The sun was as bright as it had ever been, but Muddy missed the north. And, you know, he took off!

Muddy was walking on the beach, working on his next steps, and found a friendly man and woman. They said their car was parked in the center lot, and they were on their way back north. They offered to take him back to the states, and Muddy jumped in. He closed his eyes for a minute, and then, after what seemed like only a few minutes, he realized how much closer to home he felt. 

He hopped out of the car, and made his way to a train yard, looking for an open box car. Luckily he found one, just as the train lunched forward.  He closed his eyes again, and woke up from the chill in the air.  When Muddy jumped off the train, he found himself in a cherry orchard. 

Muddy curled up next to a tree for the night. In the morning, he awoke to the smile of the Laster sisters, the owners of the orchard. 

They took Muddy in right away. The lazy days were long, as they would all take walks through the orchard, enjoying each other’s company, and sharing stores of their pasts.

Once in awhile, the sister would enjoy a cocktail, but never made anything in particular. Muddy told them it was his turn. He spent hours experimenting with different cocktail recipes, trying to create the perfect concoction, with the orchard’s cherries as the center piece. After all, they were on a cherry orchard.

One summer afternoon, he decided to try something new, a cherry limeaid cocktail. Muddy started, by muddling, (haha, muddy muddling), fresh cherries with a wooden spoon, and adding a splash of lime juice. He then added real cane sugar and stirred.

He filled their glasses with crushed ice, poured in the cherry limeaid mixture, and sat back. They each took a sip, and both smiled. The cocktail was delicious. It’s sweet, sour, and refreshing. It was a reminder of the warm afternoon days of summer, and a reminder of the joy of mixing drinks.

The cherry limeaid cocktail quickly became on of Muddy’s signature drinks. 

One night, while walking in the orchard, Muddy met a young man named George. George told Muddy about his upcoming trip to the Mediterranean, and asked Muddy if he wanted to join. Although Muddy was very excited, he really had only been at the orchard for awhile, and wasn’t sure it was the right time. Just then, George told Muddy that he could fly with him first class. 

Muddy took off!