Fried Chicken and Ferry Rides

Our friends Grace and Alex invited us along for a fall tradition from Grace’s family: lunch at Pere Marquette Lodge in Grafton, Illinois, then a trip across the river to pick out pumpkins.

As always, we were glad they shared it with us.

(The good Dale is in) The Lodge

The lobby is something else. Heavy timber beams, stone walls, and a towering fireplace that anchors the whole room. It has a quaint, rural feel that I couldn’t help but compare to the Great Northern from Twin Peaks, one of my favorite shows that naturally fits right in with the fall vibes.

Right in the middle, next to the fireplace, sits a giant chess board. If we’d had more time, I would have challenged Alex to a match. Helen found a rack of postcards and, naturally, bought a few. She loves snail mail. The Postal Service thanks her for her continued support.

My traveling Slugma card also made an appearance at the lodge. You can see the photo in Grand Theft Autumn - A Wild Slugma Appeared!

It also reminded us of Wildwood Springs Lodge in Steelville, Missouri, where we got engaged during a Blue Öyster Cult concert. It’s a band with a lot of sentimental value for us, so it felt right. Rustic wooden lodges clearly have a hold on us. I’ve taken to calling them “Redneck Shining Hotels”, and I mean that with nothing but affection.

Foodstuffs, downhome cookin’

The restaurant carries the same warmth as the lobby. Helen and Grace went for the fried chicken, which the lodge is known for. I had the pot roast, the kind of simple, slow-cooked comfort food that tastes like a dinner at a Grandma’s house (that said, Jill does it better).

Nothing fancy, and that was exactly the point.

A trek across the river

From there, Alex drove us onto the Brussels Ferry, a free ferry run by the state that carries cars across the Illinois River. I had never driven onto a ferry before. It’s a strange and delightful thing to sit in a car while the car itself crosses a river. Also as I mentioned, it’s totally free, which is just something I’m not accustom to in the world of United States public transit. A nice change of pace.

Shopping the local farmer’s market

Our destination was Odelehr’s Roadside Market in Brussels, a family farm that’s been around for generations, with more pumpkins, gourds, and squash than you could ever pick from.

We’re always suckers for a farmers market, and this one was beautiful. We came home with pumpkins, onion jam, a few sweets, and homemade bacon ketchup (which I slathered on some chicken tenders when we got home). You can check out photos of the many gourds in the gallery.

(Take) The Long Way Home

For the trip back, we took a second ferry, the Golden Eagle (not free this time), across the Mississippi into St. Charles County. We’re no strangers to ferries, having ridden the Walt Disney World ferry to the Magic Kingdom numerous times. But two ferry rides from the seat of a Toyota Prius was certainly a first.

あきがやってきました (Autumn has arrived.)

Good food, good friends, a Prius full of pumpkins, and two rivers crossed without incident. A very nice start to the great outdoors of autumn.