Giant City and more wineries

Our first stop on Saturday was Giant City Visitors Center.

This quilt is basically a test of all of the state "official" things.

Good thing they had a key next to it. Who even knew we had an official state pet? It's a rescue animal.

We wanted to walk around the Giant City rocks but it was just too hot. Instead, we went to the Giant City Lodge, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

How pretty is this? Look at those stone arches. From there we went to Makanda where they were having a honey festival. Parking was not easy to find and it was hot walking around. Darla bought some local honey and we went into a few very hippy-ish stores. What a weird town.

Makanda, of course, is home to the late Illinois U.S. Sen. Paul Simon. I was expecting a statue or something but they added a bow tie to the town's smiley face water tower after he died in 2003. You'd think the town could do better.

Then it was time for wineries. Our first stop was Blue Sky Vineyards.

Interesting Tuscan look.

Cheers!

The inside was fancy. This was probably the fanciest winery we visited. I did like the ceiling fans that looked like farm windmills.

Stop No. 2 was Feather Hills. We went there because it was lunchtime and they served food.

Little did we know we were walking into a Pirate Fest. The people-watching was incredible. One girl was wearing elf ears. It was quite the show. I later found out it was International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Arrrr.

This was our lunch. Mine was a club sandwich. It tasted good but I was expecting the club on toast with lettuce.

There was a guy singing on the floor above the seating area. He was loud and kind of butchering every song. It was an experience. I enjoy live music but this was ... a lot.

Third winery stop was Owl Creek Vineyard. The owner went to ISU and worked at the Vidette (after us) but Andy met him at the Vidette reunion night I didn't go to. He said to ask for him when we stopped in, and I did, but he was away for the weekend.

It was out of the way but busy.

Very busy.

Darla and I split a flight.

Cute truck on the grounds. It was hot and we were tired, but Darla indulged me by stopped at a packed thrift store in Carbondale. I didn't find any treasures though.