Bucket List: Winston's Bagel

On Saturday, Brandon and I got up early in anticipation of a drive to St. Louis for the first vintage baseball game of the season. Unfortunately, as we left the house we got the message that the game was cancelled due to weather.

Coffee was necessary

Woo! A day open to possibility! We had breakfast with Knute and Nancy and then headed to Carbondale. I wanted to check out the Farmer's Market for the first time this season.  As we were walking around the wind was blowing and this amazing onion scent wafted towards us. I turned around to find a table full of sweet onions:

$2/bunch

Ever since Easter, I've been wanting a hanging plant for my patio. I found the perfect purple flowers:

$12.50

Our next stop was Brandon's choice, the Carbondale Public Library Book Sale. I was a bit skeptical but we were actually able to find some hidden gems. The best part was that the highest price charged for a book was $1. Even hard cover books (some with the Barnes & Noble stickers still on!). Brandon was in heaven.

During the afternoon we just lounged around the house and talked some more about wedding plans. We are meeting with our wedding planner tomorrow for dinner :)

Later in the evening we met up with Kie and Gavin. We went to Pinch Penny where Funky Monks were playing the beer garden. They are a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band, the music was good but I thought the lead singer sounded more like Barenaked Ladies. Anyway... at the end of the night, I managed to check another bucket list item off... Winston's Bagel!

OMG gross! Haha. I guess I wasn't drunk enough.

Last Saturday

I missed out on this...

Praise the Lard!

After watching a BBQ Pit Masters episode on this competition I was really bummed I missed out this year! But I really was too lazy to go out in the rain. Things did clear up in the afternoon for the SIU tailgate and football game.

This was my first time at the new stadium. Very niiice! The game was a nail biter. SIU pulled it off with a win 20 to 18 over Missouri State.

Pinch Dragon

We ended the night at Pinch where Hairbanger's Ball was playing in the beer garden. Typical Carbondale behavior? I think yes.

Wine & Dine

Caitlyn, our friend from Columbus, OH just became a lawyer. Before starting her first job she decided to come check out Southern Illinois! We had a great time showing her around, starting on Friday with a house party:

We had a delicious meal in Jarrod's garage featuring a watermelon basket:

Carved and balled by me!

On Saturday we hit the wine trail:

We made our first stop at Kite Hill Vineyards for their famous slushie.

We also stopped by Orlandini Vineyards - where we picked up the "Wino Xing" sign - and posed in front of the Blue Sky Vineyards gates. For my third time, we went to Pomona Winery which I have decided is my favorite. All their wines are sweet and go down easy - no grapes here! Plus the hosts are amazingly friendly. If you go ask for Becky. We actually had the owner serving us this time. He was so knowledgeable and gave us recipes to use all the wines in. The owner is going to publish a cookbook soon. Go here!

Pomona Winery

Pomona Natural Bridge

As we were driving through Pomona we I saw a sign for a Natural Bridge and demanded that we go there. It was a bit of a drive through the forest but totally worth it.

Our evening ended at Pinch Penny Pub where Rock U were playing in the beer garden. All in all it was a great day.

Sinners & Saints

Yesterday, I experienced a Carbondale rite of passage at Pinch Penny Pub's 10th Annual Polar Bear Party. It was basically a big drunken frat party for SIU students featuring mass Corona consumption. The bar and beer garden opened at 10am. We got there around 4pm and waited half an hour to get in! The cover was $5 but the beers were only $1.50. The place was packed and there were hundreds of crushed Corona cans littering the ground. The weather during the afternoon was really nice and we didn't need our jackets until the sun went down.We left after a couple hours but ventured back around 11pm. The crowds had died down by then but a lot of people were inside the bar area staying warm. One of their signature drinks is a "green dragon" which was explained to me as being like a long island but made with sour mix. It was bright green and tasted like a lime popsicle to me. Well, I just did a google search of the drink and got back some results for a marijuana drink -- it was not that!

This morning I ventured out to St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Carbondale for the 10 o'clock service. The church is located across from the Pulliam Hall clocktower (shown in my blog header). It was a very intimate service with just about 30 people present - including a piano player and just 2 choir members. The service progressed very similarly to that of St. Dunstan's. The main thing that was new to me were the bells used during communion. I also had an embarrassing moment at the altar when I thought the chalicist skipped me. I was holding my wafer so that I could dip it in the wine. When he didn't stop for me, I just ate my wafer and left. Turns out that they have a separate bowl of wine for those who dip and I should have just waited. Lesson learned :) Actually, the best part about the morning was getting to meet Father Roderick. He recently moved to the area from Fredericksburg, VA. His family still lives in Northern Virginia and in fact his daughter lives in Alexandria and is coming to visit next week. A nice coincidence.