1. It's sure fun and easy hosting Patrick and Meagan. The tempo of their visit has been easy and relaxed, with no set schedule and spur of the moment decisions. Today, once we were all up, we lollygagged, drank coffee, talked a bit, and Meagan and Patrick, free of any urgency, thoughtfully figured out what they'd like to do today.
They decided to go to Coeur d'Alene. They had a lakeside stroll in mind. Both of them enjoy going to a downtown toy shop. They wanted to return to MoMo, a pan-Asian restaurant they had enjoyed on an earlier trip to North Idaho.
I decided not to join them on the drive over to Coeur d'Alene. Instead, I went over to Carol and Paul and brought in their mail and checked on Leo's food supply. Everything looked good. I took care of a few other things at home and then I drove to Coeur d'Alene and met up with Patrick and Meagan at MoMo.
We enjoyed a relaxed lunch together. To start, we shared an order of steamed pork dumplings. I enjoyed a cup of wonton soup loaded not only with wontons, but with spinach, carrots, Enoki mushrooms, Shiitake mushrooms, cliantro, and scallions.
Before long, our server filled our table with raw fish and Beef Kung Pao from the wok. I opted for a Nigiri sampler, called Taste of Nigiri. It featured four pieces of four different fish pressed on sticky rice. Patrick and Meagan also ordered Nigiri -- salmon and tuna (or was it yellowtail?) and we shared MoMo's Alaska sushi roll, featuring spicy tuna topped with raw salmon.
It was fun. We took our time, slowly enjoying the great variety of flavors and levels of heat these different dishes offered and having easy conversation.
2. Once we finished, we moved our party to one of my favorite spots in downtown CdA, the Filling Station. After such an enjoyable meal, I wanted to drink some kind of chocolate-y Imperial Stout and I knew the Filling Station would have some solid choices.
I was right. I could have ordered Epic Brewing's Big Bad Baptist Chocolate Rapture, but, I ordered a Big Bad Baptist minus the rapture. It's whiskey barrel aged and weighed in at 12.1% ABV, so I ordered a mere five ounces of this coffee and chocolate-y delight and it was perfect. I drank this small pour very slowly and relished each drop. If I remember correctly, Patrick ordered (and enjoyed) a pint of Heretic Brewing's fine Hazy Imperial IPA called You Can't Handle the Juice and I know Meagan was delighted with her pour of Belching Beaver's terrific Peanut Butter Milk Stout. It's like a dark chocolate Reese's in a glass -- and I think Meagan would agree: Not Sorry!
3. Patrick and Meagan had some more strolling around to do and I drove home. Christy came over and I mixed her a Manhattan and we chatted for a while. A little later, Patrick and Meagan returned. We sat in the living room, listened to and talked about all kinds of music. Patrick leapt into double duty. He took over the bar, mixing drinks for himself and Meagan and, after a while, decided to heat up the salmon from Wednesday night's dinner along with some rice I had made a few days ago. We enjoyed the leftover salmon (and I enjoyed the jam band Leftover Salmon one night at the Good Times Tavern in Eugene nearly twenty-five years ago). For dessert, we cut into the divine pumpkin roll Christy made and each loved our slices of it served with the vanilla ice cream Christy bought and left at my house.
Patrick was going to play his Credence Clearwater Revival playlist, but Meagan overruled him and for the next couple of hours or so, we listened to the entire remastered album of the concert movie, The Last Waltz. I was ecstatic. It was really fun to introduce Patrick to this concert and to listen to it with Meagan, who loves the movie and loves its great variety of music -- The Band, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and many, many more artists.
Almost every day, I listen to a lot of music by myself, either here in the house or in the Sube. I love it -- but, when I have the chance to listen, with others, to music I love and that they also enjoy, it's one of my favorite things to do. Patrick and Meagan enjoy a wide range of music. I love it when they decide what music we'll listen to over the wireless speaker -- will it be an Elton John playlist? a jazz playlist? Pink Floyd? Steely Dan? for me, they can never go wrong -- and I love knowing that when I play stuff I've been enjoying, they will enjoy it as well. As a bonus, Meagan has been to a lot of concerts over the years and when I play something, say, by O.A.R. or Trampled by Turtles and others, it's been fun for Meagan to say, "Oh! I heard them in concert!" and have her tell me about seeing them live.
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