We didn't smoke marijuana in Muskogee

 When I was a teenager working on my uncle's farm in southwest Iowa, we listened to a lot of country music.  My cousin and I preferred rock, but most of the radio stations that came in clearly were of the country variety.  So I was exposed to Merle Haggard at an early age.

The song Okie from Miskogee starts off:

"We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee
We don't take our trips on LSD
We don't burn our draft cards down on Main Street
We like livin' right, and bein' free."

 

We listened to a bunch of Merle on the way north from Fredericksburg, Texas.  Over time, I've grown to appreciate traditional country music and bluegrass.  To me, lyrics are everything.  They don't have to be about something that I agree with, but they should be interesting.  Merle Haggard has a lot of interesting music.

 

When we drove into Muskogee at the end of our travel day, we immediately noticed some things have changed.  For one thing, there were marijuana stores all over the city.  We counted at least a dozen as we drove through.  The song was released in 1969.  Nothing lasts forever.

I don't have strong feelings about the legalization of marijuana.  Neither Julia and I use it, but the criminalization of a practice that seems pretty far down the list of damaging behaviors...well, we definitely don't need any more non-violent offenders in our nation's jails and prisons.

 

Fortunately, while the marijuana dispensaries held little interest, Muskogee has a really good brewing company.

 

 

Brewpubs and microbreweries have become very popular in the last decade, but not all produce exceptional beers.  A lot of times, the beer is just mediocre. Sometimes, the focus is on the food instead of the beer. It isn't enough to brew different styles; the execution is important too.  I was really happy with the quality of the brews here.  Julia loved her wheat beer "Mama Tryed." I ended up with the Okie IPA, and it was very good.

After a long day of driving, sitting down with a fresh-tasting beer and watching some local musicians perform was exactly what we needed.  The bartender was into his job and offered to let us taste/sample whatever we wanted before making our choice. Well, the chocolate peppermint stout wasn't to my taste, but I'm sure that somebody likes that flavor combination. The sours were really interesting and pushed some envelopes, including a Hibiscus Sour.

On the next day, we made the final leg of our journey home.  That concludes the Texas trip in the spring of 2021.  More adventures are on the way--some in places just as unlikely as Muskogee, Oklahoma.  The Scamp is ready to go, and I'm ready for some hiking.   

Texas Wine Country

We started taking winery tours during the 1980's in Northern California when we lived in the Bay Area.  Julia went on so many of the tours with family and friends from Wisconsin that she was sometimes recognized by the tour guides.  "Hey, weren't you here last month?"

Back then, the tastings were free, and pours were generous.  Many of the wineries were on two lane rustic roads.  We spent many weekend afternoons on the picnic grounds of a selected winery, enjoying fresh sourdough bread, brie cheese, and a bottle of wine. Eventually, Napa became popular and more expensive.  We began visiting wineries in Sonoma county and then Mendocino county,  searching for that undiscovered gem.  I don't think there's much undiscovered wine country in California anymore. 

Fast forward to March of 2021.  On the way back from the Texas gulf coast, we decided to stop in Texas wine country.  I can tell you that Texas is trying really hard to emulate California wine country.  Tastings were $15 to $20 at the places that we tried.  One difference we noted right away is that many of the wineries are located along a four lane highway, and many of the vineyards are not located at the same location as the tasting rooms.

Our Airbnb was, well, I'm not going to even tell you how much that cost.  I will admit that I couldn't find anything under $125/night.  The place was called Cowboy Orchard's Guesthouse.  It was very nice in a quaint Victorian way.  We enjoyed the front porch swing and the backyard space.

 Fredericksburg itself is a charming, historic town.  We spent a lot of time just walking around and taking in the views.

 

Our first wine tasting was downtown at the Fredericksburg Winery.  The tasting room host was delightful and an excellent saleswoman.  I didn't care for the wine a bit; Julia thought it was tolerable and bought two bottles. For whatever it's worth, Julia is much more of a wine connoisseur than I am. 

After that experience I was ready for a beer.  We headed over to Altdorf Biergarten and Restaurant for German food and beer with outdoor dining.  

 

On the next morning, we needed to walk off some of that rich German food and drink.  We started with Cross Mountain which turned out to be a very short uphill hike and then a short nature trail hike near the trailhead.  We then headed for the Fredericksburg Nature Center.  We enjoyed these short trails also but still needed to walk around the adjacent park to get some more steps in.  

Julia was now ready to begin wine tasting in earnest. Since I was going to be the designated driver, she tossed me a bone and agreed to first have lunch at Pecan Street Brewing in Johnson City, Texas.  After lunch and a beer on the backyard patio, I was ready to assume my duties.

 We then visited two wineries.  The first was Hilmy, and it was lovely.  The wine was delightful (red and white), and we enjoyed the on-site vineyard.  The tastings were held outside.

The second winery was Messina Hof.  Tastings were held outside here also.  Julia enjoyed the wines here, but preferred Hilmy.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Fredericksburg.  If money were no object, we would probably return often.  I did note that there was a municipal campground near the Fredericksburg Nature Center.