Old Postcard Wednesday--Old Tavern, Arrow Rock, Missouri plus Lydia's New Years Message

MidwestLiving gives a quick description of the town of Arrow Rock (highlighting is mine):

In this town of only 70 residents, the beautiful surroundings bring the visitors, and the visitors bring the bustle.

On the boardwalk that links the brick buildings of Arrow Rock, the clatter of shoppers' heels echoes across Main Street. Obviously, this wide roadway was meant for more traffic than the visitors who've arrived in this central Missouri community (45 miles west of Columbia) on a sunny autumn afternoon.

In the mid-1800s, riverboats, as well as wagons heading west on the Santa Fe Trail, traveled through Arrow Rock. Today, during events such as the Fall Crafts Festival, visitors far outnumber the town's 70 residents.

Thanks to residents' efforts, the town's 40 buildings are a National Historic Landmark. Along Main Street, the brick Arrow Rock Tavern, one of the oldest west of the Mississippi, still serves hearty favorites such as fried chicken and catfish. Bed and breakfasts occupy several 19th-century houses. . .

The Arrow Rock Tavern is now known as the J. Huston Tavern, and accompanying the name change is a marvelous website that is only a click away. It includes a current color photo of the building, a tab with the menu and another tab taking you to a full page of wonderful history about the Tavern. Here is the beginning of the warm welcome at the home page:

The J. Huston Tavern was established in 1834 as a place where Westward travelers and rowdy river adventurers could find a good meal and a refreshing drink. Although you won't encounter many rowdy river adventurers among your Tavern dining companions these days, you will still find the good food and refreshing drinks that have drawn visitors to this historic building for 175 years. The J. Huston Tavern is proud of its distinction as the oldest continuously operating restaurant west of the Mississippi.

You can sense the rich history of the building as soon as you step through the door, but you'll also find something new at the Tavern. Chef Liz Huff, the J. Huston Tavern's new proprietor, has created an exciting new menu and brought a lively new energy to the Tavern. You'll be attended by servers clad in 1800s attire, dine on expertly prepared fare, and surrounded by artwork and artifacts from another era. It all adds up to a dining experience of historic significance! 

It sounds like a marvelous spot to stop as a tourist and I bet it is a favorite among the locals. I would definitely like to eat there while experiencing the history of the building and the charm described at the website. Even as a non-drinker I think I'd have an most enjoyable time........

.........which brings me to the reason I selected this old postcard for this particular Wednesday so close to New Years Eve and New Years Day. If you are not an alcoholic/addict then more power to you for welcoming in the new year with some of the bubbly.....or even a lot of the bubbly. I enjoyed doing that before my alcoholism gained on me and I have a few good memories of a few New Years during those days.

I may or may not have been harmless to myself but I was harmless to others when I partied at New Years Eve back then, and why? Because it was during the nine years that I was without a car; actually, without a driver's license. And why? Because upon my illustrious beginning as a new Oregonian/wife of first year law student one night he and I drank drank drank and after he passed out I took the car for a drive to check out sleepy downtown Salem. I was stopped by not one, but two cops who, when I opened the window of our new Mazda, asked about my car's performance and my well-being so to speak. I told them I was fine and so was my car. Then they told me I was driving on two flat tires: right front and rear.......Of course they wrote a citation and of course they took me in when I refused to take a breathalyzer test, the result of which was my losing my license to drive at age 25. When my husband and I separated a few years later he took the car and I had absolutely no inclination to work out the details that would enable me to drive in the State of Oregon, and certainly no desire for a vehicle. I knew I couldn't be trusted on the road and I applied my own restraints because of that fact. How, nine years later, I did get a driver's license and a car, is another story for another post because it was the acquisition of both that ultimately made me face my alcoholism and seek treatment.........

.........and after treatment, in those first years, one of the hugest deterrents to having a drink was simply remembering how horrific hang-overs had become for me in the final stages of my drinking life. I still do not take the memory lightly. But how I did laugh when I stumbled upon this crazy video some months ago (never heard of this singer or the song before - have you?). I stuck it in drafts for New Years Eve. And since it is suited to this old postcard, I guess it means that my final 2009 Old Postcard Wednesday post is also my Happy New Years to You post!

I'm sending my love and best wishes to all my blogging friends and I look forward to 2010 and to reading more of your artistic, insightful, hilarious, heartbreaking, informative, and healing blogs. Please be careful on the roads over New Years and do not drink and drive (ever).
The hangovers are up to you!

Statistics and links from Mothers Against Drunk Driving:

In 2008, an estimated 11,773 people died in drunk driving crashes involving a driver with an illegal BAC (.08 or greater). These deaths constitute 31.6 percent of the 37,261 total traffic fatalities in 2008. (Source: NHTSA, 2009)

Access statistics about:

• Drunk driving, drunk driving fatalities, alcohol-related traffic crashes
• Drunk driving victims
• Underage drinking, binge drinking, college drunking, minimum drinking age  
• Access to alcohol for underage drinkers, parent-child relationships and underage drinking, child endangerment 
• Arrests and convictions for driving under the influence, law enforcement efforts to reduce drunk driving and underage drinking
• Mental health, alcohol addiction and binge drinking
• Schools' and teachers' roles in preventing underage drinking
• Fatalities in crashes involving alcohol-impaired 21- to 24-year-old drivers during the December holidays

graphic via webweaver

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