Jeanie and I had a nice weekend. It actually started on Friday, as I took the day off. We were supposed to be away all of this week because I had planned to take vacation, but work had something else in mind.
Jeanie and I had planned to go to Orlando for the week. Our plans included visiting Universal Studios and the Kennedy Space Center.
But, I had a nagging feeling that work might intrude, and after reading about Universal, Jeanie thought that she would rather defer spending the money in favor of saving for a more exotic vacation spot.
It turned out to be a good decision, as I received a call Friday afternoon informing me that I needed to work today. Hopefully, it will only be today and at worst 1/2 of tomorrow, and then we will be free to play the rest of the week.
Instead of going away, we had decided that since this area is such popular vacation spot and people travel long distances and spend lots of money just to get here and stay here, why not take advantage of what's right here. We had also decided that since we would be eating out for every meal were we away, that we would do more eating out and less cooking in.
In that spirit, on Friday we went to T-Ray's. If you didn't know that it was a restaurant, you wouldn't ever find it since from the exterior, it appears to be an old run-down gas station. I am not sure, but they may still in fact sell gas, in which case I guess it is an old run-down gas station. There are maybe half a dozen tables plus a small counter, and at best, the ambiance might be considered "rustic." Anyway, I had never eaten there, and I had been told that they made the best burgers on the island. They definitely appeared to have a loyal local clientele. Even though they had a number of interesting items on the menu, Jeanie and I both ordered a burger and fries. Jeanie said her burger was good, other than being a bit greasy. I thought mine was just okay. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with the burger, it just wasn't great; my biggest issue being the relatively thin meat patty which had no character. We both agreed that the "steak fry" style fries were great - hot, crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, and quite tasty but not greasy. I'm not sure I'll be running back to T-Ray's any time soon, but it was cool to experience an historic island eatery, and I wouldn't resist if someone else suggested we go there to eat. After returning home, Jeanie put another coat of Tung Oil on the hope chest and end table she has been refinishing; I kept her company and provided commentary from the cheap seats. Neither Jeanie nor I can remember what else we did on Friday, other than I had to do some work late in the afternoon - even though it was a day off.
On Saturday we went to lunch at Cedar River Seafood. Jeanie had the fried catfish and I had the fried shrimp. The catfish was good. The shrimp were fantastic. I do believe that Cedar River has the best fried shrimp on the planet. They are lightly breaded and cooked "just right." By that I mean they are fully cooked, but just, so they come out tender and tasty, as opposed to so many places that overcook the shrimp and end up with them being tough and rubbery. Neither Jeanie nor I can remember what else we did Saturday afternoon, so it must not have been too exciting. Saturday evening, we watched "Wild Hogs."
On Sunday I went to the weekly airport gathering. Every Sunday morning, a bunch of pilots gather at the local airport to, as I like to say, eat junk, drink coffee and tell lies. When first started going over two years ago, the junk was donuts either provided by the FBO or brought by one or more of the participants. For the last few months, the junk has been fresh pancakes cooked by (mostly) either Dave Bishop, the president of the flying club, or Keoki Gray, our resident aeronautical renaissance man (aerobatic pilot par excellence, flight instructor extraordinare, A&P mechanic, ...). Even though you would think that the talk is about flying and past glories or at least exploits, more often than not, the reality is that the talk revolves around the stupid things that the city government does related to their mismanagement of the airport. I really would rather the discussion be about flying, as I would enjoy that, whereas the talk of the politics often ends up bring me down. After I got home, Jeanie mentioned that she was in the mood for Mexican food, so we headed off to Pepper's Mexican Grill. Jeanie got her usual combination of a hard taco and a chile relleno and I got the beef chimichanga. Both meals were yummy. We had planned to go to the Harry Potter movie after lunch, but we realized that we didn't have quite enough time to make it to Jacksonville, so we headed home, which turned out to be a good decision as I needed to make use of the facilities and was a bit tired. Actually, it turned out that I was quite tired as I ended up taking a nap for a couple of hours, waking up just in time (which for the record, is 75 minutes) to get to the 5:00 PM showing of Harry Potter. I don't know how families can afford to go out to the movies any more. For just the two of us, going to a Sunday matinee, and splitting one large soda and one box of candy, the cost was $25! I guess that's one reason why we don't go out to the movies very often. I guess because the movie has been out for a while, there were very few people in the theatre; we got really good seats, and no one talked or had their cell phone ring.
I didn't note it each day, but I have been walking every day at least once for an hour, sometimes twice for an hour. I still walk either at sunrise or sunset because it is still hot. Being able to enjoy the sunrise / sunset is a nice added bonus. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is keeping me really motivated to walk. I am concerned that I won't be as motivated with the next book and I only have about three more walks left with Harry. I have finally starting losing a bit of weight which is nice, since I was very frustrated that after I started walking, I actually gained a few pounds. I am not quite sure why this happens, but it does every time I start walking again after falling off the wagon for more than a few days. I don't think it is because I instantly add muscle - my guess it is due to fluid retention as a result of muscle inflammation as my body initially reacts to the sudden increase in use.
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Posted by David at September 17, 2007 12:23 PM