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Praetorium Honoris

Monday, May 20, 2024

Singing Waters

So, with the end of Mrs J's medical treatments (and an optimistically good assessment of status), She and I decided we needed to take a day off and go have a bit of fun.  LJW suggested we go visit some wineries in the local area.  Local Area in Texas is roughly defined as the same amount of square miles as in Rhode Island.  

This site says Rhode Island's east/west length is 37 mles and north/south is 48 miles.  This site says the distance from The Burg to Austin via 290 is 78 miles.  The majority of Texas wineries are along or within about 20 miles of that highway.

Not that there's anything bad about RI, mind you.  Just kinda giving a mental picture. 

In any case, having been to most of the "Good" (Greek for "crowded") wineries, LJW suggested one that's a bit off the beaten path, specifically located near the town of Comfort, a thriving metroplex of maybe a couple thousand people, and an awful lot of cattle. 

The winery is named Singing Water due to a creek that ran through the property.  Very nice place, very nice folks,  a quite talented young songstress, a tasty cheese and sausage plate and a very nice red wine* made for quite enjoyable outing.

 


Miss B even had a good time.

She was trying to out "Goofy" her grandfather.  I won hands down!

 

As I went inside to settle up, I noticed a few things that caught my eye.


James Avery has several custom jewelry stores in Texas.  His home and one of his first stores are in "The Burg".  I thought it was interesting that he'd been a pilot in WWII in Europe.

Here is the letter he wrote to the winery explaining the significance of the picture.



Thought that was interesting, crossing the Atlantic with temporary fuel tanks on board.  Lord help them if they didn't feed.  (And I'm sure more than a few crews experienced that disaster.)

So, as I finished reading this, I noticed another picture next to it.


If you'll notice in the top right of the picture, there's a picture of a B-25 on the deck of a ship.  Caught my eye, yes it did.  Right away, I thought of the Doolittle Raid and that this guy from Comfort might have participated in it.

I couldn't have been more right.  I asked one of the staff who was in the room with me what the relationship of Richard "Dick" Cole was to the winery.  The guy that answered was about my age and also retired Air Force.  He said that Mr. Cole had, indeed, been on the raid and that he was born, raised and lived in Comfort (TX) up to and after the war.  The significance was enhanced when he told me that he'd been General Doolittle's Co-pilot on the raid.


Here's a picture of the crew before takeoff.  Then Colonel Doolittle is second from the left,  Mr. Cole is second from the right.

Talk about a brush with history.  He'd been present at the grand opening of the winery.   The owner and he were good friends and the owner is also retired military.  Unfortunately, Mr Cole has passed away.  That would have been out of this world amazing to have met him personally.

As one may surmise, the winery staff has a large former number of former military staff on it, So they are inclined to offer a variety of specials for military and former military folks. They also have a significant collection of "Challenge Coins" and will exchange one of their challenge coins for one of yours.  I believe there might be some "encouragement" included in the exchange.  


 

Excellent place to visit with excellent wines (and the food isn't bad either). As I mentioned, Military Vets get a significant discount there.  Mrs. J and I highly recommend a visit.

Peace out y'all!

*

I like the NameSource



30 comments:

  1. A great day when you get to be grandpa!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michael,
      Yes it is and was. IMHO, it's an exponential expansion of greatness with each additional grandchild. So, currently at the 3rd power level.
      Thanks
      juvat

      Delete
  2. "a thriving metroplex of maybe a couple thousand people, and an awful lot of cattle. "
    People who know not their right hand from their left?

    GREAT brush with history, thanks for telling us about it

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jonah 4:11. Took me a second. Nice little small town without a lot of hustle/bustle of Austin/San Antonio. Heck, even "The Burg" is getting a tad too "Busy".
      Yeah, I did enjoy reading the history's.
      Thanks
      juvat

      Delete
    2. Wait.....

      That WASN'T an intentional Biblical reference?

      Delete
    3. It wasn't?
      juvat

      Delete
    4. Ah! I took this: "Took me a second." as meaning that you hadn't been aware that it was prophetic.

      Delete
    5. Sorry for not responding earlier, been a little "occupied".
      I knew of the saying, but not that it had Biblical origins. Google's first hit was to that reference.
      juvat

      Delete
  3. Sounds like an outstanding trip! Good company, good food, good wine, and a bit of history as well. What's not to love?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, just what the doctor ordered.
      juvat

      Delete
  4. Enjoy your tales of your winery sojourns, looks like Miss B is enjoying grandparent time too. Good catch on Mr. Avery and Mr. Cole for this post juvat, surviving the Doolittle Raid....well. Mr. Avery was back in school in September of "45 after the German surrender on May seventh. My parents were discharged in October.....back to civilian life. Good post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nylon,
      Yeah, there aren't a lot of those folks left. The National Museum of the Pacific War is located in The Burg. For the aforementioned reason they don't do it as often as before, but they will interview any participant and record his story whether they were a General commanding an army or an E1 doing KP. Great place and a "Must see" if you come to town. The winery was a smaller version, but with the same goal.
      juvat

      Delete
  5. Glad you had a good time celebrating a win over the evil c.

    When we moved to south Texas from Houston (herrk, spit!), we met a neighbor across the back alley. He was a young man, that was associated with a group that brought lots a WW2 pilots and aces together in SA. My oldest son went to most of those meetings and got a million signatures from those aces. I shook hands with Bud Anderson at one of those meetings. My son got to hold the stained flight suit of one of the Doolittle raiders, as well as spend some time talking with Tex Hill. He met a lot of my childhood heroes. I sure didn't know about Doolittle's copilot living in Comfort. We lived there in the early 80's. Good memories...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. STxAR, I would place pretty good odd that the flight suit was Mr. Cole. The winery guy I talked to said he was very involved in WWII veteran events.
      Thanks
      juvat

      Delete
  6. Sounds like a wonderful (and much needed) day away. Thanks for sharing Juvat!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes it was, we'll have to call it a "reconnaisance mission" for now and schedule the "main attack" when Little J gets home in a few weeks and we can get MBD and clan over also. That'll be very nice.
      juvat

      Delete
  7. "Signed up to be trained when called" rather than drafted. Learn something new everyday is a good thing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rob,
      Yeah, having a choice/say in the matter could make a lifetime of difference.
      juvat

      Delete
  8. A Doolittle Raider? Whoaaaaaaa... That's awesome. And crazy. Crazy Awesome.

    Glad you and yours are up to snuff.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Answered prayers when it comes to your wife. They will continue though. Thanks for sharing that letter, is there more to his story such as how he was repatriated back to the US? I really like that wine bottle label.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tuna,
      Thanks, much appreciated.
      I assume you meant their trip back from China. Not that I saw and didn't think to ask. Might need to make another reconnaissance run to find that out. Darn
      The label, yeah, me too!
      juvat

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    2. Gents, Dick Cole wrote a book about his experiences in the war; I highly recommend it. He was a great friend to our museum (NMWWIIA, Sarge has a link to it above). He and Dave Thatcher were the last two Raiders, all are gone now.
      Very glad to read of the improvement in your wife and see Miss B thrive. We loved our time in your Burg and plan a return trip. Now that I know of the Dick Cole connection, I'll need to check out the Comfort winery - historic research and all that.
      Thanks!
      Rob Gale

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    3. Rob,
      Thanks for the info on Mr. Cole. His Book is here 'juvat

      Delete
  10. Mrs J certainly has earned some catch up on "fun stuff" events, so keep them at the top of your schedule priorities.
    Sounds like a fine group of folks stomping grapes there, and that label is outstanding!
    And, some excellent history as a bonus.
    Well done, sir!
    John Blackshoe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JB,
      Thanks, It was a great time and excellent health enhancement.
      juvat

      Delete
  11. Great news all the way around!

    ReplyDelete

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