Monday, August 15, 2011

Fort! Pre-vaca pics

Just back from a tremendous two weeks with friends and family in and across North Carolina. Pics and reminiscings to come, but first some pre-vaca pics to keep my sense of order, chronological and otherwise, intact. These photos are of a random Friday sheet fort that Annie and I inhabited for the better part of one spectacular morning.





























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Food and Friendships to Savor

"One of the delights of life is eating with friends..." Laurie Colwin

Rebekah and I came back from our two weeks in NC relishing the blessing of so many good friends. We stayed with friends outside of San Antonio on either side of our flight; we stayed with friends in Durham and Chapel Hill on the way to and from the beach; we stayed with family during our time at the beach. Along the way, we enga
ged these and other friendships primarily through the means we had on hand: we shared meals with them.

The remainder of this post is less a theological reflection on friendship, eating, and communion (let the reader go there on her own, and with great benefit), and more a journal of our meals, where we ate, and what we enjoyed with the friends with whom we shared these things. (Shallow, maybe, but it
was a vacation.)




Monday dinner: the Dodging Duck on the occasion of their 9th anniversary (first pint was 9 cents!) with the Adams (Annie's Godparents and Haley), Moons, and Glicks. Brewhaus burger and fries. Side note: the Duck was a frequent hangout for us in Boerne, and the site of Annie's first public appearance, just after she was born.




Tuesday dinner: Jenni's barbecue (amazing), and other sides (fantastic), poolside with the Gallaher's, Scoggins, Carlsons, and Zavodni's

Wednesday lunch: The Loop, salads and burgers, take-out style with the Scoggins

Wednesday dinner: Bull McCabe's and Whiskey (Jonathan, with the guys. I think the gals did pizza.) Reuben and fries with a phenomenal corned beef. Also, first Fullsteam (Rocket Science IPA). 12 year flight.




Thursday lunch: Old Havana with Meredith Steward and Jared and Laura Gallaher. Old Havana sandwich with lots of maduros. And Fullsteam.

Thursday dinner: Smoked salmon, salad, veggies, and Kurt's famous macaroni and cheese at the home of the Uphoff's.

Friday lunch: Allen and Son, barbecue sandwiches, hushpuppies, and okra with Jenni.

Friday dinner: Cheese, tomato, fresh food picnic with the Cizeks at Holy Family. Phenomenal apple/squash dish, too.



Friday nightcap: Fullsteam with Bobby Tunks, a wonderful friend who is actually doing what he said he'd be doing when I asked him in 6th grade (pediatric cardiology). Remarkable.

Saturday breakfast: Guglhupf with the Carlsons. Eggs Benedict with orange juice and a side of fruit was out of this world.

Saturday lunch: Chick-Fil-A with the Rev. Michelle Robertshaw.

Eat-out meals at the beach: Big Nell's barbecue, Crabby Oddwater's crabcakes (take-out), with as many Oddwater hushpuppies as we could scarf down. Fried oyster sandwich and NC clam chowder at Elijah's in Wilmington with the fam on the way back to Durham.

Saturday, returning: Mediterranean Deli, take-out. Beef shawarma. We ate picnic-style again at Holy Family, this time for an outdoor concert that Jason and Jenni sang for. (Note to self: pics of Annie being absolutely at home in a home that has meant so much to Rebekah and me make my heart sing.)

Saturday nightcap: Fullsteam, on their 2nd birthday celebration, with Jason and Jared.

Sunday dinner: The Dodging Duck, sausage plate this time, take-out with Leanne Boddie and Makeda. Growler convo late into the night with the indescribable Joe Tidwell.

The end.