It's no secret that my friend, Melanie, and I don't know what we're doing half the time.  The beauty of operating this way is that we are open to spur of the moment adventures.  Yesterday was no different. 

First of all, the weather was unseasonably warm for November, putting us in high spirits.  Our goal for the  day was to get to Mankato to take pictures for a project I'm working on, and on the way we ran into a pesky detour along highway 169 in St. Peter.  While Melanie was navigating the detour, we debated where we wanted to eat lunch.  I was sitting there with my brow furrowed, thinking real hard, when Melanie made one of her quick-stops, and pulled over to the curb.  "How does this look?" she wanted to know. Well, it looked to me like our expectations for the day were about to be exceeded.

I've never been more right in my life.  We entered a promising-looking establishment called Richard's Restaurant and Pub, which is certainly a cut above any place I had expected to see in a community the size of St. Peter.  (Sorry St. Peter) I'm not just being nice.  This is as fine an establishment as I've seen, and I said so to Melanie.  The bathrooms even had little white terrycloth towels to dry our fingers on.

Melanie ordered the french onion soup which looked fabulous.  I was tempted to order the same, however, even though I love onions, I'm sorry to say, they don't love me back. It's a sort of unrequited love.  Not to be outdone, I had a bowl of the best squash soup I've ever tasted.  As a rule, Melanie doesn't like squash soup, saying it reminds her of the texture of pureed baby food.  That's generally true,  but this squash soup was creamy like a bisque, rounded out with the smoky flavor of bacon.

A meal at Richard's Restaurant and Pub is worth a drive out from the Twin Cities.  Richards is located on the first floor of the historic Konsbruck Hotel, circa 1901, offering beautifully renovated accommodations for overnight stays.  Being waited on by elegant young men was the icing on the cake.  They made our fine dining experience complete.  Well done, gentlemen.