the front porch swing was a nice place to spend some time on saturday morning before heading out to see the sights.
squiers manor is owned by antique dealers virl and kathy and every room is filled with beautiful old furniture as well as cool details like decorative door hinges...
...and this stained glass window at the end of the second floor hallway.
caves and grapes in an upcoming post...
soleil's also sells a plethora of spiritual texts written by omraam mikhael aivanhov, which you can see behind us. one website i found about him and his teachings says that in 1986 he traveled in the invisible world. from what i can tell, i think he died that year. so, same difference? anyway, the food was great.
do i look any different as a doctor?
check out this post on betsy's blog for further explanation of how rob received his very own autographed headshot of wizzo, star of television (in case you can't read the small print).
you remember wizzo, don't you? he was the orange-skinned, pseudo-middle eastern, kinda creepy wizard/magician on the bozo show who would say "nooney nooney noo!" and wave his mystical magic pendant over things. maybe he even appeared in some of your childhood nightmares?
when i was in grade school, my girl scout troop participated in a traditional rite of passage for chicagoland youth--a field trip to a taping of the show (little did i know, kids all around the country were watching chicago's bozo on WGN). i don't remember much about being there in person, but i do recall watching the tape later and being irked that we were all waving with abandon at the wrong camera. i'm also sure that as much as i coveted the loot that could be won playing the grand prize game--the play-at-home version (bozo buckets--by cadaco!), a year's supply of archway cookies, and of course the schwinn bicycle and the brand...new...crisp ...fif...tee...dol...lar...bill in bucket number seven!--i was secretly terrified that bozo's computer (that is, the bozo-puter. i kid you not.) would spit out my name and i'd have to go on stage and actually attempt to win those prizes.
these days, you might just see wizzo incognito (sans wizard make-up, way less scary) as marshall brodien, cruising around chicago in his benz or endorsing his own line of magic tricks (by cadaco!).
the menu is pretty meat-centric--lots of steak and chops. as if the onslaught of red meat weren't enough, the stage stop is famous for not holding anything back when it comes to the sour cream and butter they provide for your baked potato.
rob, ever the inspector, had to hold up a nickel for scale in this photo. unreal.
now, the houghs love butter as much or more than the average midwestern american family, but even we can only take so much. before our food came, grandma mentioned that after other meals at the stage stop she had asked for a take-home container for her unused butter. at first, this seemed a little excessive to me. i soon changed my mind...
