Sunday, May 22, 2011

Today's fortune: May 22, 2011 - PHOTO ESSAY

Today's fortune: You desire to discover new frontiers. It's time to travel.

And travel we did. What a great day!

Jamie and I departed at 9:30 a.m. today, and we just got home about a half hour ago. We didn't exactly know where we were headed when we set out, but we knew good things were in store for us. That's because back on February 22, exactly three months ago, I received this fortune: Remember three months from this date. Good things are in store for you.
On that day, I specifically wrote about traveling on May 22 to make it a special day, so receiving today's fortune was the perfect fit.

We started out heading east on Interstate 70 into Missouri. I drove while Jamie navigated, and we talked, listened to tunes and generally had a good ol' time.



I took this picture while I was driving on the interstate. That should totally be illegal.
 Our first stop was the tourist town of Arrow Rock, Mo. We parked and walked over a lovely bridge to the visitors center, but along the way we were visited by some of the bridge's inhabitants: these surprisingly large lizards (about 6 inches long), which were somehow simultaneously adorable and disgusting:


Inside the visitors center, we were surprised to find an exhibit of George Caleb Bingham portraits. With the possible exception of Thomas Hart Benton, Bingham is Missouri's most famous artist, and he used to live in Arrow Rock, which at the time was known as Boone's Lick. To see several of Bingham's original works in one place was incredible.


One of the portraits was this famous image of Alexander Doniphan, a hero of the Mexican-American War who happens to be buried about four blocks from where I grew up in Liberty, Mo.


After leaving the visitors center, we proceeded to the town of Arrow Rock, where we shopped in the local general store and took a walk down the main street.


Back on the road, Jamie and I eventually found ourselves turning off at Columbia, Mo., home of the University of Missouri and also one of my favorite hangout spots in the world: Shakespeare's Pizza. It's a can't-miss stop if you're ever in Columbia. Jamie and I ordered a pie and a pitcher of Boulevard Pale Ale.


We decided to head back home, but not before stopping at a couple of Missouri wineries (the state is becoming quite well known for its wine). Jamie and I bought a couple bottles and bellied up to the bar for tastings at each winery.

Pictured: A weekend's worth of wine for Jamie.

Now we're back home. We're going to relax the rest of the evening. Jamie and I are heading outside to our patio to enjoy the rest of this fine afternoon, and after night falls we will watch a movie, crack open a bottle of wine and toast a beautiful day.

VEGETARIAN UPDATE: Day 5

See that picture of a pizza up above? That's a cheese pizza, friends. Had we visited Shakespeare's last week, I surely would have gotten pepperoni on my half. But the cheese was darn good. I'm still not particularly missing meat - but now that I'm more than halfway through the week, I'm beginning to think about the meat feast with which I'm going to break this fast. More on that tomorrow.

In the meantime, ponder this last image. It's the food pyramid, Shakespeare's Pizza-style:

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