Charleston Restaurant: Dinner for a Really Special Anniversary

Chris and I, upon the recommendation of Mike and Nicole, decided to do something really special for our anniversary dinner. Something even a bit over the top for us. We decided to eat at restaurant which earned four of five number 1's in the current Zagat rating--Charleston.

We had a 6:30pm reservation, which is early, but it allowed us to enjoy an unhurried evening which did not end until after 9:00pm at the restaurant.

The restaurant is fabulous and opulent. We were greeted by the valet to park our car and there the experience began. Everything was top notch and first class. We enjoyed some time together in the bar, sipping some champagne to begin our unhurried dining experience. A high point that happened right there, in the bar, was that the staff recognized that Chris was cold and they offered her a wrap to improve her enjoyment of the evening.

From there, we were ushered to our table. There were apologies that our table request could not be accommodated due to a small function in that room, but the table offered in the wine room was more than adequate--and perhaps even better given our early hour.

We chose the "The Season" from the menu and the wine pairings. We were just too overwhelmed on our first visit to try to develop our own unique menu for the evening. What we had provided a good sampling of the menu items. And in our case this was a seafood themed meal which was very well paired with some excellent wines.

The meal--served in courses consisted of:

Rich Lobster Soup with Curry accompanied by Amontillado Viejo, Byass "Del Duque"

Local Heirloom Tomato Salad, Warm Goat’s Cheese Medallion, served with Sportoletti Rosé, Mas de La Dame (Les Baux de Provence) 2009

Jumbo Lump Crabcake, English Peas, Roasted Sweet Corn, Mustard Cream Chardonnay, accompanied by Dehlinger "Un-Filtered" (Russian River Valley) 2006

Pan-Roasted Halibut, Grilled Local Baby Squash, Creole Sauce Valtellina Superiore, with Conti Sertoli Salis "Sassella" (Lombardia) 2006

Stilton – cow’s milk, blue, creamy, rich, mildly spicy (Nottinghamshire, UK) and topped off by being served with Heitz Cellars Port "Ink Grade" (Napa Valley) NV

finally,
Local Blackberries & Madeira Sabayon

Fabulous. Each course was perfectly cooked and expertly served in gourmet style. The portions were just the right size--not too much and not too little. The wine pours were also perfectly matched to the course.

They also added a small pastry platter for dessert and a melon starter that I never really understood exactly what it was composed of--but suffice it to say, it too was awesome.

In the end, I did not want for more--except more of the atmosphere and the ambiance which in the wine room was absolutely perfect. The wait staff led by the Captain, Ryan, were spectacular and attended to our needs before we even realized we had them.

Cost? Well, it is not for the faint of heart. It is well worth it, but I have had complete meals for four for less than what I left as a tip.

Will I return? You bet! I am a definite fan.

The Lights of Land and Life

Sometimes I read things that really get my mind turning. Good stories about things that turned out well. But I wind up with so many questions.

Today I invite you to read a news item I read yesterday.

It is titled: Three Boaters Rescued after Three Days Lost at Sea. It is a CNN news item.

(CNN) -- Three boaters in South Florida have made it back to worried friends and family on dry land, three days after they went missing when their 32-foot boat broke down during what was supposed to be a one-day fishing trip 20 miles off of West Palm Beach.
The trio -- identified as John Land, 48, David Blakeney, 39, and Kevin Wood, 45, all from the local area -- and their disabled boat, named the Shade Maker, were spotted Saturday night by a U.S. Navy frigate 85 miles east of Jacksonville, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
None of the men was injured, and their craft was towed to shore in a joint effort between the Navy frigate and the Coast Guard, arriving in Mayport, Florida, overnight Saturday.
Skipper Land told CNN affiliate WJXX that the boat blew an oil pan gasket and the radio failed when he tried to call for help.
The men's situation grew tense when the boat was caught in a Gulf Stream current and drifted further north.
The men were reported missing early Friday by a relative who grew worried when the boaters did not return Thursday at sunset as originally planned, the Coast Guard said.
"We could hear on the radio, we could hear everybody looking for us, but could not get back," Land said.
Land said they ate their catch to maintain strength during the three days at sea.
"Last night we had raw dolphin and a little spicy mustard," he said.
He was grateful to be back on shore Sunday, expressing appreciation to see signs of life again.
"It is good," he said. "I'm looking at buildings and trees and stuff. It is a beautiful thing because out there we couldn't see the glare of the city lights anymore."

I have been fishing off West Palm Beach, only last month. We were not 20 miles out to sea by any stretch of the imagination, but we were in the same general area.

I found the last sentence of the news item to be the most interesting.

They could not see the lights of land and were afraid for they were lost at sea.

I have always thought that it would be so beautiful to look into the starry night sky far away from the lights of cities and to ponder our God who created each of those stars.

But then, I did not imagine myself adrift in a small boat--helpless, out of food, caught in the Gulf Stream and headed for the wide open Atlantic Ocean and storms of unimaginable proportions.

It is a fully different perspective from what I imagine for myself--but at least their boat continued to float.

And so I question myself--do I find comfort in the things created by humans--the buildings and the lights--signs of civilization? Despite what I want to believe, could I live without those things? How would I have felt given the same circumstances--adrift in the open ocean with few prospects for rescue?

The three men had a lot of time to think and ponder.

I wonder if they prayed.

I wonder of they talked about death and dying.

I wonder what they talked about and how they probably tried to repair the engine of the boat and the radio on which they could hear the searchers, but could not respond.

A fun day of fishing became a three-day ordeal. A "three-hour tour" so to speak.

And yet, they were rescued! I cannot imagine the joy they must have felt as they realized that the ship they saw on the horizon had seen them and was heading for them with the intent of rescuing them. I'm sure it was unimaginable joy and relief.

I'm glad this story had a happy ending.

Monday Musings - August 9, 2010

1. Today is a very significant day--35 years ago two 19 year-olds said I do, and they are still together. I guess the old Paul Simon song title is really true: Still Crazy After All These Years. I'd modify it a bit to read Still Crazy in Love After All These Years.

2. It happened last evening--the NFL is back for what could be its last season unless the owners and the players decide not to kill the cash cow. Pre-season Football results: Cowboys 16 Bengals 7. Importance to the overall season: My wife is happy.

3. And not to forget the O's--they won yesterday and are 5-1 since the beginning of August! The O's usually crash and burn during August.

4. It appears that BP really has killed the oil well in the Gulf. Good for them. Now they need to clean up the mess and stop patting themselves on the back for fixing a problem that they created.

5. Our local Exxon station (at the corner of Washington blvd and Old Montgomery Road), the one that I have been doing business with for the past 10 years decided to add a 5 cent per gallon charge for credit transactions. And their counter service for cash is terrible. I now use the Hess station across the street which is usually 1-2 cents per gallon cheaper for gas anyway. Go figure. I wonder how that is going to work out for them.

6. It was a good weekend, we got a lot of yard work done around the house and got the gardens mostly back into shape. It was nice to be working outside.

7. I need to mow the lawn--how could I forget that?

8. I brushed Makayla and when I was done, I thought I had another dog sitting next to me!

Summer Flowers

I love the flowers of summer.

They bring life and excitement to the scene and keep everything interesting.

Yesterday was a work day around the house. We had a lot to do and catch up on after being gone on vacation and really tired when we returned.

We made two trips to the landfill in the newly repaired pickup truck. I am proud to report that with the exception of two small items--everything was recycled!

And then we had the idea to remove a fairly homely, tall bush which was out of control near the deck and replace it with a crepe myrtle.

We have one beautiful red crepe myrtle on the other corner of the pool area. We have watched it grow now for the past four or five years and it has become a magnificent specimen and so we decided to drop another one on another corner--nearer the deck.

This activity was preceded by removing the 10-12 foot tall bush which was previously occupying the spot. Cutting down was easy--digging out the stump--not so much. Thank goodness for an all wheel drive vehicle which could assist in encouraging the stump to come out of the ground. That was a lifesaver because the digging was really tough. And did I say it was hot?

If you look in the picture of the red crepe myrtle you can see the tire tracks in the grass as we drove down around the back of the pool to access the area where the stump needed to be pulled--I love driving on the lawn!

It was very hot like in the mid-90's. Probably not the best time of day to labor outside--but it was all good and the end results are nice. We still need some additional top soil and a bag of mulch; which is the project for today.

I like the blast of color that the crepe myrtle's provide and it is one of the advantages of living our area that I enjoy. They just provide a canopy of color to enjoy. And then underneath--as this newly installed crepe myrtle grows--aha, then come the hostas for ground cover underneath.

And we have hostas the need to be moved because they have matured into huge hostas!

We have become a fan of hostas because they are green and they keep the weeds down.

Here are two of the varieties we have--the little standard green hosta that most people get, and then the huge Frances Williams variety--which was recommended to us and we love. With their huge leaves they fill up an available space.

Who knows what today will bring--another project and more satisfaction about being home and working around the house.

Sand Castles and Memories

Sand Castle built by Mike, Ethan and Jax during July 2010

Works of art arrayed on the beach, for only a short time.

Built by hands striving to make their mark on the world--no matter how temporary.

It is like writing your name in the sand on the beach. A strong statement that "I was here" but one that will soon be gone with the wind or the tides.

I have seen some fabulous sand art. And I am always impressed by its transient nature--the artist, or sand sculptor, uses their talent to create a design which causes people to pause and consider it, but also realize that the art is only temporary. And then the canvass is clean for them to start over.

It must be a freeing experience.

Not to be constrained by what has already been done and yet free to take yesterday's creation and remold it to make it different for the mood of the day. Even, in some manner, better.

I am sometimes so busy trying to create something that will last and have an enduring quality, that I forget that like the flowers of the field that bloom and then die in a day, transient things can be beautiful because they make a memory!

It is memories that really last and endure. Not the item or the thing. Over time things grow old and weathered. They crack and peel and become soiled with the passage of time.

But memories--they remain. And they are always with me.

And I can smile at the remembrance of them.

Plagiarsim Conundrum--A Newspaper Item Hits Home

I read a fascinating article in the New York Times the other day titled, Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age.

It brought back memories of college and writing long involved 20-30 page double-spaced and typed (yes typed) papers after poring over texts in the library. How I wish that I had had a computer in my dorm room back then to help me do the research in the comfort and clutter of my room.

Or so I thought, until I realized how the blurring of lines between original thought and creating collages of thoughts has affected today's computer-literate generation.

I strive to ensure that when I use items from other's works, I document them with hyper-links back to the original--not because I worry about plagiarism, but more so that the reader can read the entire piece and determine for themselves if I have used the extract in a consistent manner that is contextually consistent.

But as I read the article I referenced here, I realized that despite the best efforts of all of us, the boundary between common knowledge and unique theme-specific knowledge has become blurred. I often ask myself--how do I know that? Was that my idea? Or did I read it somewhere?

The information age is truly a complex one.

The tendrils of thought have become confused.

And then--the article I referenced earlier ends with the following paragraphs:

Many times, said Donald J. Dudley, who oversees the discipline office on the campus of 32,000[UC Davis], it was students who intentionally copied — knowing it was wrong — who were “unwilling to engage the writing process.”

“Writing is difficult, and doing it well takes time and practice,” he said.

And then there was a case that had nothing to do with a younger generation’s evolving view of authorship. A student accused of plagiarism came to Mr. Dudley’s office with her parents, and the father admitted that he was the one responsible for the plagiarism. The wife assured Mr. Dudley that it would not happen again.

It is easy to justify what you are doing in your mind--right up until someone asks about it.

Writing like any skill, must be learned and practiced.

But we live in an instant society--where we can have and we long for anything we can get, instantly!

Hence--writing is reduced to copying someone else's thoughts.

We all need to strive for originality and creativity--but when someone else says it just the way we would have said it--at least give them credit.

Cheap Blessings and Cheapened Grace - A Rant

OK, look out, here comes another rant. And this one is likely to really get the hairs on your neck ruffled.

This one is about some of the "well meaning" stuff I receive in my email.

They seem to end with something like this:


Pass this to 12 people including me. A blessing is coming to you in form
of a new job, a house, marriage or financially. Do not break or ask
questions. This is a test. Does God come first in your life? If so, stop what
you're doing & send it to 12 people now. Watch what he does!


Really? Do you believe this nonsense?

This is the Joel Osteen-style Christianity that sells books and keeps people's email full of empty hopes and promises. The "If I do, then God will " type of non-biblical Christianity. The type of Christianity that is so shallow it doesn't work. It is a Laodiceian-type of Christianity. Or form, but no substance.

What is the biblical basis for something like this?

Do we really pray to God and do things in his name to have him reward us like Santa Claus?

God blesses us in so many ways that we never even appreciate--and then we cheapen our relationship with Him by playing a game like--if I send this to 12 people then he will give me the desires of my heart!"

Really, come on!

He has already given us the greatest gift he could give us--through grace we have eternal life. We did not earn it by sending an email to 12 people. We were given it because His Son died for us, while we were still sinners and certainly did not then nor even now deserve it.

And then to top it all off, He blesses us every day and lavishes upon us things we don't even know we need, until He makes them known to us.

And so our response to this is to send little email messages to our friends promising that if they do this, then God will do that? I wonder if this is some of what John was writing about to the church of Laodicea in Revelations 3:14-22?

Emails that end like this, with the "If you do, then God will" promise are really missing the mark.

We are not going to heaven based on our works, 'cause we can't do enough to pay the price. And we certainly are not going to get there by sending emails to other Christians encouraging them to send emails in order to receive blessings.

Ah, some might say, it is a way of letting unbelievers hear of God. Really? How many of those emails really go to unbelievers. They are not even designed to go to people who have never heard of the Living God. And if one should be sent to an unbeliever, do we want them to learn of a god who seems to be little more than a purveyor of incantations? There is a lot more they need to learn--like starting with, you feel guilty about something you did way back when, let me tell you what our God did for you, already!

It is that old problem again--we think we need to do something to earn God's love.

Wrong! We can't earn it.

It is tied to the age-old question about works. We can't do enough to earn on our own what was freely given to us already by God. Why would we want or need to?

It's free. Accept that.

We must, however, reflect in our lives and the way we live how God has changed us from the inside--but it certainly should not be tied to doing little deeds with the expectation of receiving earthly rewards. And as a result of our joy, we do things (works) which confirm the faith we have.

We already have the reward--eternity.

I guess when I read emails that end with the action and the promise, I hear the televangelists at the end of the broadcast pleading, like so many politicians who have been coming to my door lately, "send me money and God will . . . "

God will anyway. Just ask.

The alternative to these emails?

Here is a thought.

I have felt that the stories that come in many of those emails are great and uplifting. Some are just fun to read. So delete the ending, the "if you send this to 12 people and me . . ." part.

Change it to a simple blessing to your friends--something like: I saw this and thought you would appreciate it. I'm thinking of and praying for you today.

A simple blessing.

That's what we all really need more than anything else. A reminder that we are loved by God and others.

Weary Already and Grinding Away

Back already for only two days--and weary of the grind already.

My head is still on "some beach, some where" (to quote a country song).

It is hard to believe the level of seemingly meaningless activity, meetings, questions, and actions that stream by me on a daily basis.

I am caught, it seems, in a bureaucratic for bureaucracy sake situation where the paper required to do intelligent things keeps them from being done.

And to top it all off, my truck is broken. But it should be fixed today, for a small transfer of large unmarked bills from my piggy bank.

I'm not sure what it all means at this point--but getting back into the saddle, as they say, after a wonderful vacation away sure is getting tougher.

I am, of course, excited that the Orioles have a new manager--but they will still likely finish last in all of baseball this year. It is hard to get worse than last. I guess the new manager is taking over at a good time--that can't really go anywhere but up. At least they won last night--which in itself is newsworthy.

And I am sure A-Rod is hoping to see the O's soon so he can finally hit his 600th homer. Want to talk about frustration? Another game last night--no home run. There you have it!

Talk here has already turned to football--and the Ravens are self-destructing in training camp! Injuries are putting people out for the season. Unlike the Redskins who can't seem to even get their players onto the field for training camp. It might be a good time to change teams, like someone in the family I know!!!

Did I say my truck is broken!

But it is all good.

My dog is happy to see me when I come home at night. And it makes me smile when she heads back upstairs to bed in the morning after mooching my toast to get a few more hours of shut-eye with Chris. They are quite a pair in the morning when I leave for work--nestled deep into the bed sleeping.

Lucas at Dinner in Outback

It would be a funny picture.

And the pool is there for me to fall into and wash away the cares of the day when I come home.

And I had dinner last evening with Lucas ( and his Mom and Dad). It was an awesome time!

So all is not lost--it is just seems like it is hiding.

Fizz in the Glass of Life

While on vacation, I discovered something really different.

I am provided with fizz in my glass of life to spice it up. Just like a cola or champagne--the fizz is there to keep me excited and interested.

What is this magic fizz in the glass of life?

Grandchildren!

Yup. Watching grandchildren play on the beach, or wrestle with their Mom and Dad on the floor, or fight like the brothers they are, and discover the world is truly the fizz that adds interest to life.

They are canvasses to write memories upon--memories which will remain long after I have changed my address from where I am now to eternity.

They explore and interact with the world and people in ways I had long forgotten and sometimes in ways that as a parent, I didn't appreciate then and only now after my own children are grown and having children of their own can I appreciate the ways of the child.

So what is this fizz?

The joy of discovering sea urchins on the beach and realizing that they are not plants, but animals.

The fear of letting a snail crawl on their hands.

The excitement of running headlong into the pounding surf driven by a tropical storm with the red flag flying.

Finding a small turtle on the beach and then learning all about turtles at the turtle rescue place.

Watching helplessly as they strike out again at the baseball game.

Seeing them struggle to roll over and become more like a person as they grow from a baby.

Yes, there is stress--and like a glass or more of champagne, the fizz can be overwhelming at times. But it provides the interest in life to help me see things differently.

It is fizz surely. Sometimes it gets up my nose and makes me cringe--but usually it helps me appreciate life and something that I have forgotten that I had a lot of fun learning and doing.

I guess it keeps me from getting too old, too fast.

Monday Musings - August 2, 2010

1. It's August already? What happened to July?

2. Sunrise and sunset today are combining to make today 2 minutes shorter of daylight than yesterday.

3. And so it is off to work today--the first time in over two weeks that I will be wearing long pants and shoes. Should be a lot of fun.

4. I was having so much fun on vacation last week that I totally forgot to write Monday Musings and no one missed them.

5. The oil spill in the Gulf is turned off but the disaster continues.

6. Question: If the people who run WikiLeaks knew they were publishing US Govt classified information, why shouldn't they go to jail for treason or espionage? Is it not the responsibility of all citizens to protect US classified information? I'm confused!

7. Have a positive outlook for the day and it may surprise you and be a good day!

8. Do not despair the passing of July because August is still summer!

9. As of today the Orioles have a new manager--they still are the worst team in baseball though.

10. Chris and I saw two movies alone as a couple while on vacation We believe it has been probably over a year since we have seen a movie together and alone. We enjoyed it.