Washington, Missouri 2008
When your birthday is the day after Christmas, it can be a challenge to have a special time. Last year, I threw a surprise party for my wife a couple weeks prior to her special day and so the actual time was pretty low key. This year, she wanted an overnight get-a-way close to home and so we stayed in a Washington Missouri B&B called the Brick Inn. The hosts were a very nice, interesting couple. He still owns a home in north St. Louis city and lived there prior to their recent marriage. The place is brick as you may imagine with our room on the second floor overlooking the 100 year old pecan trees. It was cozy and quaint.
We found downtown Washington to be bustling for such a small town and were disappointed that the town winery, La Dolce Vita was closed for two weeks. But we found an awesome place for lunch, Choco L’Art which had great California style cuisine and a very stylish décor. After lunch, we did some shopping. I especially enjoyed the Lucy gallery with all his Missouri river art. We did walk along the riverfront, watching the chunks of ice collide and fog roll in as the day was unusually warm. We ended our afternoon at a locally owned coffee shop, settling in on the comfy couch and taking in the shelves of books as well as the electric fireplace. Dinner was at the famous, American Bounty restaurant. It is a small space and the food was every bit as good as we expected. The special was a strip steak and crab legs. We enjoyed a Missouri wine with dinner and headed back three blocks to our B&B.
As we prepared to leave the next day after a hearty breakfast, enjoyed outside due to a morning temperature of 70 degrees, we took a ride in the tree swing before heading out of town. Driving back on 94 gave us the chance to revisit some of our favorite wineries, Blumenhof, the classic German location where we shared a very special time when we were just starting to date. We tasted a nice rose wine there. Next we stopped at Balducci’s, where we spent a wonderful afternoon some years ago while on a mini-vacation in Augusta. Our last stop was a new winery to both of us, Sugar Creek. I was impressed with the view. Our wine tasting steward had the nickname of “high pockets” which she shared with us in the first five minutes. She was a hoot. This place deserves a return visit for sure.
We found downtown Washington to be bustling for such a small town and were disappointed that the town winery, La Dolce Vita was closed for two weeks. But we found an awesome place for lunch, Choco L’Art which had great California style cuisine and a very stylish décor. After lunch, we did some shopping. I especially enjoyed the Lucy gallery with all his Missouri river art. We did walk along the riverfront, watching the chunks of ice collide and fog roll in as the day was unusually warm. We ended our afternoon at a locally owned coffee shop, settling in on the comfy couch and taking in the shelves of books as well as the electric fireplace. Dinner was at the famous, American Bounty restaurant. It is a small space and the food was every bit as good as we expected. The special was a strip steak and crab legs. We enjoyed a Missouri wine with dinner and headed back three blocks to our B&B.
As we prepared to leave the next day after a hearty breakfast, enjoyed outside due to a morning temperature of 70 degrees, we took a ride in the tree swing before heading out of town. Driving back on 94 gave us the chance to revisit some of our favorite wineries, Blumenhof, the classic German location where we shared a very special time when we were just starting to date. We tasted a nice rose wine there. Next we stopped at Balducci’s, where we spent a wonderful afternoon some years ago while on a mini-vacation in Augusta. Our last stop was a new winery to both of us, Sugar Creek. I was impressed with the view. Our wine tasting steward had the nickname of “high pockets” which she shared with us in the first five minutes. She was a hoot. This place deserves a return visit for sure.
Comments