This One Time, At Bagwine ...

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I started my Saturday morning early ... a little too early. Sleep escaped me Friday night. Seems the anxiety of sending Cam off to camp, coupled with the anxiety associated with meeting "new" people was a recipe for restlessness. I sucked it up ('cause I'm "tough" like that) and was waiting in line at 8:00 AM to check in Cam for camp.

Thirty minutes later, this was the view as I left the church parking lot

Then it was home for a shower, "packing" (does a backpack count as packing?) and 30 minutes of studying the map and directions to Bagwine. Yes, I really did, and as it turned out it was a good thing. See, I have a color printer that was running low on cyan ink, but had plenty of black ink. Silly me thought if I wanted to print something in black ink the printer would obey my commands. Clearly my printer didn't know I was the boss. I resorted to writing out the directions by hand.

What I didn't realize, because I didn't have a MAP, was that I would spend about an hour driving in Illinois, an hour driving in Ohio, and FOUR AND A HALF hours driving in Indiana. About four hours into my drive through Indiana I tweeted:

Where the FUCK is Ohio?

In fact, I had been in Indiana so long I considered making a quick stop here for a little relief ...


I was certain I had somehow missed Ohio. That, or they had extended the eastern border of Indiana all the way to Maryland. But then I saw it ...

That's when I called Schmoop and broke down in fits of frustration asked how much farther it was. Fortunately, I was less than an hour away!!

I drove straight to the beer mine and look who I found ...


Thank goodness he gave me the right address to the beer mine. That could have been embarrassing!

For those of you who are like me and have lived somewhat "sheltered" lives, this concept of a drive through micro-convenience store that sells beer is pretty amazing. And if you could see it in action you'd be even more impressed. It was full of awesome.


I spent the last two hours of Matt-Man's shift hanging out at the beer mine and getting over those first few minutes of awkward. It's a little odd meeting someone you've "known" for three years for the first time - especially when that person knows more about you than people you've known your entire life and yet you've never touched them. Fortunately, awkward eased quite rapidly.

Then it was time to head to the Bagwine abode with a 30-pack of these ...

And a pint of this ...

Oh yes I did! I chose the Wild Berry vintage. Matt-Man insisted on the traditional Red, and Schmoop (probably the smartest one in the bunch) stayed with the Milwaukee's Best.


For the record, if any of you are really my friends, you won't let me drink Wild Irish Rose ever again. Seriously! The headache was beyond description. I actually spent half of the night squishing my head between my hands in hopes that I could actually physically stop the throbbing.

And then morning came ... VERY early. Seems Matt-Man and Schmoop have no concept of sleep being a key factor in the drinking recovery process.

Sunday morning started off with the grand tour. Having lived in Podunk for four years now, touring Bagwine was like going to Disneyland! They have a museum, parks and TWO WalMarts! Oh, and we picked up breakfast from a Bagwine icon.

No, the bakery didn't sell beer - that was round two - but they did give me a free doughnut when Matt-Man told them I was visiting from out of town. The temptress behind the counter found a "broken" whole wheat doughnut that, of course, they couldn't sell, and included in the box. I have to say that I have never eaten such lard laden perfection in my life.

And what visit to Bagwine would be complete without a home-cooked meal of Loosemeat and Lima beans? One of the best meals I've had in a long time ...

There was more beer, a phone call to Jay, some drunk tweeting and tons of great gossip conversation. And yes, as a matter of fact we did talk about you, you and even you!

If you've read Matt-Man's blog, you know that this was all that was left of me Monday morning ...


Those of you who have met bloggers know what a wonderful experience it is, and this was no exception. Matt-Man and Schmoop are both amazing people and I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to spend some time with them.

Now, if someone would please tell me what the hell I did to my thumb last night. The tip of it has been all tingly since I woke up this morning ...

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