1. I figured that since Hugh Crozier is a retired banking executive, he has rarely had the opportunity to ride in a luxury car with a sophisticated maximum security system. Now, granted, having not seen Hugh since 1966, I didn't want to come on too strong with the lavish excesses of my retired community college instructor lifestyle, but I trusted Hugh not be be intimidated when I rocketed to the front of the Mirabeau Hotel on Sullivan Road in the Sube. I arrived, let Hugh know I was there.
I sprang out of the Sube, Hugh and I embraced, and I opened the hatchback and immediately secured his briefcase under the maximum security blanket I keep in the back. I sensed that Hugh felt great relief knowing his briefcase would be so well protected.
2. From the Mirabeau, we cruised to the Perry District in Spokane and met Stu at Perry Street Brewing. The three of us immediately eased into a few hours of updates, memories, filling in blanks, stories, and a lot of good laughing. Before long, Lars joined us.
Hugh was an Elk Creek kid and so was Kathy, so I texted Kathy and invited her to join us and she contacted Mary and, before long, they arrived. Stu and Lars had to leave shortly after Kathy and Mary got there, but Hugh, Mary, Kathy, and I kept the spirit of the day alive and had a good time yakkin' about all sorts of stuff.
3. Alas, all good things must end, and we reached a point when Hugh needed a ride downtown to catch a cab and Mary and Kathy were ready to go elsewhere for some dinner.
I asked Mary and Kathy to text me when they decided where to go and, once Hugh and I got downtown, Hugh accepted my offer of a ride to the airport. Our ride out gave us a chance to extend our earlier conversations and, as I let him off, we both hoped we'd see each other much sooner than later. My guess is that we won't let another fifty-three years pass!
Mary and Kathy had landed at the South Hill Grill on E. 29th. None of had been there before and it was really fun. A guy around our age was playing guitar and singing songs, mostly songs from our youth, and, to our surprise and delight, South Hill Grill serves sushi.
Mary ordered a sushi roll wrapped in aluminum foil that our animated server brought to the table on a flaming dish. This was new to me. I had never seen a sushi roll presented so dramatically nor had I ever seen a sizzling roll. Mary was very happy with her flaming sushi. Kathy ordered a delicious mac and cheese dish. I ordered raw salmon, mackerel, and whitefish -- seven pieces of sashimi. I thoroughly enjoyed each piece.
The three of us decided against going to Rock City to watch karaoke. I made my way to the back of the Victorian house I'm staying at between 12th and 13th on Cedar, a handsome and comfortable studio apartment, and turned in for the night.
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