Near Miss, American Freight, and the Ocean Club

I was up by 7:30am. I asked Mindy what time she wanted up. She gave no definitive time. I figured I’d just let her sleep until she was done. That suited me well. I like having the entire house to myself anyhow. Meanwhile, it looked like a gorgeous day was in the offing. For the next couple of hours I exercised, walked Ykraps, blogged, played guitar and spent some quiet time out back on the deck. 

Mindy didn’t get up until almost 9:45am.  What a slacker! She enjoyed some coffee before getting ready t o leave for her haircut. While she did that, I left for my run. I didn’t expect her back until just before Buckeye kick-off. I returned from my run to an empty house. Ahh! 

With some time to kill, I decided to take care of a couple small but lingering project/chores. First, I mounted the (new) brass kick plate on the front door. Sadly (and I am almost ashamed to admit it) it has been sitting in the hallway closet for over five years.J That took about fifteen minutes. Afterwards, I gathered what I would need to paint the 2X4’ piece of plywood that I bought last week that will serve as a shelf resting on top of Ykraps kennel. Currently, we have a piece of painted plywood resting there that doesn’t meet the proper dimensions. Before painting, I sanded the slightly rough edges and rounded the corners. Those extra steps would prove wise later, I was certain. 

As I finished up the first coat of paint, Mindy returned from her shearing. I hustled through clean-up so that I could watch the Buckeye game. Mindy and I watched the game together. The Buckeyes, as many of you already know, played very poorly for the first three quarters. I was swearing like a sailor. I even surprised myself. Their mistakes were very uncharacteristic of a Tressel coached team. Somehow, whether through divine intervention or plain old luck, the Buckeyes pulled out the victory. 

Mindy was so nervous that she resorted to cleaning to keep herself occupied. I simply bounced from chair to sofa swearing at the TV. After the game ended we readied ourselves for an afternoon evening out. We knew that we’d ultimately end up at Cameron Mitchell’s Ocean Club at Easton Town Center for dinner, but that wasn’t until 8:15pm. We left the house at 3:30pm. 

Our first stop was American Freight. There we scoped out coffee tables. We’re looking for a black one (go figure). American Freight specializes in low budget furniture. They had nothing suitable to our tastes. We weren’t too surprised, but were also hopeful that we might somehow find a diamond in the rough. 

We decided to head on to Easton. We took I-670 across town to I-270 Easton exit. It didn’t take long given the distance. We must’ve arrived around 5pm. We parked in a lot located in the SW corner of the complex. The weather was exceptional so we causally shopped many of the specialty stores located nearby (Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, Etc.). 

All totaled, we probably stopped in ten different shops/stores before choosing to go fetch a drink and perhaps a snack. We ended up at Bar Louie located just around the corner from the Ocean Club. There I enjoyed two Great Lake Oktoberfests while Mindy enjoyed a glass of wine. Eventually, we decided to order some brochette. We hung at Bar Louie for a little more than an hour yet we still had more than an hour before our dinner reservation. 

We moseyed on over to the Ocean Club early and happily found our way to the bar. Mindy ordered another glass of wine while I sized up their beer selection. Up until now,  Cameron had kept CBC on the menu even though he sold the Columbus Brewing Company.  I was a little disappointed to learn that it was no more. The bar tender seemed a bit put out that I asked for their draught selection. “We only stock bottled beers, sir. Well la-de-dah Mr bar tender! Mindy and I both struggled with the overwhelmingly pretentious behavior by most of the restaurant’s staff. I ended up ordering Jack & Coke. 

We sipping our drinks we kept largely to ourselves quietly joking and taking pictures, mostly macros of her hand, diamond ring, and wine glass. Suddenly, out of no where, we were approached by a female bartender demanding that I remove any and all pictures of her form my camera. She went on about how she can’t afford to be photographed for reasons she wasn’t at liberty to discuss with me. I had no pictures of this psycho or any prior interest in pursuing such pictures. None, that is, until she made such a big stink. I evne joked with her about being in the witness protection plan. The whole thing made little sense to me because the best way to remain anonymous would be to avoid confronting folks. The more I thought about it the angrier I got. I mean, hey, she was an employee of this public restaurant, and she was accusing me of taking her pictures and demanding they be removed. Who did she think she was? 

She was way out of line – paranoid to say the least. To make matters worse, she eventually sent the “manager” over, who tried to play it coy by asking our name and checking on our reservation. He later returned and said “on schedule”. I didn’t appreciate his antics either. Until our table was ready, the young woman kept coming by and the two of us. I wanted badly to utter some disparaging words but Mindy pleaded for me not to. She reminded me to “Do the Tao Now”. Admittedly, I was having trouble letting it go. 

At 8:10pm we were guided to our table on the veranda overlooking the fountains of Easton. It was lovely view indeed, and splendid weather for outdoor seating. Mindy spared no expense treating me for my coming b-day. We ordered some calamari and lobster bisque before ordering entrees. I ordered Alaskan King Crab and a NY strip along with a side of jalapeño scalloped potatoes. Mindy ordered sea scallops and side of asparagus. The dinner was what we've come to  expect from a Cameron restaurant, although being critical, the crab could’ve been cooked a little better.

I couldn’t finish my steak. I had more than half remaining. Our waitress offered to box up our leftovers. She took the food away to do the deed. She later returned offering us dessert. We declined. Another manager eventually made her way over and disclosed that they dropped my steak and were in the process of cooking me another. However, her wording left open the possibility that hey were simply reheating my steak. Hell no! My fears were proven unwarranted. They cooked me an entirely new NY strip and packed it up to-go. Mindy’s bill was a cool $200. 

We left Easton for home. Mindy wasn’t long for the night. She went to bed right away. I stayed up for a while longer and even made myself a snack.