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birthday weekend
May. 17th, 2015 11:21 pmFriday night after work, we drove down to the Third Ward, to the Smoke Shack for barbecue. It's a small place, so I figured we have to wait a while for a table, but we got there just early enough that we didn't have to wait. We got seated at a counter, at a window that faced the people coming in the door.
I got a full rack of ribs, with some greens. Our food arrived in about two minutes - before our drinks. Wasn't sure what to expect from the greens. They turned out to be hot and vinegary densely packed leaves. The first rack of ribs was very good, but a bit on the charred side. I had their Kansas City sauce, versus the Texas, North Carolina and House. The second rack was tough and didn't have much meat. I got a replacement to bring home. I wasn't going to get a dessert, but the short list of desserts included pecan pie, so that was it. We waited for what seemed like ten minutes, then finally a guy came to tell us the pies didn't turn out. He offered me a free dessert instead, so I took him up on the bacon chocolate brownie. I wasn't all that impressed. They smoke their own meat, so the bacon imparted a very strong smoke flavor, which I'm not sure was all that great with the chocolate, and the bacon pieces were hard - not the right texture for brownies.
We came back to Grafton and tried out a new upscale bar - Martini Pete's. I wasn't all that impressed. They had some decent beers, and a decent drink menu. My Sazerac was pretty good. Cyn's margarita wasn't all that great. Both were reasonably priced but small, so the value was not quite there. And the place was really noisy.
Saturday I worked outside for most of the afternoon. I mowed the lawn for the first time this spring, though the neighbor mowed it when we were gone the previous week.
I had a Drammit meeting in the evening. After mowing, I barely had time to get everything together. It was a real push trying to get it done and get there in time. I was running a blind whisky-tasting competition. I had bought all the whiskies, and I had to put them in unlabeled bottles, so nobody would guess them (and keep track of which was which!). I was scarfing down my dinner (the leftover ribs) as Doug arrived (he was driving us both over to Mike's).
The tasting/competition went well, though we only had nine people (eight competing). It was a lot of fun. My dad came in last! Doug came in second, though I had added his score wrong so he should have been first. But that's okay, since he still got the same prize, and I didn't really want the guest to win it.
I was invited to give a "lecture." A talk, for the Celtic Women's First Friday, in September. The woman said, "I understand that you have some wonderful pictures and stories about trips to Scotland." It's going to be more like a slideshow with talking than a lecture, and I'm not sure that I have any "wonderful stories." A couple-three dozen people will attend, maybe? So today, I was going through my photos (which I conveniently have gathered together here in LJ).
And then gaming this evening. It was in the low sixties and cloudy here this afternoon. When I got west of town, I discovered it was 85°!
I got a full rack of ribs, with some greens. Our food arrived in about two minutes - before our drinks. Wasn't sure what to expect from the greens. They turned out to be hot and vinegary densely packed leaves. The first rack of ribs was very good, but a bit on the charred side. I had their Kansas City sauce, versus the Texas, North Carolina and House. The second rack was tough and didn't have much meat. I got a replacement to bring home. I wasn't going to get a dessert, but the short list of desserts included pecan pie, so that was it. We waited for what seemed like ten minutes, then finally a guy came to tell us the pies didn't turn out. He offered me a free dessert instead, so I took him up on the bacon chocolate brownie. I wasn't all that impressed. They smoke their own meat, so the bacon imparted a very strong smoke flavor, which I'm not sure was all that great with the chocolate, and the bacon pieces were hard - not the right texture for brownies.
We came back to Grafton and tried out a new upscale bar - Martini Pete's. I wasn't all that impressed. They had some decent beers, and a decent drink menu. My Sazerac was pretty good. Cyn's margarita wasn't all that great. Both were reasonably priced but small, so the value was not quite there. And the place was really noisy.
Saturday I worked outside for most of the afternoon. I mowed the lawn for the first time this spring, though the neighbor mowed it when we were gone the previous week.
I had a Drammit meeting in the evening. After mowing, I barely had time to get everything together. It was a real push trying to get it done and get there in time. I was running a blind whisky-tasting competition. I had bought all the whiskies, and I had to put them in unlabeled bottles, so nobody would guess them (and keep track of which was which!). I was scarfing down my dinner (the leftover ribs) as Doug arrived (he was driving us both over to Mike's).
The tasting/competition went well, though we only had nine people (eight competing). It was a lot of fun. My dad came in last! Doug came in second, though I had added his score wrong so he should have been first. But that's okay, since he still got the same prize, and I didn't really want the guest to win it.
I was invited to give a "lecture." A talk, for the Celtic Women's First Friday, in September. The woman said, "I understand that you have some wonderful pictures and stories about trips to Scotland." It's going to be more like a slideshow with talking than a lecture, and I'm not sure that I have any "wonderful stories." A couple-three dozen people will attend, maybe? So today, I was going through my photos (which I conveniently have gathered together here in LJ).
And then gaming this evening. It was in the low sixties and cloudy here this afternoon. When I got west of town, I discovered it was 85°!
