Booze cruise to Weston, MO

We took a little day trip to Weston, Missouri yesterday. The weather was amazing - 70s, blue sky, low humidity. It was like the last reminder of how beautiful it can be here (before it'll get muggy, hot and overcast during the summer). Weston is home to two wineries as well as the McCormick distillery and a brewery. First we hit the McCormick Country Store where we got samples of their flavoured liquor and vodka for a quarter apiece (maximum two per person, dang!). Whew, that apple vodka was good! Also good that you can buy the stuff in small 200ml bottles.

Afterwards we browsed through the little, country-style antique and gift stores along Main Street. "Quaint" being the adjective of choice here. In between there were some more design oriented shops as well, so I was in heaven. Hubby had fun playing with a kitty outside while I hit a really delightful candle store called 5B&Co. Lots and lots of votive candles with scent names like "Smelly Cat" or "Monkey Farts" for just 1.75 each, very colorfully arranged, and a very nice woman selling them. The place even had wallpaper with little bees on it (because of the beeswax candles, duh!). Soo cute, will be back!


After a very tasty lunch at the Avalon Cafe (grilled portobello sandwich, hmmmh!) situated in an old white antebellum home (needs some restauration on the outside, very nice on the inside though) we visited Pirtle Winery for some wine tasting. The store is located in a former German Lutheran Church with some very tall and steep stairs leading up to it (across the street, some people, apparently residents, sat on their stoop, keeping an amused and somewhat hopeful eye on the tipsy customers leaving the winery who had a hard time getting down those stairs!). Anyway, we had a good time sampling some wines. The mead (wine with honey mixed in) and the fruit wines were very tasty, if a bit too sweet for me. We decided on the Mellow Red, very fruity and good.


Oof, that was enough alcohol and shopping for one day. On our way back we stopped at Weston Bend State Park, enjoying a nice scenic view over the Missouri river and an increasingly hectic walk along one of the trails (the mosquitos were getting to us). Perfect day!


We'll definitely be back later in summer to have a look at the other winery, the brewery, and the farm stores we saw along the way. I saw a "Peaches for Sale" sign and I'm a huge fan of peaches. Also, the landscape was incredibly beautiful; soft, green, rolling hills with some very nice and wealthy looking farm houses set among them. Ah, to buy a house out there! But then again, I bet the nearest Target store would be many miles away...