On a frigid November night in Rock Island a couple of years ago, Piper and I met a group of friends at our living room, the Blue Cat Brew Pub, where a man I’d never met, a 90-something lawyer and local legend, bought me a beer. Thanks, Stuart. With the full-bodied stout steeling me against the first bitterly cold day of winter, Piper and I walked a block to Le Figaro, a French restaurant with a tapas bar, a cultural mélange at home in a cultural crossroads. We went right for the bar, of course, where we were greeted by Jeri, Dave, and Cassie. Behind the bar, Darryl, another Blue Cat regular, was tricked out in threads befitting a bartender in a French restaurant—an immaculate white shirt and black bow tie, accessorized with a hint of indifference.

We pushed a couple of hightops together, settled in, and started making the hard decisions. I haven’t had a good bowl of French Onion Soup in years, so I opted for that over lobster bisque, a wrenching choice but one that was affirmed when the bowl of rich, cheesy warmth was steaming in front of me, the perfect antidote to the bitter cold. A few minutes later, five orders of escargots, including mine, arrived; we had a communal craving for garlic butter sauce. For my last choice, I tried something I wasn’t familiar with, a dish called Moroccan Bastilla. It was a wondrous thing—moist, shredded chicken inside a delicate but crispy pastry shell dusted with cinnamon. Yum. We saved dessert for the Blue Cat, another stout in my case, served by the best bartender in the Quad Cities–Bob.

Every time I think about that night, I smile.

Life on the road can be entertaining and immensely rewarding, but there are times I feel isolated and disconnected from home, friends, family, and the world around me. Thanks to these folks and the kindness of many others whose names I never learned, people I’m unlikely to cross paths with again, those times are easier to weather. They give me a home away from home, or, maybe more accurately, a home that extends well beyond the boundaries of the place where I keep my stuff, people and places that complement the support of a loving partner, friends, and family further south.

In the four years I’ve been exploring the places along the Mississippi River, I’ve met so many people along the way, that in many areas I don’t have to drive more than an hour to connect with someone I know. So, with Thanksgiving just around the corner, here’s a quick thank you to the people who’ve made my life on the road more interesting and more meaningful, listed in geographical order beginning at the Quad Cities and heading north:

  • Quad Cities: Leif, Piper, Alex, and the entire crew at the Blue Cat;
  • Clinton: Regina and family at Espresso;
  • Bellevue: Lucille;
  • Galena: Jim;
  • Victory: Marc, although I mourn this year’s closure of the Red Lion Pub;
  • La Crosse: John, Teri and Jean-Luc, Anne, Jamie and Doug, the folks at the Root Note and Grounded Specialty Coffee, and Rolf at the German Haus in Camp Douglas;
  • Winona: Reggie and Pam;
  • Minnesota City: Marv and Gen;
  • Reads Landing: Perry and Reynard, and Helen;
  • Twin Cities: David and Paul, Doug, Dewey, and Lori;
  • St. Cloud: the friendly folks at Anton’s Sea Galley;
  • Brainerd:  Lori and Chuck;
  • Aitkin Lake: Maxine and Alex;
  • Grand Rapids: Bill, Anne, Steve and the crew at Zorbas;
  • Wolf Lake: Terry;
  • Bemidji: Noemi and the crew at The Cabin Coffeehouse and the good folks at Brigid’s Cross;
  • Itasca State Park: Connie.

May your lives be blessed with generous friends new and old, interesting (and challenging) conversation, and the pleasures of good food during this holiday season and beyond.

Peace to you all.

©; Dean Klinkenberg, 2011