons with the natural sunlight.

We were spoiled with our own coffee area in an upstairs bedroom complete with two types of  creamers.  It was the perfect area to have our morning cup of Joe at 6 AM.  

The doors to all the upstairs bedrooms are the original doors (repainted of course).

When they remodeled the upstairs bathroom, they saved the old linoleum from one of the bedrooms.  After some quick research, we surmised that the flooring had to be from the 1920's or 1930's!

But the best thing of all is being here with them!  We have enjoyed the homemade meals, the conversations, laughter and many rounds of cards in the evenings.  Clara may not let us leave until she wins at least one round of Skip-Bo!😂😂

Memories

 As we headed north on Interstate 35 towards Minnesota we decided to make an extra two stops.  First one was the town of Clear Lake.  In 1959 a plane crash took the lives of 3 popular singers, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper.  Their last gig was at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa.  

This place is still in good condition and there were a lot of people in the downtown area Saturday morning.

Their plane crashed in a nearby cornfield during a storm on February 3,1959.  I still remember listening to many of their songs when I was a teenager like Chantilly Lace sung by the Big Bopper,  La Bamba by Richie Valens and Smokey Joe's Cafe sung by Buddy Holly, among others.

An hour down the road we stopped in the town of Albert Lea, Minnesota.  The town had just put in a bronze statue of Marion Ross who had played the role of Mrs. Cunningham in Happy Days.  I had learned about this on Phoenix TV in July.   She sits in front of the Marion Ross Performing Art center in the downtown area.  We drove past her twice and missed her.  Finally asked someone in a nearby parking lot and he told us she was on a bench on the corner.  Sure enough!

High Trestle Trail Once More!

We were back in the saddle again (so to speak) and this reminded me of the song by Gene Autry many, many decades ago.  Ever since our first ride on the High Trestle Trail in 2012, I have wanted to go back and ride it at night.  So, we bought a light for my bike and worked it into our vacation route this summer.

We had thought this through, wrong!  We stayed in Ankeny so we'd be close to the trailhead.  That didn't work out so well.  1) Had a difficult time finding the trailhead there because of construction and there were no signs posted.  2) When we did find a place to park, we asked guys in the parking lot who told us that the trail was right there, but the bridge was located between Madrid and Woodward, 22 miles away! 

Oh my!  We'd never make it up and back.   

Plan B: Drive to Madrid which also has a trailhead. Immediately I recognized buildings that we had passed by 9 years ago but neither of us remembered where we had parked.  I checked the blog, and we had parked in the same EXACT parking lot!  So much for "Two heads are better than one"!

Love this trail which takes us through wooded areas and fields.

We made it to the south end of the bridge on the High Trestle Tail, which is 13 stories above the valley.   Once again we rode it to the small town of Woodward which is at the end of the trail.

Ride #1 done!  However, the main reason we came here was to ride at night when the bridge is lit up at dusk.  By the time it came to leave the hotel,  Don noticed there was a 30% chance of rain.  In Arizona, that would mean MAYBE a few drops of rain, but most likely nothing at all.  Not Iowa.  

By the time we got to the bridge there was a light drizzle.  Still had more time to wait until the lights came on....and they were only lit at the other end!

Success, yes, but at price.  It started raining hard right after this video and we still had 2.6 miles to pedal back to our truck.  We were absolutely drenched to our skin by the time we got back.  My shoes were filling up with water from the rain and water on the path.  Don got water in his eye and biked off the path into the grass because he couldn't see.  I had finally learned how to take a video and edit it and now the camera was ruined even though Don had put it in his pocket.  At the end, I was laughing as I was riding because it was so comical.  Thoughts were running in my head of "what idiots were are" and "what are us old people doing out here in the rain and at dark?" to "we look like drowned rats".  

We took the back stairs up to our room to avoid the main entrance.😂 The feeling of wet pants and wet underwear are not good ones. 😕   One more thing checked off on our bucket list.