Boardwalk Bistro

Yesterday was my 8 year anniversary. It's hard to believe that Kasey and I have been married for 8 years. It feels like 20 minutes… under water (bah dum dum).

Anyway, last night we went out for the evening. I wanted to try some place new, and I am a sucker for French food, so I had been thinking of going to L'Etoile. After reading many poor reviews on citysearch.com though, I decided to give it some time to clean up its act.

I did notice though that the top of the list was a place called Boardwalk Bistro, but did not really think anything of it. I considered other options (Bistro Vatel, Bistro Time, or Fredricks), but I figured that I would see what people were considering the most romantic place in town. The page loaded and then BAM! Boardwalk Bistro was at the top of the list again. I had remembered seeing it down on Broadway and figured that I had nothing to lose.

I called the place to make a reservation for 2 at 8 and was greeted by a distinctly American voice, and not the uppity maitre d voice, but maybe a dishwasher. (ok, I kid, it was really just a regular guy.) I really did not think very much of it, I mean we are in the USA after all, so whatever, right?

Later that night, we promptly arrive on time for our reservation. As we pull in, we notice that the place seems packed, which is surely a good sign. As we get out and approach, we notice that people sitting outside are dressed much more casually than us. I was not super dressed up or anything, I was just wearing Dockers, a black t-shirt and a sports coat, but this did surprise me some as it was not what I was expecting.

As we got closer, we could hear the jazz playing inside. I was not surprised by this however, since it was mentioned on citysearch.com and on their website.

After walking in the door, we were promptly greeted. I informed the lady that we had reservations at 8 for McArthur, but before I got past the word reservations, she had turned to check for an empty table. I was a little worried that the all importing reserving of the table part of a reservation had not happened, but she quickly returned and then guided us to a very… subprime table. This table was not only away from the windows and had a view of the performance area that was partially blocked by a pole, but it was right in front of the restrooms. By right in front, I mean it was almost blocking the entrance.

The place was PACKED though, but mostly with people north of our age group. Like Arctic Circle north. This might seem like it would have put me off, BUT I have learned one thing for sure in my life so far. Old people KNOW where good places are. Why do you think there are so many old people on cruise ships? They are GREAT! Along with noticing that we were some of the youngest in the place, I also noticed that we were overdressed. Par for the course was business casual, but I think that this was less of a dress code and more of the simple fact that it looked like some of the guys had come straight from work. Attire did go all the way down to shorts and a t-shirt. Also, ball caps were acceptable. This was not the romantic place that I was expecting.

Our waiter arrived and took out drink orders. When he came back he said that he had noticed that in the reservations book (they have one!) it said that this was for our anniversary. He mentioned, somewhat apologetically that Monday nights were more casual and hinted that we would have a much different experience on a Friday or Saturday night.

We asked him about the appetizers and decided to get their Santorini Sampler (Two saffron rice & vegetable dolmathes, hummus, tabbouleh and tzatziki sauce served with pita bread). I might mention that while this restraint does have some French food, it is more Mediterranean food, incorporating different foods and styles mainly from France and Spain, but also some north African fare.

After talking to the waiter some more and considering the menu, I decided on the Crab Cakes with a cup of some sort of chicken soup (I cannot for the life of me remember what kind) and Kasey went for the Crab Stuffed Salmon Roulade with a Caesars salad.

We sat enjoying the music, which was a group of men playing some jazz, each taking a turn taking the lead and showing their mad skills. It was enjoyable, but we were still getting accustomed to our surroundings and did not immediately get into it, but it was clear that these guys were having a great time.

The band took a break and gave us some time to talk and enjoy each other's company, you know gaze lovingly into the other's eyes and whatnot and then our appetizer arrived. It was really good, the pita was fresh, the hummus was creamy and the dolmathes were delicious. This was promptly followed by our soup and salad, both of which exceeded our expectations. I might mention that Kasey loved the bowls that the salad was served in. I guess the best way to describe them is a regular bowl with a high back. Hard to imagine I know, but that is the best I can do for now.

Around this time a group of maybe ten young people dressed in tuxedos and evening gowns got up to sing. We were told that they were Encore 2009 from Athens Texas. The waiter informed us that they were travelling around and would just be there for that night. They sang four songs including Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and other similar songs. Kasey and I both enjoyed watching them very much and as they sang, we began to get more comfortable with the place. Since we are very go with the flow people, this was easy and the night was turning out to be a good one.

We were discussing how a young person would go about getting into a group like Encore 2009 and figured it had to be a college group. I mean what kid wakes up and thinks "Man, what I need is to get together with some other jazz singers and just like tour the state!" Especially kids from Athens, deep in the heart of east Texas. As they wrapped up and were walking off, I stopped one of them (Matt) and asked. He told me that they were in fact from Trinity Valley Community College and were a small group that is part of a large choral group that was in the area. Good for them! (By the way, Matt's myspace has some great pictures of Encore 2009).

Our entrees arrived and the first thing that we noticed was the slice of salmon was as huge as a large piece of cake. It was easily three inches tall and overflowing with crab meat. Both dishes however looked amazing. I tasted the salmon, and yes it was good, but the crab cakes were AMAZING. They were not only delicious, but complex in both flavor and texture. Each bite was a new experience. The combination of buttery crab meat, creamed avocado, lettuce, almonds, mango, fried potato strips and several other bits and pieces provided for a surprise every time my fork entered my mouth. GAH, it was awesome.

Anyway, I could go on and on about it, but I will leave it there. The food was all that and a bucket of chicken.

Throughout dinner and dessert, the lineup on the stage changed nearly every song and included Jim Cullum (who we have not heard of, but is apparently a big deal here in the San Antonio jazz scene).

After finishing our dinner and deserts (key lime cheese cake for Kasey and crème brulee for me) we ended up staying for a couple more songs just to see what would happen next. I have to say that I was a little unsure of myself when the night started, but as the evening went on, I had a perma-grin as everything melded together to form a wonderful anniversary date.

Kasey and I loved the place and I hope that it makes it into our regular list of places to visit.

Montana Trip - Spring 09 - Day 2

My second day in Montana (first full day, Friday) started pretty early. Craig and Kara (my cousins) had to get up and go to school and since I wanted to visit with them some, I got up as well. The day started out slowly, exactly how I had wanted. A couple hours later, I asked my uncle, Paul, what we were going to do that day and he pointed to a mountain out the window and said that we were going to climb that.

I was ready, but still had no clothes thanks to the airline and only had a pair of Doc Martins boots that are about 10 years old and have zero tread. Regardless, I did not have any more suitable shoes on the way, so I was going to need to go to the store. I borrowed some clothes and a more suitable coat from Paul and then we went to the store.

At the store, I bought a pair of hiking shoes, some wool socks and a chap stick. The shoes were great and made me feel as if I could run faster and jump higher! ;) We then headed to a sandwich shop (like Subway, but mo betta) and each got a foot long to take with us, half to eat now and the other half to eat at the top. Sweet!

We headed to the base of the mountain and started hiking. It was a bit snowy, but did not seem too cold. It is amazing what a difference having the right clothes can make. I had always hated the snow growing up, but as I thought about it, I realized that I was always playing in the snow in jeans, gym socks and sneakers with just a coat, no hat and usually no gloves. I was a kid and stupid then I guess, but having the right clothes made all the difference in the world!

The climb started out pretty easy and went along a nice creek. After about a half mile, we turned to start heading upwards. This is when things started to take me by surprise. See, I had never been in the mountains before and did not know what to expect. My house sits right at 227 (about 681 feet) meters above sea level. I was now climbing at about 1350 meters (about 4000 feet). While that is not a huge change for some, it was enough to wear me out pretty quickly. I started to get winded REALLY quickly and felt as if I could not catch my breath to save my life. We rested a bit and I could go on, but it quickly became clear that this would have to be a slow climb and Paul had some things to do that afternoon.

Instead of going further up the mountain, we opted to hike around it. This was much easier for me and was still a great time. I did leave a bit disappointed though and really wanted to come back to climb to the top of the mountain later that week.

That evening we rented some movies and spent time catching up as well as waiting for my luggage to show up. It finally arrived at about ten at night! The best part is that I was able to give the family the gifts that I had brought from San Antonio, some Mexican food (canned chipotle peppers, enchilada sauce, awesome salsa and Rudy's BBQ sauce for my aunt and uncle and Texas A&M hoodies for the kids). Everyone was happy and we went to bed ready for a day of snowboarding and an end of winter Skiesta celebration at Lost Trail on the Montana and Idaho border.

I had never snowboarded before, so I was not sure what to expect, but I knew it was going to be a great time.