Jameson Night & Food Experiences

Early in the summer we determined that the jug of Jameson Irish Whiskey we'd brought along was NOT going to be tapped by us. In fact, "hard likker" no longer has a place in our lifestyle. Knowing that a few of our friends here at the RV park enjoy this rather special Irish whiskey, we promised that somewhere down the road we'd host a campfire on the creekbank in our new camp firepit stove, furnish the Jameson, and call it "Jameson Night." Lately, a few hints had been laid that it was time, so early yesterday morning we decided tonight's the night and spread the word around camp.
Around 2 pm I was awakened from my nap on the sofa by thunder, as a severe storm swept through the area. For the next 3 hr. it hailed a little and rained a LOT....rain came down in buckets, the campfire stove was sitting in a puddle of water, chairs & wood were damp. We decided to cancel the Jameson Night.
One hour later the sun was shining, the puddle had dissipated, we dug out our dry extra chairs, and a source of dry wood was located! So, we were back ON with the on-again, off-again Jameson Night.
It was fun....the stove worked beautifully, we had a great fire, several friends appeared with their own chairs to join into the spirit (no pun intended) of the festivities, there were stories and laughs galore, and we got even better acquainted with some of our friends and neighbors. And the Jameson disappeared by the evening's end.
This morning neither of us is too bad off, but we both said, NO MORE of that until at least next summer! It's a cool day with intermittently rainy or sunny, perfect for staying in and licking our wounds a little.

Now, for a little catching up on some food adventures. Recently, we made a reservation and went to eat at the new downtown Cafe de Sol, which features an eclectic menu, heavy on Brazilian cuisine. The proprietress, Solange, is Brazilian and is the new wife of widower and Italian restauranteur Angelo, of the local Pasta Factory restaurant. It was a great dining experience, including the impromptu dance done by Solange as she selected CD's for the evening's background music. She's a real hoot, funny and very gregarious. The food was interesting and quite good; all meals are accompanied by sides of black beans and rice; even those entrees which include potatoes come with their sides of black beans and rice. We'll be ready for a repeat later this summer.

After one of our very active days last week we did a repeat appearance at Southern Vittles for their chicken-fried chicken tenders, french fries, and gravy....cheap and deeply satisfying.

On another similar day, when I just didn't want to prepare a meal in the evening, we called in a pizza order to Bruno's Grill/Restaurant. We've always heard the pizzas are good, but we were unprepared for how good! Being used to the rather skimpily attired pizzas you get nowadays at the normal franchise places, I ordered 2 12" pizzas, one each, with the toppings we always get. These turned out to be covered thick and deep with the ingredients we selected, taking me back to the days when Pappi's Pizza in Lee's Summit, Mo. was first in business. Yummy stuff. Very filling. So we had pizza for lunch yesterday (convection oven does a great job of rewarming), and have enough in the frig for at least another meal, maybe more. We were taken aback at the cost, but now that we're looking at 3+ meals, it ain't so bad after all!

We've not done much fishing lately, have been more into atv ventures, but did take a trip up to Sapinero Canyon last week, where Edmund did some fly fishing (no luck) and I did my usual sit-in-the-chair-and-wait-for-a-fish-to-bite thing. I actually had one on the hook, a very nice one, and up on the rocky bank when he flopped, threw the hook out and swam away. Just as well, one fish isn't worth messing with. Maybe if the weather is good in the mornings we'll go one day next week. A lot depends on how much we're tied up with the atv thing, we hope to learn more about delivery of our new one on Monday.

Life is good! As the senior citizens in this RV park, we've been told several times by our younger friends that we're their role models, when they reach our age they want to be as healthy and active and engaged in life as we appear to be. We always respond that we're both very fortunate, because no matter how well you take care of yourself, bad luck or just plain genetics-related problems can always set in. We are indeed fortunate.