Brunch of Drunks

 

 

Like the day before, I woke around 8am. As promised, the morning sky was clear and the air crisp. Anita and David were both up and out for their morning exercise. I heard David head out. At the time I wasn’t sure if he left on foot or bike.

I poured some coffee then headed to my PC. It’s nice to find coffee already prepped and ready each morning. I enjoyed about 5-10 minutes of complete silence before Tracy (Sean's wife) came downstairs and slipped out onto the deck for a cigarette break. It wasn’t too long before David & Anita were back. David arrived a few minutes ahead of Anita. This time he power walked – no biking. Anita shared that she saw Bella leaving with the neighbors. Must’ve been on their way to a soccer tournament game.

I headed out for a run around 9am and ran the usual weekend route of just three miles. Upon my return to the house everyone was up, Sean, Tracy, Mindy and Glenn. It was Sean’s birthday. We wished him happy birthday, gave him a card that we all signed, sang happy birthday, and then topped it off with a candlelit donut.

It was chilly, but we stood outside on the deck for several minutes talking. Inside, David and Anita peeled off separately for showers. Sean and Tracy left for home around 1030am. Not sure how long of a drive but I’m guessing about 4 or 5 hours. By 11am everyone save for Glenn was showered and ready to go. Glenn opted to skip the shower. We left for brunch at CBC at 1105am.

There weren’t but a handful of cars in the lot when we arrived. From experience, we learned that their brunch crowd tends to show up after 12noon. Greeted our CBC peeps immediately in the door. Shortly after we were seated Jen returned to our table with an invite to a 50th b-day party for the owner on Oct 30th.

First order of business was ordering drinks. David & Mindy ordered bloody Mary’s. Anita, a mimosa, Glenn, a pumpkin ale, and me, a Bodhi. Food orders were next. David, Glenn & I went with the CBC version of the “barn yard buster” (taters, eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits and gravy). Mindy & Anita went with the ever popular salmon.

Glenn, David & I went with seconds of our drinks. Just like the last time we were in for brunch, bartender Kevin was in with his family. Must’ve been about 10 of them. My food was delicious, and I was a clean plater. Mindy paid the check.

I suggested a quick stop and walk along the Scioto Mile before heading home. It was a glorious early afternoon, now about 60 degrees and still under clear blue skies. We parked just north of 229 Milestone at a free parking meter. We walked along the water front no more than about a 500’ stretch. Mindy was eager to get back home. Said there were several things she needed to get done, including making a Target run.

I’m guessing we were home around 1pm. And it wasn’t too long after that, that Mindy & Anita headed off to Target. At the same time, Glenn, David & I headed off into the woods directly behind my house. We walked all the way back to the waterfall. Fun times! From the waterfall I spotted Kenny’s 2nd swan closer to the bank than ever before. I wasn’t sure, of course, but it looked like it might be retrievable from the bank. I planned to stay close to the pond’s bank as we made our trek back hoping to pull it in.

Sure enough, David and I navigated right to it. And with the help of an 8’ stick and medium sized tree leaning out over the water, I was able to pull it in. I failed to mention that Eiknarf followed us back into the woods. I was happy to have her along. She seemed to be enjoying herself. David teased her with the large plastic goose, and she bought it hook, line, and sinker. Funny!

Finally back in our yard, we retreated to the deck and cracked open new beers. I cracked open a rocket of Southern Tier, UnEarthy IPA. Yum! I brought out my Jambox too so we could hear some music. We let off another S.C. firework as well. Not quite the same in broad daylight but nevertheless impressive. Brought a couple of the neighbors out of their homes. 

The girls were back from Target at what I’m guessing had to be around 3pm. By then Glenn, David & I were eager to make a road trip to Valleyview to check out our old homes. And since David wanted to find some Buckeyes, I suggested we stop by my old house first. I planned to knock on the door to announce our being there. Mindy wasn’t too keen on the idea, suggesting instead that we were drunk. But after an hour of badgering she finally agreed to drive us there. However, there were conditions. She suggested we kill two birds with one stone, ending our sightseeing trip with a stop at the Dragon Palace for take-out Chinese. Agreed.

We stopped by my old house on Valleyview first. More than anything, I wanted to see and photo the enormous oaks in the driveway – about 4 feet in diameter. There are two that remain standing and healthy. The third died and was cut down to about 20’ even before I purchased it from Dad in 1986. The others followed. And I headed up the clanky metal steps to knock on the door to seek permission to mill about. A few changes at hand since I sold it in 1994, but not much. Changed out the exterior doors and removed the picture window in the basement. Still the same stucco paint color, roof, deck, etc. The yard and exterior looks in need of some TLC. It looked almost certain that they were home but no one responded to my knocks front or back. Perhaps they glanced out a window and saw us hippies gathered out front. Who knows. Mindy insisted we go. I snapped a couple photos then complied with her wishes.

Next, we cruised east on Valleyview Drive going by the pool, Sean’s old house, then David’s. We cruised by the Valleyview police department, ball diamond, then west on Elliott. We cruised by Dennis’ parents’ home where I suggested we stop and access my old backyard from Cary Alban’s grandparents old home. Mindy wouldn’t stop. We cruised by the Neff’s then left on Diblee. From there we headed back to Valleyview Dr but west towards Dragon Palace. Mindy was kind enough to turn in Westmoor Place for us. We drove the full loop pointing out the family names of current and former residents, including us, who once resided at 500 Westmoor Pl. After our drive down memory lane, we finally made our way to Dragon Palace. While David, Glenn and I headed inside to order food, the girls made yet a Targhetto run across the street.

We placed our to-go dinner orders, including those for the girls. We went to the smallish bar and ordered beers. Told us to help ourselves from the cooler. Sweet! I opted for a Yeungling. In hindsight, I should’ve skipped another beer altogether. It wasn’t very good at all. Glenn & David had 2. The girls were back in 10 minutes, or 5 minutes before out to-go orders were ready. David kindly paid the bill. Thanks David!

Homeward. One last stop before home. Mindy pulled in the drive-thru so David and Glenn could pick-up more beer. Oh boy! David went with Rolling Rock. Glenn went with an unfamiliar brand of pumpkin ale. Back at the house, we sorted through the two large bags of food to find our personal orders. Mindy & I had orders very similar: fried rice, egg roll, and won-ton soup. The only difference being chicken & beef fried rice. I wasn’t really that hungry but ate a good bit of my Chinese goodies. Lots of leftovers.

Because I had to work on Monday, I wasn’t drinking anymore beer. After dinner we all slowed down significantly. Food will do that. Come 8pm we tuned into the SNF game between Denver & Indy. Just before he and Tracy left earlier that morning, Sean and I made a gentleman’s bet on the game’s outcome. He’s apparently become a staunch Colts fan. I was certain the Broncos would crush ‘em.
But crush ‘em they did not. Instead, the Colts looked like the dominant team. Manning played well, though. It’s just that they’re defense forgot to show up, and then his receivers and running backs had a bad case of fumbleitus. The kids, Mindy, David & Anita headed to bed by 10pm while Glenn and I stayed up. I dosed off more than once from the family room chair and headed to bed at halftime. I tried to fall back asleep from bed but to no avail. I headed back downstairs and witnessed a ferocious comeback attempt by the Broncos. And for a brief time in the 4th quarter, it looked like they were going to come storming all the way back. But with a little more than two minutes to go in the game, the Broncos fumbled at the Colts 2 yardline. Now near midnight, I headed to bed for good, though still struggled to fall asleep.