Midwest's best fest in Missouri town

AUGUSTA, Mo. -- You can tell a lot about a town by its festivals. Augusta's annual Swingin' in the Vines festival tells me this little village about 35 miles west of St. Louis just may be the best small town in Middle America.

Good things come in small packages
It appears on the table almost seconds after you place your order and hand your menus back to the server. It's a bit of preserved baby artichoke with blood orange at Tru. Perhaps a deviled egg at Table 52, or a nibble of hamachi sashimi with yuzu vinaigrette and black Hawaiian salt at Sola.

Sonic gets big welcome
Julie and Kara Salanicky are true connoisseurs of the Sonic brand, and their dedication proves it. The Oswego sisters have made several long trips to Peoria -- up until Tuesday the nearest place to score messy Coney dogs and more than 168,000 drink combinations via car hop service -- before the grand opening of Aurora's own Sonic drive-in diner at Kirk and Butterfield roads. It's the first Sonic in the Chicago area.