St. Louis on a Mission

We went back to St. Louis for Thanksgiving to see both of our families and finally do our big baby Ernie reveal.

The plan was to work from the airport and then from the plane. It did not go well. For one thing I bought internet service and it was very very bad. Just kept disconnecting over and over annoyingly. There also isn't enough room to type once you put a laptop on the trail table in front of you, which I had not anticipated. Anyway, not going to try this again. I suppose that this is one reason why business class exists.

Lydia's mom and Doug are super nice and endearing and want to spend like every waking moment with Lydia when she's in town, which is cute. Fine. On this particular trip we had a secret baby on board though, and so I was stressed out about seeing them. Lydia is a master of dressing to conceal at this point, though, so everything went smoothly. Less smooth was the thanksgiving dinner from Sugarfire Smokehouse that they were so kind to pick up. It was really bad. Their family has this habit of picking up hot food for us, putting in the refrigerator until it's thoroughly chilled, then giving it to us piping cold. It's like skipping the initial pleasant part of eating out and going straight to leftovers.

We booked the same large airbnb above Southwest Diner that we hosted Christmas in last year. It went well and so here we are again.

You can't beat the decor in this place.

Beery Christmas

We hadn't seen much of our St. Louis friends since we drove that giant moving truck along the Oregon trail to Kirkland. We didn't really have time to go hunting them all down individually so we had them all meet up at a bar.

I've tried bbq once in Seattle and it was atrocious. So bad that I'm scared to try it here again. Luckily Sugarfire delivers and washed all my cares away with the meatiness.

The Airbnb was decorated by a cooler person than myself.

Perennial Artisan Ales was happening in my mouth.

"Black Walnut Dunkel

We're excited to bring back one of the first adjuncted beers we ever made at Perennial, Black Walnut Dunkel. This rich, malty Dunkelweiss is a perfect vehicle for the uniquely delicious character of Missouri black walnuts and it pairs seamlessly with all the things we love about fall--cooler weather, trees bursting with color, sweaters, and fire pits."

We invited everyone to meet us at the Urban Chestnut Grove Brewery and Bierhall.

I was happy with how many of our friends made an appearance. They haven't forgotten about me yet! Or they just like beer. Either way.

The after party was held at Taha'a Twisted Tiki.

St. Louis Christmas

Today was our big Christmas party at the Airbnb above Southwest Diner.

We didn't have the time or patience to cook any large animals, and we've been craving Raising Cane's as they don't seem to have it in Seattle. So they catered.

Hammy the leg was in attendance and got a lot of attention.

Everyone took the instant covid tests before they showed up at our party. I don't want to wipe out everyone I know in one swoop, even if there are chicken fingers invovled.

We did some gift exchanging.

Lydia's Nana Pam is a really good gift giver. A passport Christmas ornament is awesome and something I may have even bought for myself.

I had some beers and played games with Seago at his place later that evening.

Returning to Bentonville Victorious

Well we're working during the day we worked and so night time is when things get real out in Bella Vista, Arkansas.

This is pretty much how I feel when I start every new job, U.S. Bank included.

This Airbnb had a big bin of cat food and instructions that we could feed the street cats if we wished.

Our big move of the evening was to check out Bentonville, AR. Back in my Neosho days I was an aspiring corporate Walmart worker, and so Bentonville was my Mecca. It was nice to visit as the last time I was here my work life was very uncertain, but I had now returned victorious. It reminded me of my personal journey. I'm pretty much crushing it, no big deal.

Ohio: Columbus to Cleveland

I don't really remember why we decided to go to Cleveland for Thanksgiving. Anyway, let's go to  Cleveland for Thanksgiving!

We left on Wednesday after work and got as far as Indianapolis, IN.  We didn't really do anything other than fart around in the Airbnb. We always get a hoot out of how much of the Airbnbs' furniture we recognize from IKEA.

The light in the kitchen could have doubled as a tanning bed.

I think cabin fever must have set in because Lydia was losing it while reading the guestbook. What sort of person reads the guestbook anyway?

Losing it.

Lost it.

Brandon has a pretty pink suitcase. I didn't have to even look inside to know that this was full of baby dolls.

Our friend Svetlana lives in Indianapolis so we made plans to meet her at Metro Diner. Apparently it's a chain. And we went to the wrong one. The other one was so far away that we just said screw it and had some breakfast.

We found Ohio right where we expected it to be, which was nice.

We passed Columbus, Ohio and I wanted to stop, take a peek, and stretch my legs. Lydia was all "everything will be closed it's Thanksgiving wah wah". We stopped in Columbus.

And we didn't even have to pay the meter! In yo face Lydia! Hahaha!

The Ohio Statehouse looks kind of weird. Like they ran out of money for the dome at the end and just made it flat on top. It's a pretty old one, built between 1839 and 1861.

Ok, so it was closed, but it did have cool door handles.

Then we drove the rest of the way to Cleveland.

Cleveland and environs have a solid craft beer scene so I was excited to punch up Thanksgiving a little with some strange and exciting brews. We found a gas station which ended up being beer Nirvana.

I'm not embarrassed to admit I bought this one just because the label referenced one of my favorite movies: Donnie Darko. Ok, it was made in Michigan but who cares. Close enough. The label was nice and creepy:

"95 Days… 23 Hours… 14 Minutes… 38 Seconds… 

That is when the batch will be ready.

And when it is, we can breathe a sigh of relief because there will be so much dark fruit cider to look forward to.

The one in the Stupid Man Suit must complete the batch and return the tank to the Primary Universe where it belongs.

Do not doubt his commitment to fermentation. The bottling day is coming and the world is counting on him.

What is the point of living if you don’t have a bottle?

B. AFRAID OF THE DARK"

The Airbnb was nice and homey, and was a good setting for a little Thanksgiving dinner.

There were some medieval looking chalices that were perfect for my fancy hard cider with balaton cherry, raspberry, and black currant.

Dinner turned out pretty awesome.

Ok, this one was legitimately from Cleveland, and it was made with spruce tips! So holiday festive!

"Spruce tips possess many of the same aromas and flavors as hops, but also have a pleasant citrusy pine not unique to themselves. We used a blend of spruce tips and hops in this seasonal beer to yield a balance between tropical hop goodness and piney dankness."

Then it was food coma on the couch time. A Thanksgiving tradition.

Our Airbnb was nestled in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood, only a couple of blocks away from the house they used in the 1983 film A Christmas Story. So I procured the film for our viewing pleasure.