This evening add-on near Indiana, Pennsylvania, follows a slow-pour, long-table arc for couples and small groups. It favors travelers who’d rather taste where something was made than order it off a list. The evening anchors at Disobedient Spirits in Homer City, where rye, bourbon and Hopi blue corn whiskey come off a still inside a gutted grocery store and cross the room into your glass. But how you get there, and back, decides the night.

The plan starts with one question, asked early: who’s driving?

Homer City is a short hop south of Indiana on US-119, and that’s the whole problem. It’s close enough that everyone assumes they’ll figure it out later. Uber and Lyft technically list the county but rarely show up after dark. So settle it before the first pour. Either someone takes the keys for the night, or you call Turbo Taxi in the afternoon and book both legs, there and back, before you leave the rental. Local cabs here run on reservations, not on hails.

Then eat a real lunch. The distillery has no kitchen, and the cocktails are built on spirits made fifteen feet from the bar. The rental kitchen handles the midday: something substantial from the grocery bags, so the evening can take its time.

Disobedient Spirits sits at 30 South Main Street in Homer City, in a building that used to hold grocery carts and fluorescent aisles. Two IUP teaching colleagues, Bob Begg and Bob Sechrist, read Pennsylvania’s new limited-distillery law in 2012, gutted the store to its structural walls, and had the still running by December 2014. The name comes from the region’s stubborn streak. The 1794 Rye is named for the year Western Pennsylvania farmers marched against the federal whiskey tax, and it’s made with rye from the Monongahela Valley, the same river corridor where the rebellion burned.

Arrive as the bottle-shop hours roll into the cocktail hours, and you get both versions of the room. First the quiet one: shelves of Liberty Bourbon and Fort Necessity single-barrel, the Blue Dog Corn Whiskey made from triple-distilled Hopi blue corn, sweeter and nuttier than the building has any right to produce. Ask what’s seasonal. Ask what’s gone. The conversation is part of the pour here.

At four, the cocktail menu opens and the building shifts.

The menu rotates by season and runs from sweetest to least sweet, which makes ordering a conversation instead of a gamble. Ghost Trail Rum, named for the trail that runs through the abandoned coal towns south of Indiana, leans dark and spiced. Teaberry vodka pulls from a wild wintergreen berry that Western Pennsylvanians have been chewing on for generations and most visitors have never tasted. Every spirit behind the bar carries a name borrowed from somewhere within an hour’s drive.

The billiard tables and dartboards are there if the night wants them. Most couples end up at the bar instead, where the bartender notices when a glass is low. The town is small, and the room keeps the town’s pace.

Before you leave, buy the bottle. The one that surprised you goes back to the rental tonight.

The ride north on US-119 is ten or fifteen minutes of dark road and the first real quiet of the evening. The designated driver gets the playlist. Everyone else gets the window. By the time Philadelphia Street lights up ahead, the conversation has shifted from what you drank to what you’re about to eat.

Donatello’s Restaurant sits at 791 Philadelphia Street, a short walk from the courthouse square. It’s been family-owned since 1974 and rooted in Indiana County since 1997, and it runs on a weekly specials menu that regulars plan around. The dining room is quieter than the distillery you just left, and that’s the point. The pace drops, the server reads whether you’ve been here before, and the menu rewards whoever’s willing to ask what’s new this week.

Start with the Funghi con Crema, a cognac cream tower over crostini, which makes a fine answer to the rye you just tasted. The Pasta Portofino layers shrimp and scallops in pesto cream. The portions assume you came hungry and plan to leave with a container. The full bar mixes seasonal cocktails if anyone still has room. Most don’t. The bottle waiting back at the rental is the nightcap.

The evening ends where it started: at the rental, with the bottle from Homer City open on the counter and the story of the day still being told. Pour small. The spirit traveled fifteen feet from still to glass this afternoon, and a few more miles since. It tastes like both.

Disobedient Spirits: 30 S Main St, Homer City, PA 15748. About 10–15 minutes south of downtown Indiana on US-119. Walk-in, no reservations. Groups larger than ten should call ahead: (724) 915-8124. No kitchen on site. Bottle sales during all open hours. disobedientspirits.com. Cross-link: Indiana Blog #4.

Donatello’s Restaurant: 791 Philadelphia St, Indiana, PA 15701. Downtown, walkable from the courthouse square and the Jimmy Stewart Museum. Reservations by phone: (724) 349-5865. Book the table for early evening, since the kitchen closes earlier than city diners expect. donatellosrestaurant.com. Cross-link: Indiana Blog #2.

The driver question: Settle it before the first pour. If nobody’s driving, pre-arrange Turbo Taxi (724-465-8294) for both legs. It covers roughly a fifteen-mile radius around Indiana, runs on booked times rather than on-call pickups, and is best called by early afternoon. Uber and Lyft are unreliable after dark in Indiana County. Cross-link: Indiana Blog #31.

Lunch before the evening: The distillery serves no food. Plan a substantial midday meal from the rental kitchen. For provisions, see Giant Eagle (475 Ben Franklin Rd S, Town Fair Plaza) in Indiana Blog #36.

Parking: Metered street parking along Philadelphia Street for Donatello’s. The borough garage at 650 Water Street is an alternative.

If Donatello’s is full: Benjamin’s Restaurant (458 Philadelphia St) takes reservations Monday through Saturday at (724) 465-4446. Cross-link: Indiana Blog #1.

Emergency and connectivity: In an emergency, call 911. Indiana Regional Medical Center, 835 Hospital Road, Indiana, is the hospital in your base town. Cell service can fade on rural roads, so download maps and directions before you leave town.

This evening slots into any stay near Indiana without changing where you sleep: the distillery is south, dinner is downtown, and the drive back is the night’s last quiet stretch. Guests in the surrounding communities settle the ride before the first pour, whether that’s a designated driver or a cab booked by phone. Booking early widens the choice of places close enough that the ride home is short.