Considering Lake Placid, NY

Years ago CavWife and I took a trip with her parents to Lake Placid.  It was the dead of winter.  I have rarely been colder.  We had lunch that day at the Great Adirondack Steak and Seafood.  In order to get there from our car we had to walk between a large gap in the buildings that led to Mirror Lake.  Can you say Wind Tunnel?  It was worse than the one by the dorms near Nickerson Field at Boston University.  Cold.  Real cold.  Extreme cold.

Mmmmm.... popcorn

My in-laws took care of the kids today while CavWife and I made our way to Lake Placid with her sister and brother-in-law.  No snow on the ground this time.  No ice on the ground this time.  No one else at the wheel this time.  I love driving those twisty roads in a decent car.  No Pop-Pop mobile today.  It was J-9’s G6.  It was an enjoyable ride.

We stopped at one point to take pictures of some guys climbing rock faces.  We enjoyed pondering the lakes apparently created by the infamous “jumping glacier”.  We also passed the Olympic ski jump which was impressive even without snow.  Finally we rolled into the village of Lake Placid.  We made our way down Main Street to find a parking space.  The meters were a slightly different concept.    You periodically had a meter that put out receipts you placed on your dash.  That was a new one to me.

We got a good laugh as some of the local police patrolled the strip in little electric cars.  No high speed chases for these guys.  We found a nice spot at the end of the strip that overlooked Mirror Lake.  Just beautiful with the mountains in the background.  So much green (live in the desert for a year and you’ll crave green too!).

CavWife and her sister were focused on finding the restaurant.  It has its own microbrews and we had an old 1/2 gallon jug of theirs we wanted filled with a good beer or ale.  I wanted to just look around and enjoy the place. We stumbled upon the old “wind tunnel” from our previous trip.  Now it was green and beautiful, overlooking the lake as well.  There were some chair down there and it would be a great place to sit and enjoy a book or some conversation with a beer and cigar.

See, Ridiculous!

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Considering My Night in Phoenix

I'm Excited, But It's Early

It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way.

My congregants know I’m a Boston sports fan from my childhood.  As part of pastor appreciation in October, I was given 2 tickets to the Celtics-Suns game when the Celtics made their only appearance in Phoenix (unless both teams inexplicably end up in the the Finals).  The long-awaited day finally arrived.  The night before I watched the Celtics play a tough game in Portland, and expected them to come out flat.  I couldn’t have expected what unfolded.

Around 3:30, the guy who lives with us (henceforth known as CavFriend) and I departed Casa Cav for Phoenix.  He grew up in Phoenix, so I was glad to have him as navigator.  It was pretty much smooth sailing on good ol’ I-10.  While driving, CavFriend finalized plans for us to have dinner with some of his family members.  We were going to meet his dad at Tom’s Tavern at 6:30.

We arrived into town a bit early and drove around trying to find parking.  Plenty of open meters to choose from.  But, unlike anyplace I’ve ever been the meters were operational until 8 pm.  While we could have moved the car after the 2 hour limit (7:30), we didn’t have enough quarters to get us that far.  So, we bit the bullet and paid for the $8 event parking in a garage a few blocks from the arena.  The closer garage was $10, and the closest was $15, so a good move.

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Considering a Night Out

Tonight we celebrated Valentine’s Day.  Our family apparently has a difficult time with that.  CavGirl forgot to hand out the Valentine’s Day cards to her classmates today.  I worked hard on those.  They will have to wait until Wednesday to get those beauties.

Originally we were going to go out on Sunday.  Then Saturday, and this morning it was changed to tonight.  I asked CavWife to pick a place to eat.  Her parents are in town and watched the kids.   I was dirty and tired after spending the whole day unloading merchandise and answering questions from customers.  I needed a shower and a shot of energy.

Unlike the rest of the Southeast, it was not snowing here in central FL.  Just a cold rain.   But we braved the inclement weather to take advantage of the special deal Shred Slobster was running for Valentine’s Day.

Two problems.  1st problem was the lighting.  There was an incandescent bulb just above the table.  Hanging high was an florescent bulb.  Two lamps, two levels, and 2 kinds of light.  It was driving both of us crazy, and we had trouble gazing across the table into each others’ eyes.  Okay, the TVs were on the NFL Network, which didn’t help.  But the lights did hurt our eyes.

After I unscrewed the incandescent, nothing was better.  We were still squinting.  Screwed that back in, and unscrewed the florescent.  So much better.  Easier to see CavWife’s beautiful blue eyes.  Why has the government decided to torture us with these lousy bulbs?

Lots of Shrimp to enjoy

2nd problem was the menu.  There was no description in the menu for some of the main courses we could choose.  Kinda made it hard to choose.  But we did.  Which shrimp dish to get.  Oh, in case you didn’t know, CavWife is allergic to shellfish so I often partake when we are out on the town, which isn’t very often these days.  But, I choose the grilled shrimp.  Lots of shrimp to enjoy.

CavWife enjoyed the wood-grilled salmon.  But first were our Caesar Salads and garlic biscuits.   I was glad that we waited until our main dishes arrived.  I like a leisurely meal especially with my wife.  Then was the Chocolate Wave.   All in all, a nice meal.

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Considering Her First Movie

CavGirl and I had a date this morning.  The local theaters run older kids movies a few mornings each week during the summer.  They are free since they expect you to spend money on concessions.  It works out well for everyone.  We were supposed to see this:

I double-checked the time and theater with my friend.  He was taking his daughter too.  Somehow wires got crossed because The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anythingwas not playing at that movie theater, and my friend was nowhere to be found.  It was at this moment that I was glad I didn’t tell CavGirl she’d see her friend this morning.  I was tempted to go home.

But my mind went back to the night before when I told her we were going on a date.  She was excited about the idea of going to the movie.  She wanted to bring Addison, her favorite doll.  She wanted to bring him in the stroller.  We compromised … ‘yes’ to Addison and ‘no’ to the stroller.  She was already disappointed, I didn’t want to completely disappoint her.

So … we saw this.  Yes, Alvin and the Chipmunks.  It was okay, aside from some words I was not excited about my daughter hearing.  Like “sucks” for instance- even though they used it to mean “awful”.  The scatological humor was something else I could do without.  The singers & dancers who joined them on stage were not exactly kid appropriate either.

But, she enjoyed her first taste of movie theater popcorn.  And she savored the Sprite that came with it in the kids combo.  She did really well for the first time in a movie theater.  She didn’t get restless until the last 10-15 minutes.

This may sound strange to some of you.  We know people who have been bringing their kids to the movies since they were a year old.  You might call us “old fashioned” since she’s 3 1/2 and has never gone to a movie.  Others might call us progressive because we took such a young child to the movies.

I thought she was old enough to enjoy it.  And I thought it was Veggie Tales.  Yes on the first, and no on the second.  But I had a good time watching a movie with my little girl- even if it was Alvin and the Chipmunks.

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