Red Bag Mix and Match-On The Road

This post could also be titled.”The Red Bag Goes Road Tripping”. Michael and I aren’t the types to sit on the beach and get sand in our toes. We occasionally like to drive somewhere and see something new. Our mantra: “You can find something interesting wherever you go.” This time we wanted to visit Hannibal Missouri, Springfield, Illinois and Hermann, Missouri with small stops along the way.

I wanted to take a big bag for that inevitable question: “Can you put this in your bag for a while?” I decided on my red Coach bucket bag because it is the largest bag I have. I call it my “horse bucket bag” and didn’t realize how big it was when I ordered it.

Generally not being a jeans and tee-shirt type of lady, I shopped my closet to work an interchangeable wardrobe around “the horse bucket”. We were on the road for six days and I didn’t want a repeat look.

The Road Trip Capsule

4 Bottoms: blue jeans, red jeans, white jeans, black slim pants.
4 Tops: white organza with tucks, black long sleeve, black and white stripped, white under top with men’s wear shirt.
2 Shoes: red textured flats, black loafer styled flats
Accessories: paisley print red scarf, minimal jewelry, a Fedora
and of course, one big red bag.

Time to get started on this trip!

Look at those hopeful faces behind me as we are about to leave. Only Sophia got to go road-tripping. Millie and Niko and the rest of our crew were babysitted by daughter Rachelle. Sophia was my first adopted Poodle and sometimes she and I just need our time.

Day one pick was red Madewell jeans, a white organza tucked top, a silk Echo scarf and Nine West black loafer flats. Also important is my book bag, sort of a hippy dippy affair that I found at a yarn show. For this trip I took my iPad, Voyager by Diane Gabaldon and We Were Hanging by a Thread by Ann Brownfield and David W. Jackson.

Sophia and I strolling on the banks of the Mississippi river in Hannibal, Missouri. As you likely know, Hannibal is the birthplace and childhood home of Mark Twain. I remember reading Tom Sawyer in the 4th grade and Huckleberry Finn in the fifth.

Day two choices were black Mango straight leg pants, a black and white stripped knit top and red Enzo Angiollini flats.

Ahhh, that famous fence……………

I kept my Fedora handy. Anytime, I didn’t like the sun, on my head it went.

Springfield, IL, was our main destination. I had been there before but Michael hadn’t. We decided this was the year to visit the “great man”. Without going into detail, I will say the three days we spent in Springfield were some of the most meaningful and, yes, sometimes very emotional that we have had on a trip.

The National Park Service maintains the Lincoln’s home and surrounding neighborhood. There isn’t an entrance fee and there are tours. For seventeen years the Lincolns lived and raised their boys in the house. Originally, their home was a single story, but as he became more successful, they added a second story.

Three of these pieces are repeated from my post last week. I really like the ease of wearing of this combo and have been sporting it a lot lately. I did leave my blue Cabbie hat at home. It was a good day to wear red, white and blue.

This is a poor picture of me, the sun is just too bright, but I wanted to include a photo of Lincoln’s memorial. Although I have no photos of it, I want to mention that the Lincoln Museum is amazing! There is an entrance fee but it is worth every penny. Did you know that only Jesus Christ has been written about more than Abraham Lincoln?

I finally put my hat on! Sophia and I are in front of The Dana-Thomas House by Frank Lloyd Wright which is another Springfield highlight. Wright was given card blanc by Susan Lawrence Dana for this design and did he design! He only did three barrel vaults in his career. Two of them are at the Dana-Thomas house and the other was for his children’s playroom at Oak Park.

Black and white for today. Black and white is a simple but classic and no fail look.

Our last day was spent back in Hermann, Missouri. Michael and I like to support Missouri’s grape and grain producers and this is one of the best places to do so.
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This area of Missouri is considered the “Missouri Rhineland” and is the main wine producing area in the area.

“The Missouri Rhineland is a geographical area of Missouri that extends from west of St. Louis to slightly east of Jefferson City, located mostly in the Missouri River Valley on both sides of the river. It is named for its similarities to the Rhineland region in central Europe, a wine growing area around the Rhine river and the German-Americans who determined that this part of Missouri would be good for grape growing.”

There is now the Pinckney Bend Distillery added to the mix which was a high point for me on this trip. Our favorite vineyard is Röbbler. Robert Mueller, his family and their wines are great. Röbbler is still small enough to feel very personable and they love dogs! Röbbler was featured this past spring in Feast.

For Michael, I am going to mention Tin Mill Brewery because he does like his German beer. Quite frankly, I rather like it myself. We’ve been going to Tin Mill for a good nine years and their selection just gets more creative and more expansive.

I had to add this. I uploaded this to Facebook on July 28th, 2009. It is one of the first photos I ever put on Facebook. We are at Tin Mill in its early days.

For this shot, I and Sophia are in front of some of the vineyards of Stone Hill, another notable wine maker in Hermann.

Last photographed outfit. Back with the white top and printed scarf but this time with the black pants and shoes.

The one that didn’t get photographed.

On the trip, I found out that my photographer does not really care for my red jeans. We had one day of just mainly driving and the last combination didn’t get photographed. In lieu, I made a collage. I’ve done a look like this on the blog before with a different black and white stripped top and different shoes.

The Polished Accessory

I chose Elevation Polish’s Kawagebo for this trip. It is a light blue crelly (half way between a cream and jelly finish) with a very subtle gold shimmer. Elevation Polish’s creator Lulu is an outdoor trekker and the majority of her colors are named after geological areas in the world. More importantly, Elevation Polish has proven it’s quality and integrity. This polish, with a top coat, lasted the whole trip without a chip. It was amazing!

We have reached our end today and I hope you enjoyed this little bit of fashion and a little bit of travelogue.

I used mainly solids for this capsule group but added a stripped print and my paisley scarf. Scarfs are important to my wardrobe because they can add a pop of color and they can change a look without to much effort. When I go thrifting, one the first things I look for are the scarfs. There are a lot of average ones to be found, but once in a while I score that gorgeous silk as the one I am wearing in this post.

I am going to take very small break from blogging. It may be one week or two, I am not sure. So until then, I will bid adieu. In the meantime, Happy Styling!

This week, I am linking up with Patti’s Not Dead Yet Style’s Visible Monday HERE, Cherie’s Style Nudge’s Shoe and Tell HERE, Catherine’s Not Dressed As Lamb’s I will Wear What I like HERE, Elegantly Dressed and Stylish Turning Heads Tuesday HERE, Living On Cloud Nine’s Style Perspectives HERE, Shopping My Closet’s Style Me Wednesday, The Pleated Poppy’s What I Wore, High Altitude Style’s Link-Up HERE, Fashion Should Be Fun’s Fun Friday Fashion Link Up HERE, Shelbee’s Edge of the Week Link Up HERE, Over 50 Feeling 40 Hit Your Style HERE and Rachel’s (Rachel The Hat) The Passion For Fashion Link-up HERE.