I've been wanting to blog here forever, but home and work have been so busy, I haven't had any time. Anyway, I'll write what I can remember from our vacation, which seems so long ago! Some pictures are posted on the boys' blog. It was a really fun trip, but completely exhausting.
The first day we flew into Columbus, but then had to drive all the way to Toledo, so it was a full day of travelling. The rental car company upgraded us to a minivan, which was nice. We just hung out with the family that evening. The kids saw lightning bugs for the first time--I sure do miss them!
The next day we went to the park with the grandparents and hit our favorite local ice cream joint. That evening, we met our good good friend Phoebe at our old local dive 21 West. It kind of sucked, LOL. It's gross and stinky and our old bartender is gone. So then we went to the 19th Hole, which also sucked. Same bartender, same shit hole, same white trash getting into fights...so that one didn't last long either. We ended up at a cheesy place called Ralphie's, but it really didn't matter, because the company was good. And it was cheap! Our bill came to $15 and some change for 3 margaritas, 3 beers, and 2 appetizers. Only in Toledo!
The next day I met 5 moms and 9 kids from my mommy board at the Toledo Zoo. It was so much fun to meet all these people that I've talked to for several years now, but never met in real life. We saw 2 polar bears, 2 seals, and some fish, LOL. We should have just met at a park. It just took so long to wrangle 11 kids, plus we ate lunch. We finally ended up just letting them run loose on a playground, so we could at least attempt to talk.
That evening we went to my all time favorite sushi place, Kotobuki, with Lance & Amy and Phoebe. It has doubled in size, but other than that it is pretty much the same. Same menu, same waitress, and yes, Dennis is still hot! I got me some gomae, which I have never been able to find anywhere else, and ate sushi until I was about ready to explode. Yummmm.... okay, now I'm hungry. Then we went to Rocky's, which is where we should have gone the night before, but I thought it had been levelled for the new Costco. I'm so bummed that Westgate is gone, but Rocky's is hanging in there for now. This picture from that night, makes me really happy:
The following day we met our old friend Karen and her son Joshua and our friend Hannah and her 2 children at a metropark. Miles and Joshua got along famously! I wish we lived closer so they could play more often. We also met Hannah's boyfriend, who I was surprised to learn is a high school hero of mine! The drummer from Minor Threat--how cool is that? Phoebe told me on the sly and I desperately tried to get it out of him by asking leading questions, but no go. He did admit to being co-owner of Dischord records, but not his band past. I guess I don't blame him; he probably gets sick of the adoring fans, young and old. They are the most influential straight edge hard core band of all time, in my opinion; and I can't even count the number of times I listened to their records. I still do sometimes. Anyway, he was just a nice, unassuming guy.
That evening we had dinner at The Beirut, my favorite Middle Eastern place. I could die for their baba ganoush and Lebanese garlic bread. Then B and I went to a bar that has become popular since we left Toledo, Mickey Finn's. As luck would have it, our friend Alan's band, WEe, was playing, and they were really fun. Brian and I were also very pleased to see that the bar served Bell's Oberon on tap. We now live in the land of good microbrews, but nothing tops this beer, and we can't find it out here. We saw lots of old friends and had a great time.
Our friend Alan gave us one of the best compliments ever: he said that our old band, The Mouthfuls, was his all-time favorite local band, because we were so "pure and true." Wow, what a compliment! I recently listened to some old stuff and some was decent, and a lot was awful, LOL. But it sure was fun. I miss making music.
The following day it was off to Columbus, where we stayed at Brian's sister's house. After spending the day there, we all went to our best friends, Eric & Erika's house for dinner and hanging out. I have known Erika since 1987 and we've been together through thick and thin. Here we are in our matching Cramps tank tops (yep, we're dorks!).
The next day B's parents came down from Toledo and Janice & Andy had a BBQ that Eric, Erika, and kiddos were invited to. Lots of yummy food and great company.
The next day, we all had a picnic in the park in the pic above, then dinner with Janice & Andy, then over to E&E's house to hang out for a short while before saying goodbye.
We came home last Tuesday and it was the trip from hell--and surprisingly not due to the security measures. Our plane was broken, so we ended up spending 8 hours in the Columbus airport. We got upgraded to first class on the 2nd leg of our trip, but it didn't really make up for the crappy trip. I must say the free gin was a nice touch, though. I could get used to that.
Now we're home, and one week later, we are still tired.
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