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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
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Traverse City: Last Day

After some stellar weather, a front came in with much cooler temperatures, cloudy skies, high winds, and occasional drizzle.

Julia decided to make the most of the day by touring the Dennos Art Museum at Northwestern Michigan College.  She enjoyed its signature Inuit Gallery, which has a collection of 1500 works.

Callie and I got our miles in under brisk conditions along the shores of Lake Michigan.


We went to North Peak Brewery for a light lunch of beer soup, clams, and beer.


 

That night, the rain turned steady.  After a disappointing dinner at a nearby restaurant, we headed back to the Scamp and considered our options for heading home.  The original plan was to go back the way we came, except make a bigger counter-clockwise half-circle around to catch Lake Superior through the northern U.P. and northern Wisconsin.  

However, the forecast was. much better to the south--even though I dreaded driving/towing through Chicagoland's traffic.  The determining factor was an intermittent trailer brake-sticking problem that I was experiencing.  If we broke down, we preferred to break down somewhere closer to civilization.  

The forecast called for sun and warm temperatures in Ottawa, Illinois, which was near an Illinois state park that we previously enjoyed:  Starved Rock State Park.

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MFH said…
Julia,

Did you take any photos at The Dennos?
June 28, 2023 at 10:10 AM
John said…
She took several. I'll do a short blog post with those pics in the next day or so.
June 29, 2023 at 7:43 AM
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