Food and Friends (not in that order)....

I wasn’t going to post today, figuring I would be too busy with LMI’s before the trip, but, after tonight, i can't resist doing a quick one.

Friends:

This evening I attended a celebration of retirement for one of the original F-18 E/F ITT members. She is leaving Boeing and moving on from Boeing to other horizons, still related to flight test. Most of the attendees were the ones who have elected to stay in the area despite initial misgivings (a group that includes me). Pax River? where the Hell is that?. Anyway, after being “retired” and away from interaction with many of them, it was such a treat for me to see them in person again. I won’t go so far as to say we were family (well, maybe I will), but how nice to see those you’ve spent years with again. Beware, those of you about to retire, you have to make adjustments. People you’ve been around every day, chatted with, worked with, learned with, fought with, won’t be around every day anymore. You can e-mail, but you can’t hug them.

Food:

The above gathering took place at the Island Bar and Grill associated with Island Inn and Suites. I had not been there since they changed to the Suites/Grill arrangement. Signage is somewhat confusing as there is no indication that the Grill is part of the Suites. I drove by the place before realizing that it was probably the “Old Evans”. I am not sure they’ll ever be able to shake that association, at least with locals. Inside, nothing has changed, there’s still an ample bar space with tables, and a separate dining area with about the same amount of tables. Alert readers will remember that Leo Dilling, late of Corbel’s in Leonardtown is now running the kitchen. That can only be good news. He is tentatively entering the menu with a few carryovers such as his delectable mussels, with Thai and Bistro preparations available. We had heavy hors d’oeuvres, which were tasty enough, shrimp, crab balls, artichoke dip (?), and potatoes with accompaniments. A peek at the menu revealed the usual waterfront offerings of seafood and entrees. I think they need time to develop, but there is potential there…

Nothing to do:

You might consider going to the River Concert, the wonderful pianist Brian Ganz will be performing, and there is fireworks. If you don’t want to shoulder that, think about First Friday in Leonardtown. Lower key, but nice stuff.

Okay, enough. Go find the dopp kit, figure out what to take, pills (to keep us going), out comes the little carry-on bag, gear yourself for the Airport Dance, and off we go to Wisconsin, home of the Butter Burger.

And, in closing, I will just reiterate (in case you missed it), friends are what it’s all about. Don’t take them lightly. Be one, and have one. It keeps you going.

And, above all, I will be

DFD, or maybe DFB(reakfast) if we go back to the Hungry Peddler.. it’s just right.