October 5th, Jerome, AZ
On Saturday,
we ventured out on another perfect weather day.
It really was beginning to be uncanny how great our weather had been,
from one place to the next. Daytime
temps were in the low 70’s and nighttime temps were low 40’s…..our idea of
perfect for both daytime adventures and sleeping under the stars. We had found out that anything over 50
degrees and our sleeping bags were too warm.
We set
off on our first jaunt of the day….a scenic high mountain road up to the town
of Jerome.
It was basically shops and
restaurants intermingled with the history of a mining area and a ghost town in
the vicinity. For us it was pretty much
about the drive. Very pretty in that
arid, desert mountain kind of way. Once
we got up there we decided to find a place for a cold drink and a bite to
eat. We lucked into finding a cute
little place where our bartender charmed us the whole time with her big
personality and ready smile.
She set
the tone right off the bat when I asked her about a particular drink called a
Big Nose Kate. She says, “That’s me.”
Now, even if someone has a big nose, my momma taught me it’s not polite
to point out such things but she just went there all on her own. I responded, “Ummm, what do you mean?” She turns her profile to me and
responds, “The drink is named after me.” “So, you’re famous then?!” She grinned so photogenically we just
couldn’t resist getting a photo for remembrance sake. Joyce described her perfectly: “She looks like Angelica Huston’s younger
sister.” I couldn’t agree more but I’d
be interested if anyone else sees that resemblance.
Kate, the
famous bartender, regaled us with the other cocktails on the list and aside
from ordering a couple of Dos
Equis for us, I decided to try an odd cocktail
combination that Kate swore was a cure for altitude sickness. It was called a Pickle something. It was a
shot of pickle juice followed by a shot of tequila. I know it sounds so weird but it really kind
of worked. Joyce had come up with her
own variation of this a long time ago and tried to talk me into trying it but I
had resisted….until now. Joyce looked at
me with a touch of affront and I said the only thing I could say, “I couldn’t
refuse Angelica Huston’s younger sister now could I?”
Joyce and I were reluctant to leave Kate’s
company and the kind of banter that occurs when you forget time and schedules
and just let the day unfold as it will.
But, reality set in and as other customers demanded her attention, we
made our way back down the mountain and on to the red canyons.
No comments:
Post a Comment