Dinner Saturday evening at Sage. We weren't all that thrilled the last time we ate at Sage. but it is one of our favorites so decided to give it another shot. We both ordered the Flounder Almondine. It was fantastic! I don't know how they made the sauce but it was simply magnificent. I wish I had taken a photo. For dessert, we both had the Cafe Gourmand...expresso with four small desserts; crême brulée, chocolate cake, melon ice cream and something I didn't recognize (like a cup of whipped cream). I don't know if they got a new chef or what, but this was the best we've had there in quite a long time.
As recently as last year, I was a football fanatic. If there was a football game on TV you just didn't bother trying to talk to me, except maybe during the commercials. But something has changed and now I simply can't stand having to sit through all the commercials. I tried watching a game the other day and after the second set of commercials, I turned it off. That is also the main reason I don't watch regular TV. And now they're trying to do the same thing with the internet. Haven't any of you noticed that every time you try to see a You Tube video, there's a damned ad that you either have to ignore or X-out? It really pisses me off, so I try to just not even attempt to look at the videos. We need a new internet with NO COMMERCIALS!
EDIT - SURPRISE! SURPRISE! Wandering around the internet, I happened to chance upon a fantastic site. If, like me, you hate all those ads that pop-up when you try to watch a You Tube video, you'll be happy to learn there is a thing named ADBLOCK PLUS. They claim it's free but ask for a donation. There is a version for just about any browser you may have (I have three - Chrome, Firefox and Opera _ actually I have four including IE 8, which I never use). It is added as an extension of each browser. I added it to all three. I haven't really tested it yet, but have high hopes.
A friend who used to live next door to us at the condo, and his boyfriend, opened a restaurant named Angel's Cafe on the main drag in Wilton Manors. We finally got around to going on Sunday night. I had read some reviews of the place and they weren't very good, but we thought they've been open for several months, they must surely have gotten the bugs out by now. The first thing that strikes you when you enter, is the over-decoration. A thing for which Alan is infamous. He can't seem to do anything without going way over the top. and he apparently applied that formula to decorating the cafe. When we checked the menu, it was mostly chicken dishes with a few steak dishes and one (count it) pasta dish. Robb opted for the pork chop. I decided on the only pasta dish. Robb's opinion of the pork chop was "tough". My pasta was supposed to be with shrimp and after searching under the pasta, I did find about six. There was a lot of broccoli on top of the pasta, which was not cooked enough for my liking. When we called for the reservation, we were told there was to be a "show" at 20h00, so we decided to get there in time for that. There were only a few tables occupied when we arrived, but as it got closer to showtime, the place started to fill up. Another unfortunate problem, was that it is right next door to The Village Pub with its loud, thumping bar music. So when the show finally started about thirty to forty minutes late, there was the too loud show in the cafe and the thumping from the Pub next door. Not an environment conducive to enjoying a meal. To make it even worse, they had no espresso machine and the waiter didn't even ask if we wanted dessert. I considered writing a review but decided against it. There's nothing I could say that hadn't already been said.
Friday we had planned to take the Duck Tour. Jumped up at the crack of dawn (for me that's about 10h00) only to find another cold, rainy day. I didn't want to take the chance, so I called and arranged to take the tour tomorrow. Here's hoping we get a good day!! For dinner, Robb walked up to the Japanese place which closes around 19h00 during the week, and got some take out to bring back to the apartment. We'll eat it somewhere around 21h00. Once again I had no idea what we were eating, but it was really good. Half of it was very spicy. I didn't know Japanese food was spicy. Live and learn!
Saturday we awoke (around 09h45) to a world bathed in sunshine and several degrees warmer. We called the taxi and asked them to pick us up at noon because we had to get to the Duck Tour pick-up spot at the Museum of Science by 12h30. We left the apartment, walked up the bazilllion steps to the street around 11h50. The Green Taxi was already there waiting, and eating his lunch. It only took about twenty minutes to get to our destination. There was no trouble checking in using the information I had stored on my Samsung Infuse. Around 12h45, we boarded our Duck vehicle, which according to our very knowledgeable driver, cost about $385,000. I guess that makes sense because it is amphibian. The Duck was roomy and wide open...no windows. The driver, whose name I cannot remember, kept up a non-stop commentary during the entire hour and a half ride. We pretty much covered all the main historic sites of the city and a few of the surrounding areas like Cambridge, Back Bay and the North End (also known as Little Italy). The last portion of the tour was a ride on the Charles River. I didn't take that many pictures because the shots available to me weren't all that good. I did get a shot of the Museum of Science from the river and the Longfellow Bridge. For dinner, Robb walked up to the Greek Corner Restaurant and got the vegetarian take out. Again it was excellent!
Sunday, 28 July, back to Fort Ladeda. Our apartment agreement indicated we had to vacate by 11h00, which seemed a bit early to me, but I realize they have to clean the place before the next renter shows up. We can't complain, it is a really nice apartment in an area that turned out to be a lot better than I was expecting from my Google street tour. There were a lot of stores and restaurants along Massachusetts Avenue which was only a block away. Unfortunately for us, our plane doesn't leave until 17h58, which means we'll have to spend six hours at the airport. That wasn't so bad for me, but Robb would be climbing the walls after an hour or so. Spirit Airlines refused to accept our bags until 14h40, so we took our baggage cart (for which we had to pay) to the nearest seats and started our long, long wait. Finally, after three hours, we checked in our bags only to find that they were charging me an extra $25 because one bag was 5 pounds over the limit, so it cost us $115 for our luggage on top of the airfare!. These are the exact same two bags, with the exact amount of stuff we had when we flew up at no extra charge. So if you have a choice, and you always will, DO NOT FLY Spirit.
We love Boston. The apartment was really nice although there were a couple of very minor problems. There was one major problem. In order to get to or leave the apartment, we had to climb a bazillion steps down to what would have been the basement in any other house, except, while it was downstairs, it was not under the house.. Most of the buildings in our area looked much the same.
Dumb Law of the Week: In Oxford, Ohio, it is illegal for a woman to disrobe in front of a man's picture.
