a brief (very) trip to Germany

this afternoon we headed north of the Skyway to St. Pete to the Hofbrauhaus, with Barb and John, for a lunch before a concert at the Craftsmen House on Central.  It was a fun place- if a bit touristy.  We had sausages and beer and schnitzel and strudel LOL- not to be reduced to cultural stereotypes - LOL but classic German food.  We bemoaned the loss of the once multiple German restaurants in Chicago including the Golden Ox on Clyborn (BEFORE it was trendy yuppie infested Clyborn Corridor) and the Berghoff lower level where we both used to lunch when we were freshly minted attorneys in the Loop.... time marches on...

then off we went to the concert- the performer tonight was Kinky Friedman - a guy we will undoubtedly never see/hear again... since this is 2016 and he is at least 50 years behind the times in terms of things like gender and racial equality- seriously not cool and seriously not a good singer or songwriter- and more than half the time the warm up act was the only act in the room - they sang a roughly equal number of songs but the warm up dude sang better LOL -

so about now you might be asking why we went to see this dinosaur of chauvinism and racism (alleged satirist) and we are answering about now- we have no clue - and maybe we should have done more homework--- maybe this sh*t sells in Texas with their far right constituency but it doesn't sell in our houses -

so anyway- some photos and one video clip so you can see I am not making this up.

the "artist" arriving at the venue-

his lubricant of choice - Tequila - private label "Man In Black"

the warm up dude Brian - introduced with no last name - later Kinky called him Mulnar or something like that- he had a nice voice but his songs were all refrain and no verse-

they raised $700 for an animal rescue that Kinky is involved with in Texas- here is the guy auctioning a bullet ridden poster and bottle of Man In Black tequila-

as we left- a lovely palm and some nice porch lights-

so our evening was good because we were with our friends and we always like spending time with them and the food was not fabulous but the food venue was fun... so here is the video - a snippet of Kinky Friedman accompanied by the Brian dude with no last name--- LOL

tomorrow our friend Maryanne comes to visit for a few days and we are headed to a lecture at the local science museum (home to Snooty) and a few good meals etc... more to follow-

a week gone by

last weekend our friends came to visit and stay for a few days- so I have been somewhat remiss in posting- lots of eating and talking and very little photo taking - we had a lot to catch up with....

our first night we had a late dinner at AMOB Cortez... I had the king crab legs (which I don't think I have ever eaten in Florida - having so many other options for seafood here- but they were good!) For several years I have been meaning to ask about the little devices they give you to work on the crab legs and lobster opening tasks but had forgotten until they gave me one last Saturday night.  The only photo I took was of the device so I could track some down for home use- Sea Shellers * (trademark sign- LOL)

the next day was cold and rainy on and off- so we tried a new place at lunch Blue Mangrove Grill which we liked - an excellent cup of clam chowder and good split Cobb salad along with a very good grouper sandwich made for more than I could eat- especially given that I knew we were headed to Columbia for dinner...again no photos but we did have the excellent sangria - that night both red and sparkling white... and we closed that place down- LOL - were literally the last to leave

The next day was a beautiful Florida winter day- cool but sunny- warm in the direct sun--- so we ate outside at Star Fish - dockside- the service is snail paced there but who cares? we were with friends and enjoying being outdoors -  we closed that one down too- literally the last to leave-

the pelicans were having a field day fighting over some fish skins a kitchen worker threw out to them after the place closed-

that night we went to Michael's on East and closed that one down too- LOL- a pattern is emerging here... the next day the friends were on their way early - before Phil got up... and we were planning a trip together in 2017 (they have a December 2016 wedding to throw first)

so off I went to class the next day and although I don't normally post on my Cold War Biographies class I found this chart to be very telling- the winners are tagged with "post it" notes- and you can see the chart is all about "who has the bomb" and who won the wars since the end of WWII-

seems like having the bomb is a pretty sure way to NOT come out the winner in war unless you are Israel and then I doubt that having the bomb had anything to do with their victories...

That evening we went to Michael's Wine Cellar for a wonderful wine dinner -

all the starters were magnificent- terrific flavors in each and every one! along with a fab cocktail I would definitely love to have the "recipe"-

then on Thursday night we returned to Tiramisu to give more attention to menu items we hadn't had before- and closed that place down as well.  The food is still excellent and the owner still won't smile. I always wonder why people who clearly aren't naturally friendly or welcoming take front of the house jobs????  Apparently the wife (Monica) who is the chef is lovely- but the husband (Luca) certainly refuses to let a smile crack his face...  Phil and I had kind of a disagreement over going back there because I said - good food is not worth dealing with a guy who seems angry that you are at his restaurant... (I made an attempt to tell him this time about why we need to drink our own wine instead of buying his but he is apparently a tough nut to crack) if it hadn't been for the extremely friendly waitress, Donna I probably would have decided against returning.  Luckily she was available to be our server again.

so that brings us current and awaiting our next two rounds of company- Ah! the life of snowbirds LOL - so if I am MIA for a bit don't worry- I'll be back.....