Yesterday Chris and I embarked on a rental car road trip from Chicago en route to Austin for BlogHer Food 2016. After a late afternoon meeting, and a quick detour to Antique Taco in obligatory celebration of #NationalTacoDay (big fan of the carnitas + rib eye tacos), we loaded up the car, departed, returned for forgotten necessities, and departed once more. We stopped once in Normal, IL to overeat at the mediocre Destihl Restaurant + Brew Pub and after scoring fuel and delightfully terrible coffee at the seediest gas station we could find, continued on our way to our first overnight in Belle Terre, MO. After exiting the highway and cruising 10+ miles on dark, rolling country roads, we pulled into our AirBnB host’s gravel farmhouse driveway. Our night's accommodation was an adorable cabin perched over a large pond on the couple’s farm that was even more inviting than the photos let on (that’s a first). With it’s lofted interior, repurposed barn scraps, retro kitchen, outdoor vintage clawfoot tub and absurdly oversized shower room, The Waterfront Cottage was an absolute retreat. Despite it being after 1:00 AM when we finally arrived, we cracked open the bottle of wine the host’s so kindly left us and stayed up a few hours just enjoying our temporary digs and savoring life a bit – a pretty excellent start to our trip.

Next Up: Day 2 Recap