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Busy Celebrating

I am between Celebrations of Life:  Justin's and my Dad's. More than 125 people came over the course of two hours to a local park shelter for Justin's celebration.  I'm not terribly comfortable being one of the focal people at large gatherings, so the whole thing was a blur to me.  Julia and her pickleball friends organized it. We ran out of beds and couches at our house.  Julia and I slept in the Scamp. A soul food catering place from Madison brought in Justin's favorite foods: fried chicken, ribs, macaroni and cheese, and cornbread muffins.  A large assortment of Justin's Asian snacks was also put out for people to try.  The dried seafood was tried by many but liked by few. Many tears were shed, but it was also a time for shared memories and laughs.  I'm finally sleeping better after almost six months of broken sleep patterns. We gave away most of Justin's furnishings and valuable personal possessions.  One of those included the wheelchair van, which w
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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 is one of Julia’s friends and was Justin’s long-time piano teacher. Small world!


Julia’s hazy IPA was delicious. My milk stout was very good. There will be live music on Sunday afternoon. We plan to be back.

Comments

MFH said…
Justin played piano?
May 19, 2024 at 4:52 AM
John said…
He did. He even won a couple of awards at Solo Ensemble in high school.
May 19, 2024 at 5:13 PM
MFH said…
Cool! What kind of music?
May 19, 2024 at 7:15 PM
John said…
They were classical pieces. I couldn’t remember the names of any of the pieces, and neither could Julia. I do remember hanging on every note from the beginning to end, hoping he would do well. Justin would roll up to the piano bench with Elvis the service dog, and I would transfer Justin from the chair to the bench and then back again after his performance. By his senior year, moving his arms and hands became too difficult, and he gave up the piano. Justin had a small electric keyboard that he kept playing for about a year longer.
May 20, 2024 at 9:15 PM
MFH said…
WOW!

What a wonderful memory.

Thank you.
May 21, 2024 at 5:45 AM
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