The rain was predicted, but held off! It held off for the day, it had been raining the few days before, but not today! So…what should we do?! Go for a ride! It’s chilly, but we’re in riding season!

Now…I’m not a hard core rider, I don’t ride when it’s below 48, I might put the top down on the Beetle-Bug when it’s in the high 30s/low 40s, but the bike, nope. I don’t have the fancy stuff on my bike to keep me toasty, like butt warmers in the car, you’re kind of exposed, so…bundle up. I was fine on the top, but from the thighs to the ankles, a little brrr. Next time, Cuddle Duds under the jeans. Such a chance from last weekend, when I could have gone out in a sweatshirt!

We decided to ride to Grafton, IL, I don’t think I’ve mentioned Grafton yet to you. Its a small town in Illinois on the Missisippi River, turns out it’s the oldest town in Jersey County, IL. It gets crazy crowded in the summer and it’s a known spot for bikes, motorcycles, that is. Someone told me about it as a nice ride and one of the biker bars, the Hawg Pit BBQ, it made it an easy destination to put in the GPS.

It’s about an hour ride from here, so not too bad, and a nice destination, as I mentioned. You can go by the highways, yesterday, PSM took us on some alternate roads and it was nice. We eventually connected with the main drag that takes us over the Clark Bridge to Alton, IL, the middle of the bridge is actually the state line, pretty cool. It really is a pretty bridge, I have yet to take a picture of it, we’re always on the bikes. Alton is a cute town, we haven’t explored much of the town, there is a cobblestone street where they have a few restaurants with tables set up outside, which we’ve eaten at, it’s charming.

It was a bit chilly on the ride, so we decided to stop in Alton, but inside, ha ha. We stopped at The Old Bakery Beer Company, as the name says they have beer, tee hee hee. It’s a certified organic craft brewery with food options. We were going to get lunch in Grafton, so I settled on a cup of tea. I would like to go back, they had a nice looking menu with vegetarian and vegan options. It’s a warehouse-like open space, exposed beams, streams of edison bulbs, with tables, spaced appropriately socially distant, mask mandates, hand sanitzier, just like most places. It had a nice open, welcoming feel. Everyone seemed to be having a good time.

After warming up a little inside, we walked outside to the bikes getting ready to head towards Grafton, it seemed to have warmed up a little, outside. One of the things we love about having Indian Motorcycles are the conversation starters. When we came out, a woman was in her car looking at the bikes and told us she was just sitting there admiring them, which was nice, and a guy came up to us to talk about our bikes, he’s thinking about joining the club! We would welcome him! He was wearing a great utilikilt, we’re getting near St Patrick’s Day, people were out celebrating. A utilikilt is a kilt made for every day work wear.

We got to Grafton and pulled in to the parking lot and walked into the Piasa Winery and Pub, we were there for the view, not the food. It was a seafood restaurant, they had some other things, but it was mostly seafood. PSM had a fried alligator, I tasted it, I was curious. I’ll just say, aside from the spicy batter, which I wasn’t crazy about, it still tastes like salty chicken, didn’t make me change my vegan ways, ha ha. For me, I had the grilled pear salad, it was quite tasty. A variety of greenery, grilled pears, glazed walnuts, and cranberries. We sat on the deck and there were heat lamps warming everything up, we needed it. Even the table was warm, I was happy!

After the winery, we went to the Gold Bar Saloon, there was a bar with a few stools, but the true gem was outside, well, sort of outside. There was a building next door with fire pits, that was fabulous. We took our drinks in, took off our jackets and sat on one of the sofas and just enjoyed ourselves. There were a few other people in there, but they were each at their own set of sofas and firepits, awesome! The music was country, but classic country that everyone seemed to know, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, and Boz Scaggs.

After a while, even though we had just eaten, we were slightly peckish and all I wanted was french fries. No idea why, I haven’t eaten or craved french fries in a long time, they just don’t agree with me, so I try to avoid them, but I was craving them, so off we went. We walked…next door, ha ha, to the Grafton Pub. We ordered fries, when I asked the cut, I was told they were somewhere in between steak fries and Burger King french fry. It was funny, when I asked what the cut was, she looked at me funny, so I explained the different cuts. We also ordered guacamole bites, which are a bit odd, but we were curious. We were told they were like wontons with guacamole in them, and fried. Ok…let’s just say, they were hot as all get out, to me anyway. We’ve had them before I realized, and let’s just say, not ordering them again, not everything tastes better fried…The french fries on the other hand, were tasty, if you could get past the coarse salt and pepper they put on them, seriously?! Just not my cup of tea honestly, I forgot to order them unseasoned, which would have meant fresh out of the frier, nothing extra, which would have made them perfect, they really were good fries, good size, perfect crunch on the outside, texture and taste of potato, I know that sounds weird to some, I’ll explain in a later post.

The Grafton Pub is also on the water, and Grafton itself it really is a pretty place in the Spring and Summer, especially with the trees in bloom and boats on the river.

After our snack, it was time to go. Interesting thing…until we sat at The Gold Bar Saloon, we didn’t see another motorcycle all day, then there were a few, it was nice to see some other cold weather riders like us. We got to the bikes, met another group of admirers, theses folks were slightly closer to inebriated, they were getting into the St Patricks Day mood, but still admirers of our bikes, which we definitely appreciate and welcome the conversation. After that, on the bikes and head back down by the river, over the bridge, on the highway this time and hello puppies.

The sun pretended to try to peek out, but aside from that, a great day overall. What could be bad, motorcycle ride, good company, laughter, the wind in your face, as I’ve told you…wind therapy! Wonder where the road takes us next…