Busy Last Weekend of April

Wow - it was a busy, busy week and then a a fun weekend. First, work was hectic because we had folks in from across the country so I spent most of my time with them walking through our responsibilities and system needs.

For my personal life, I went to the Jimmy Buffet concert on Tuesday night. I went with some of neighbors and their friends. We took a party bus from Uptown out to the concert so there was no hassle with driving or parking. When we finally got to the lawn, we spread out our blankets and apologized ahead of time to the fans around us. We made friends with a girl who rode the bus with us especially since her friend wandered off with some boy before the music started. The concert was great!!!

The ride back on the party bus was not as much fun. One of our friends broke a bus rule and got sick on the bus. Not sure how he got so drunk in three hours. He told me today that his friend that went with us was sick until 4 PM the next day. I think it was probably something they ate or didn't before drinking.

Wednesday I accompanied some of the visitors to one of my favorite diners in Charlotte - Pike's Old Fashioned Soda Shop. Everyone seemed to be happy with their meal and enjoyed the atmosphere. They rode the Train back to Uptown.

Yesterday we went to the Queen's Cup Steeple Chase. Fun, fun, fun. It was warm (verging on hot) but low humidity and a nice breeze all day. We had food and drink to feed a small army. I went to Price's Chicken Coop on Friday and bought "three yard birds" to have for the picnic; do you know how good three fried chickens smell in the backseat of the car?? It almost did not survive the night. It was good cold the next day! http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2008/07/roadfood_nc_chicken Richard (one of my neighbors) had bought a complete outfit for the day and so he had a theme. His drink for the today was pink lemonade and vodka. He also made this dessert called Strawberry Pretzel Salad; pretzel crust with strawberry jello, whipped cream and strawberries. We also had ham and turkey from Honey Baked with croissants and fresh bread. Lots of cookies and fruit and cheese. You could tell it was a Southern Day... food is love and love is good.

We played a round of Boccie on part of the lawn, saw some beautiful horses race around the track and I seem to be the only one with a sunburn. Are we sure I grew up in Florida? I did apply the sunblock and reapplied the sunblock but alas, the backs of my arms are pink.