12-16-2025, 10:17 AM
(12-15-2025, 09:28 PM)The A-man Wrote: Bar? Did someone say bar?? Well, that seals the deal, I'll be there!
I know there are more than a few teetotallers that follow this forum and will be attending the rally. The following comment will be of little interest to them.
I've been lucky enough to travel around the country by motorcycle, though not to the extent of many here. I was also fortunate enough to tour through the Scottish Highlands. Every place we stayed in Scotland, and a memorable few places in the U.S., had a bar/pub/tavern attached to them. One particular place, in Mineral Point, Wisconsin as it happens, was a working brewery with a bar and restaurant on the ground floor and sleeping rooms upstairs. Cormanus has written about such idyllic stops on his travels in Australia, and I thought of him upon our arrival the Mineral Point brewpub.
Overnight guests checked in at the bar, which we did before offloading our gear from the bikes. I asked the young man checking us in if he was our bartender for the evening and Jacob affirmed that he was. I asked him if it was possible to have a Plymouth martini, up, with blue cheese-stuffed olives waiting on the bar when I was finished stowing my gear and getting settled into the room. Jacob replied, "Of course, sir, and just how much vermouth would you like me to mix in?". I answered my usual 5:1 ratio. My wife and at least one of my friends found this to be boorish on my part; not the ratio, but asking for a drink and then walking out of the bar, but I figured he's going to make me a cocktail sooner or later and I liked the idea of having the drink waiting for my return. I loved the idea after I did return. It had been a warm ride to Mineral Point and walking downstairs after a quick change of attire to a frosty cold glass of gin and vermouth seemed an appropriately decadent way to unwind. We stayed their for three nights and Jacob had my martini waiting for me at the bar after each day's ride.
Ever since we stayed in the Mineral Point brewery (side note, the place closed down several years ago and I don't recall the name then. It is telling that I cannot remember the name of the place, but I can remember the bartender's name), I have sought out motorcycle lodging that has an attached or adjacent place in which I can enjoy a post-ride cocktail. Rob House, the guy who planned and guided our Scotland trip, must have had a similar experience to mine early in his touring days because our riding days always ended with an adult beverage of one sort or another.
So, learning that the Round Barn Lodge might be able to provide me (us) with this joyous punctuation to a day spent riding the hills, valleys, and curves of the Driftless Area has me even more excited for the end of August, 2026. Oh, and that we might be able to have breakfast before riding doesn't suck too bad either.
