Foggy start

(This is posted a day late due to our busy evening.)

We got up wondering how wet the trail might be today, but it actually turned out fine. It was quite foggy, but there had been just enough rain to keep the dust down. We DID have some issues with our sunglasses fogging up. We had to pull them down and look over the tops to see down the trail ahead of us.

Cool building at our sag stop

Tami with her morning cheetos

Also at our sag stop

Riding with some friends

It was a short day, only 30 miles, but the wurst was yet to come. We pulled into our destination, Hermann, about noon. We had been warned ahead of time, so headed right to the Wurst Haus as soon as we got here. Mike was in heaven, and Tami was pretty happy too! This area has a very strong German heritage, and this deli/restaurant carries 47 types of bratwurst, 10 kinds of bacon, and 10 kinds of summer sausage, all made by them. We had a wonderful lunch of brats, kraut, and red cabbage, along with house brewed beer, blackberry cider, and on tap gin and tonics. Oh my.

After getting checked in and showered, we wandered around town a bit. It was actually rather dead. Apparently this is quite the tourist town on weekends, so most of the businesses close on Monday and Tuesday. It was also a bit too hot and muggy ( given the recent rain) for us, so we quickly collapsed on a bench with some cold water.

Hermann

Later we were all picked up by a motor trolley and transported to a local winery. There are in fact quite a few wineries in the area. I saw something yesterday referring to this area as Missouri’s weinstrasse. So I guess we are in Hermann-on-the-weinstrasse. (That’s for you, Peggy.)

We had a nice tour of the winery, followed by tasting, and finally, dinner in their restaurant. Guess what we had? Yes, the German plate with bratwurst, schnitzel, sauerbraten, red cabbage, and warm German potato salad. I think we got our German on today!

It was interesting seeing that they use several grape varieties we had not heard of before. The most popular is a red wine grape called Norton. We had some of that with dinner, and had a bit more shipped home.

Grapes, dontcha know

Touring the cellar

After dinner they put us back on the trolley and gave us a guided tour of the town.

Viewpoint over the river on our trolley tour

Tomorrow is a longer day, close to 50 miles, and the temperature is forecast to get up into the mid 90’s. We are hoping to get an early start so we can get as much of it done as possible before it heats up.