1. I got myself organized for my overnight trip to Spokane and made a quick trip to Yoke's and the liquor store to replenish the pantry and to make sure we don't run out of Irish whiskey or Tanqueray gin.
2. I checked into my room located on the 500 block S. Cedar. From the top of the house's steps, I took time to gaze across I-90 at nearby First Presbyterian Church and remembered stories from the Whitworth days about how much people loved it there. I thought about the day just before classes started in the late summer of 1982 when I attended the funeral of Whitworth's recent former president Ed Lindaman. I revered Ed Lindaman, loved the innovative impact he had on vivifying the experience of going to Whitworth, and thought about how he directly and indirectly had a strong impact on how I taught and what I cared the most about in the world of education.
Once settled and after a short nap, I drove along Spokane's High Drive, eventually reaching S. Perry and 57th where I met Kathy and Mary for Happy Hour at Luna. I've never been to France, but Kathy and Mary are experienced travelers and I believe them when they tell me Luna is almost like being in a French establishment.
I started with a gin martini and then ordered half a dozen oysters on the half shell with a neat pour (which turned into two) of Basil Hayden bourbon. I hadn't had raw oysters and bourbon since leaving Maryland and I loved the taste of the Pacific Ocean followed by the smooth, slightly spicy bite of Basil Hayden. Kathy, Mary, and I talked about a lot of things, including our upcoming trivia session -- Kathy had written out a bunch of Star Wars questions and we tried to bone up for our upcoming trivia night where we knew that Star Wars was a category.
UNEXPECTED BONUS! Kathy and Mary paid my tab as a gift for my birthday coming up tomorrow, the 27th. Their generosity thrilled me and I'm very grateful. Their gift increased the already profound pleasure of pairing raw oysters and bourbon.
3. The three of us jumped into Mary's Sube and zipped a short distance down 57th to Poole's Public House. The trivia playing area looked full and the empty tables were marked as reserved. Soon, however, we were blessed with good fortune when a very kind couple in the trivia area gave us their table. They were not going to be playing trivia and volunteered to find a table elsewhere. We settled in.
As Mary, Kathy, and I feared, we did not do well answering the ten questions about Star Wars. I think we only answered four correctly.
Oh, well.
We were mighty in the other four categories and finished the night a strong second. We won a Pabst Blue Ribbon cap and some other beer-related paraphernalia as the winners of the "Common Thread" round. We sweetened our trivia effort by sharing a Dutch chocolate brownie, a warm double brownie with walnuts covered in peanut butter sauce topped with ice cream and chocolate sauce. I believe whipped cream was also involved. It was a dessert that gives decadence a good reputation.
No comments:
Post a Comment