more fun with friends

So when we first tried out winters in Florida we rented a place for six weeks on the Braden River  and the next year we returned for ten weeks...why am I telling you this now seven years later? Because our landlords for the rental turned out to be this fabulous couple who we became friends with over time.  And last week, despite Al not liking cities, he and Carol came to visit Chicago for four days.

and OK I pulled a fast one with this photo- LOL - all afternoon I have been thinking of burgers so I started with one from Skinny's Place on AMI which right about now is probably drying out from the Tropical Storm Emily that hit Anna Maria Island in the last few days - but since we are in the north we only get sporadic reports of how things went...

We did the architecture cruise and a lot of "touring" - had lunches at The Bagel, Tanta, and mfk. as well as dinners at Osteria Langhe and TAC Quick and a final send off at Al's ("I waited 38 years to have this again") favorite Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder (now he can say he waited 38 years and 2.5 hours LOL)

The night after Al & Carol left we went to the Old Town School to hear Graham Nash in concert - a terrific evening of tripping down memory lane... with three encore songs including of course "Chicago" - the one that really broke me up though was "Wind on the Water" the loss of our beloved Snooty being so recent - that one really hit a nerve.... wonderful evening- reminding us again of how lucky we are to be able to enjoy concerts and theater like we do....

 Nash with Shane Fontayne accompanying on various guitars - WOW was he good!

Then last night we met up with our friends Mon & Beth for dinner at Proxi (a new to us and fairly new to Chicago place) with Jennifer and Steve, who we also know from Chaine (Chaine des Rotissuers dining organization) - the food was excellent and the wines interesting and here you will get the blow by blow - because there was a lot of interesting food-

I really liked the decor - despite being a big room (former printing press location) it was open and welcoming with subdued lighting and some fairly cool sound baffling in the curved ceiling with tiles that helped keep the sound level manageable despite hardwood floors and wood tables - Phil found it loud (partially because the group behind/next to us was quite boisterous)

 I started with an Aperol based cocktail with champagne ice cubes - it was excellent 

on the below column from the three column menu we had the Elotes (OMG!), the Nahm Prik, the Roasted Eggplant, the Shaved Zucchini,

OK so I didn't get a photo of the Elotes until we had all grabbed and devoured most of the two orders- these were worth a return trip for sure!

then in the next column we had the AMAZING oysters, the Baby Octopus, the Raw Tuna, the Stone Bass, and the Fried Fish Collars - all very good but OYSTERS WIN!

the third column found us with the pork jerky (yum!), the black pepper pork, the BBQ Lamb Ribs, the Merguez Sausage, and the Pork Porterhouse

we had three excellent bottles of wine- this sparkler from the Loire a Vouvray, and a wine from the Jura and a red I never quite tracked down - the wines were on the other side of the table so I didn't get a close enough view of any of them for a decent photo - my apologies LOL

then when we got to dessert, I really fell down on the job because I was soooo full I couldn't have another bite-  the three ordered (shown in reverse below) were the pot de creme with a Thai banana cake crumble, and the Thai iced tea ice ream, and the tres leches - all got good reviews from those who downed them LOL

two more exciting events in our week- we had a roosting pair of doves who were making as much mess of the deck as they could so I sent Lucy out regularly and she chased them away after a few days of patrolling the perimeter and then settling in herself in the tomato planters LOL but the big event was even more momentous. We have a new addition to the circle of friends we hold dear. Our good friend, Laure, gave birth to a baby boy -  brother, Hugo, for big sis, Alix (shown helping out on his third day in the world!).

below - Alix holds Hugo - what a great big sister she is!

so on we go- plans with friends a couple of nights this week and next week as well... so more food and more fun with friends coming up!

rollin on the river

our friends Al & Carol invited us to go on a boat ride Friday afternoon. So we met them at the dock around 12:30 and brought champagne.  Carol brought glasses and her friend Ann from Marin County.  They met in SFO in the late 60s at a residence for women where they both roomed and have been friends since then...

Al and Carol's cute little dog Lilly came along - she is a Lhasa Poo and just as sweet and well behaved as a dog can be... we fell in love with her in the winter of 2011 when we stayed at River Cottage and Al & Carol were our landlords...

we spent about an hour to an hour and a half on the water and then stopped for lunch at the Riverhouse right on the Manatee River looking from Palmetto (where they are located) back towards Bradenton, a the foot of the US route 41 Business bridge.

here are just a couple of photos from the outing-

yes - this may be the only photo you will ever see of Phil on a boat- it is just not his thing...LOL but we had a nice time and a lovely lunch - and would have gone back out for a while but for an appointment Phil had to keep before 5pm.... so maybe again next year---

a rare treasure

is what my bird book said about sighting the endangered wood stork...

they have lost their food supplies and therefore are not breeding in enough numbers to keep the population supported.  these birds- the only storks in north america- fish by wading through shallow water and stirring up the mud so fish swim around their bills.  when a fish touches the bill they immediately (fastest movement in the animal kingdom per the info in the book) grab it and swallow.

so imagine my surprise when over the weekend we had a visit from a wood stork... no mistaking this guy... I had gone out to take a photo of the anhinga drying near the dock and then spied a great blue heron in mating feathers and a couple of turtles hanging out when I turned around and there he was- Mr. Rare Treasure wading around fishing...

never a dull moment here at River Cottage

our mating heron-

the anhinga drying his feathers

turtle catching a breath and then with a buddy--

 

a mottled duck-

and here he is the star of the show!