A Saturday Evening Out

After talking about it the better part of forever and having to change plans a time or two due to weather and unforseen illnesses, I was finally able to meet up again with Ralph of Airhead 55 and his lovely wife Patti of the Late Bloomer Boomer. Both are fellow Nutmeggers whom I have had the pleasure of getting together with the past.

The first time that I met Patti (or Princess Patti as she has been dubbed by Her Majesty Mimi, Queen of Memes) was exactly one year ago yesterday when she and I were invited to dine with Her Majesty at a local Bertucci's Brick Oven Pizzeria in Glastonbury. The Queen had deigned to fly north from Bloggingham Castle during her Spring break and Patti and I, mere commoners at the time, were granted a royal interview which ended up including plastic petunia posing, the assignment of royal titles, some definitely unroyal-like behavior, and a lot of giggling. Somehow, I don't think Bertucci's has been right ever since but we sure did have a good time!

The second time I got together with Princess Patti in August, she brought along an entourage which included Prince Ralph and Lady Allegra, and we made bloggers of our ourselves in a local Olive Garden!

This past Saturday's visit was again in my neck of the woods as Ralph and Patti made the drive from Ansonia (in the New Haven area for those slightly familiar with Connecticut) to Waterford where we met up at Charley's Eating & Drinking Saloon in the Crystal Mall. Charley's is a nice restaurant where the service is beyond exceptional and the staff couldn't be friendlier if they tried. Even if the food wasn't all that great - though it is - the staff alone makes a trip there more than worth it.

I knew that Patti had been feeling pretty pooped from a previous bout with the flu so I brought her a pretty potted purple pansy to perk her up as well as maybe a hint to Mother Nature to kick it up a notch and bring on Spring as we all agreed that we had had quite enough of winter - thank you - and some warm weather would be more than welcome!

Having sung the praises of Charley's clam chowdah in a bread bowl, I naturally ordered that for dinner and even though it was quite tasty, I have to admit that I have had better in the past. I'm not sure if they've changed their recipe or what but it seemed to be missing something - either that or my tastebuds suffer from the same problem as my memory which tends to be quite forgetful these days!

Following our main course (Patti also had the chowder while Ralph opted for a pulled pork sandwich), we had to order dessert of course as what good is dining out if one doesn't get dessert every once in awhile? Exactly!

I opted for the strawberry New York style cheesecake while Ralph and Patti decided to split one of the new desserts that the chef had created that morning. I believe it was a big Reese's peanut butter cup (or something very similar to it) topped with fresh whipped cream and a very large strawberry. Patti said that it was a little too sweet (I think peanut butter filling has a tendency to be that way) and would have preferred to have some vanilla ice cream on it but that the fresh whipped cream was a treat.

Conversation was lovely as we talked about the pursuits of our respective children, the sorry shape of our economy, the downfalls of Medicare and Medicaid (insurance quotes did not come up in the conversation!), and I got Patti up to speed with some of the bloggers that she hasn't had a chance to visit since being taken ill. This flu has really knocked her for a loop and it was easy to see that she wasn't quite feeling 100% as Princess Patti is usually pretty perky but she seemed pretty peaked instead and more than ready to go home and take a nap by the end of the evening. Methinks if she doesn't feel better soon she should get herself to a doctor as it's been several weeks since she was sick and I'd hate that it was more than just a passing flu that has worn her out.

In parting, I told Patti & Ralph that our next get-together would be in their part of the state as, from the posts I've seen on both of their blogs, it appears that there is quite a bit of history as well as some enchanting older buildings. Plus it's good for me to get to other parts of Connecticut and get to know the place I live that much better. I've had relatives in Connecticut since before there was a Connecticut and they didn't originate in this area of the state but more towards the Hartford/Southington area. A road trip sounds great - once the weather decides to cooperate! Whenever that may be ...