[at-l] Trail Magic

[hudsom at us.ibm.com (Mark Hudson)]

Left work yesterday and drove down to Rt 301 outside of Fahnestock to meet
Jan. She wasn't there yet, so I hiked about fifteen minutes down the trail
to meet her coming the other way. Very pleasant walking in the woods, but
it would have been pretty hot for any walking out in the open.
We headed into Cold Spring, first to the PO so she could cash a money
order, and then back to the main drag in town. Too many antique stores, but
at least they have one outfitter <g>. Walked down to an ice cream stand,
and then down to enjoy the views along the river. We'd been checking out
the restaurant menus along the way, but everything we ran into was either
tourist pricey or pasta. I'd had Henry's  (a pub on the main corner in
town) in mind, having been in there once, so we headed back up the hill.
We walked up to the door and were greeted by a gentleman who said "We're
closed for renovations", and before I could even think Jan says something
along the lines of "But I walked 1500 miles from Georgia to get here". And
the Gentleman says "In that case you're our guests, not customers, come on
in". Takes us back and introduces us to the chef, who puts steaks on the
grill for us. Takes us out and sets a table up on the porch for us. "Sorry,
we don't have our liquor permit yet, but you can get beer across the street
at the gas station". Over for a six pack of Corona, and back for a
quacamole appetizer, some awesome pasta with a southwest sauce on it (BTW,
the restaurant is going to be the "Sante Fe"), and steak.
Needless to say everything was excellent. These great people wouldn't take
our money, we even tried to give them the first dollar to put up over the
bar, but without the permits we could only be guests.
What can I say??? Jan scored some major magic, I was just along for the
ride...
The gentleman that owns the place? He's a hiker....

skeeter