Great Trip, Bad Beer

Cousin Hophead and I found the curviest roads in Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas and took our bikes down to have some fun. On the way down we stopped off in Aurora, MO (the Hound Dawgs) to drop by the Brew Pub, Bootleggers. I had the privilege of tasting the worst beer I've ever had to this day. I feel bad bashing because I drive by this neat looking place 3 or 4 times a year and would love for them to do well; however, their beer needs a complete overhaul. We sampled a Dark Wheat, Raspberry Wheat, Bock and Pilsner. The Pilsner was okay and I wanted a growler from their to add to my collection so I picked it up. Bootleggers is a neat place to grab a bite to eat but don't plan on drinking their beer.

We got down to our starting point, took a small break and then headed out for Eureka Springs, AR. It wasn't until we left the following day that we saw any sort of straight roads. Probably my favorite stretch of the trip was Highway 86 from the Missouri state line up to Casseville. Imagine a tunnel of trees cooling a hot day at the tops of the Ozarks and not being able to see more than 80 yards of road because of the curves. Perfect for two wheels and some g-force. We got back to the lake and did some cliff jumping in Table Rock Lake. Then we went to our family's new restaurant on the water and had some beer at night. We got back and opened the growler of aforementioned Pilsner. Disgusting! The taste lessened 10 fold. Bad way to end a great day.

The next day we had another big day of riding ahead of us. We went down to Bull Shoals Lake and found that the highway went straight into the lake. We took a ferry across and both ways were full of motorcycles. Cool stuff. On our way home we stopped off at Springfield Brewing Co. I was just there a few weeks ago and really liked it. This time I got some pictures to show you. Very cool place, staff has good knowledge of beer and food is good. We got a pitcher of Pilsner and a pizza for $12 to split. I met one of the brewers, Trey Manning, but he didn't have much to say.

Downtown Eureka Springs looks like somewhere in Europe:

Overlooking Branson:

Road to nowhere:

I had to put this picture in for all those people who think it's gross to swim in a lake. You can see the bottom of 5ft deep water here:

Cousin Hophead's bike on the ferry:

Springfield Brewing Company: