Wining, Whining, BBQ, slop, and Shuttle Launches

November 14, 2008 - Friday - Ozark, AR

Another reminder that you can click on any picture - and get a bigger version of it. Then just use your "Back" button to get back to here.

Wine-tour day. Up at 8AM (early for me) to get downstairs in our "Lamplighter" B&B and socialize for Breakfast (blueberry pancakes (!), eggs, bacon, strawberries and grapefruit - wunnerful), then I managed to collect one of the 2 sweet cats who live here, grab a seat by the front door, and sit and "cat" for a good 20 minutes. Ahhhh... I NEEDED that! "Full contact sport" here - purring, rubbing, and everything. Nothing else like it!

Everybody pack into the cars and head off to the first winery of the day. They've been here in Arkansas for over 100 years - founded by a Swiss immigrant and running ever since. They currently have over 32 different types of grapes being grown here.

This is the place where we had dinner last nite and the facilities are quite extensive - as we saw in our tasting:

and tour:
The tour was quite interesting - talking about the evolution of wine-making and bottling
over the last 100 years - with some recent changes being rather significant (moving away from natural cork - toward synthetic cork - or twist caps - or even boxes - with the advantage that you don't need to keep wine inverted since the point was to keep the cork wet - and synthetic or screw-caps don't need to be kept wet).

Interesting stuff and we walked out with a case of wine - 'cause there were at least 2 that Kathy found particularly tasty!

Then to lunch. We piled into the "Rivertown BBQ" in downtown Ozark, and MAN that was great eating. Sorry, I didn't think to take photos, but the food and prices and atmosphere were just *great*. I had a pulled-pork sandwich and they let me choose *apple cobbler* for my *side* dish. Ohhhh... MAN! Both were amazing! But that's just a beginning. I noticed a menu item named "Slop". Yes. "Slop". Rice, Red Beans, cheese, pulled pork, and BBQ sauce in a bowl (if I remember correctly). My brother Fred decided to try it - and pronounced it excellent. THEN we noticed "Creamed Possum with Coon Fat Gravy" - and we asked if that was a real offering - and were assured that it was. Cute. And cool, but nobody had a hankering for Creamed Possum. But a few others did try the "Rib lunch" and got ribs with more meat than I'd ever seen on a rib - plus creative baked beans and potato salad - more than anybody could eat - for something like $6. A *great* place to eat. Thanks for picking up the tab, Dad - and thanks, Fred, for letting somebody else finally pick up *a* tab: Fred has been grabbing checks for our whole visit, bless him.

We waddled out to the car, spent some time browsing an Antique store across the street, then headed out to Winery #2 of the day:

Note that it, too, has been around for well over 100 years! And note the beautiful leaves. We're told that the leaves "peaked" about a week ago, but they are still beautiful.

We enjoyed our 2nd "tasting":

annnd walked out with *another* case of wine. They had some really-different offerings in addition to some very-good "traditional" ones.

And we got a "photo op" outside where I plopped my hat on Dad's head:
So. On to winery #3 - which we had passed on the way to lunch. I had been thinking about the name for awhile before it hit me. See if you "get it":
Clearly, it is a sophisticated French name - which, translated, means "Home at the Arc" - referring to the "Big Bend Arc" in the Arkansas River - here in Ozark. So it's classy and sophisticated and is kind of cute at the same time: "The Arc of the Ark".

But if you know French, then pronounce it. "Aux" is pronounced "O's".

So if you say it out loud it comes out: "Chateau O's Arc".... "Chateau Ozark".

Now *that* is clever! Sophisticated Hillbilly! I was really impressed.

Another tasting. Another couple of bottles of wine making it to the car. They also have a "Wineaux" list to keep you informed of doings. That is pronounced "Winoes".

So. Back to Aaron's house to help him get packed to head off to Pratt, KS, to go Pheasant hunting - then eating "Pickles Gap" Fudge and watching the Shuttle Launch (always exciting even though we live 40 miles from the Space Center) - then back to the Lamplighter B&B. Bless Carol at the Lamplighter, she brought one of the cats up to us so we could properly cuddle tonite (at our request). A great place to stay.

9375 Miles and we're done for the day.

Except that I really MUST correct a heinous omission from yesterday. Whitney has joined our circle of friends - being a friend of Aaron's. She's dog-sitting for him this weekend and seems quite sweet. She was also the one who *took* the group photo for us last night. She *begged* me to include a photo of her here because she *loves* to have her picture taken (big smile), but I forgot to include her photo yesterday, so here it is. Hi, Whitney - and please DO forgive me if I've spelled your name wrong. :)