Google Tag Manager icon Traverse City: Day Two Skip to main content

Featured

Beer in the Barn

Some of the best beer surprises are the ones you find in unexpected places. One of our new Iowa pickleball friends recommended that we try out a bar in St. Donatus for a good burger with homemade French fries. I asked about the beer, and the response was along the lines of “yes, they have beer.” St. Donatus, population 120, is a very small town founded by a Luxembourg early settler. If you blink at highway speeds, you could easily miss it. In doing some navigational research, I saw a listing for “Beer in the Barn” across the street from said bar and tucked behind an old Inn. As it turned out,  the burgers and fries at the bar were just okay, but Beer in the Barn was a stunning find.  The pictures we took don’t do it justice. The stone barn is supposedly the oldest standing barn in Iowa.  We asked the chief bartender/owner to tell us his story. In doing so, we learned that his wife is the brewmaster. We later learned from her that one of her best friends lives in Lodi. That Lodi woman i

Traverse City: Day Two

Old Mission Peninsula is a beautiful stretch of land jutting out into Lake Michigan--about twenty miles long and five miles wide. The Mission Point Lighthouse is at the end of the peninsula, along with a network of lakeshore and forest trails.


We didn't tour the inside of the lighthouse.  Admission seemed high.  Instead, we headed out to the trails.  Callie thought this was the better choice.


The map showed an intricate network of well-marked trails.  The trails themselves lacked sufficient markings, but it wasn't hard to avoid getting lost since we were on the end of a peninsula.  When the going became uncertain, we headed for the beach.


Our next stop was Brys Estate Vineyard.

Julia ordered a tasting flight of wines. We shared a cheese and sausage board.  As designated driver, I opted for an excellent cider, which is also one of their products.  Julia gave high reviews for the wines.

There was even a dog-friendly section on the grounds.

Callie's chair?


Comments

Bill said…
Interesting wine flight rack.
MFH said…
All that GREEN! It's blinding!

Callie assures she called dibs on that chair. Humans!
John said…
To Bill: All of the wines in that flight were made on premises. Quite a few places in the Midwest bring grapes from the West Coast to make the wines. We are most impressed with the wineries that are able to deal with the short growing season and still make tasty wines.

MFH: Michigan was very green. It's brown here. We are in the middle of a moderate drought in southern Wisconsin. Nothing like out west but unusual here.

Popular Posts