I went to Lake of the Ozarks this weekend with my girlfriend. It was a perfect weekend to visit her dad. The weather was great and there was a lot of action due to the Shootout being a couple miles from his cove.

The weekend was a relaxing time where we ate a ton of food. We got the same delicious pizza on Friday night that we got last time we were down in which I ate twice as much as I should have. We had a huge fried fish dinner Saturday and I ate KFC buffet for lunch on Sunday. I have been wanting KFC for weeks after passing it numerous times on my various weekend get aways. We also had B&G’s both mornings. Needless to say, I got to hit the gym hard this week…lol.

We went fishing Saturday morning. We at least cost something this time but no keepers. I caught a small 12″ bass that was a borderline keeper so we threw it back. We hung out in the cove most of the afternoon but did go for a boat ride. We hit up one other cove and looked at the race. The picture above is a picture from pretty far away. There was a no wake zone forever so we did not go all the way down. There was a huge amount of boats if you can not tell. We were told that it might be the busiest weekend on the lake. All I can say is that I want a boat on the Lake more than ever. I just love going for boat rides. I can so see myself owning a place down there in 5 years.

True Blood was very interesting Sunday night. I almost felt like that could have been the season finale. That seems to be True Blood’s thing. I am pretty sure that I remember them bringing a conclusion to the major plot line right at the beginning of the last episode last season. This time they just did it at the end of the second to last episode. It’s going to be a slow next episode in my opinion but a very good season so I am happy.

This was definitely a weekend where I did not get any sleep. I feel like I might have gotten a total of 8 hours between Friday and Saturday. Very disappointing since I was just coming off a sinus infection in which I was feeling very exhausted.

I went to the Cards game on Friday night. The Cards were in a huge slump and totally at the wrong time. The slump did not end for us this game either. The highlight of the night was my friend Matt eating a bacon wrapped hot dog covered in baked beans, fried onions, and pickle spears. It was pretty funny watching him eat it for the mere fact that he told us that he was cutting high sodium items out of his diet earlier in the night. We left the game a little earlier since we saw the storms rolling in so watched the rest of the game from Paddy O’s basement. The place was not as packed as normal after the game. I am guessing because of the storm front. The people who did not show up were smart because the rain and wind was pretty bad. Basically everyone under the tent got a little wet.

I woke up bright and early Saturday morning for a friend’s wedding in Muscatine, Iowa. It was for one of my friend’s from Wash U and I was really looking forward to hanging out with the group. Thus we made the 4+ plus hour trip in the morning rather than go up the night before like some of the group did. We arrived around 1 to play a little Uno and have some tasty beverages from Mike’s new employer before going to the 5Pm wedding. The wedding was pretty cool. The reception was awesome. The food was great….had a terrific piece of steak and chicken. I also loved that there was both a live band and a DJ so there was a good mix. The band even mixed in some Katy Perry so they knew what the kids liked…lol. The band also played till 1AM and they had a midnight snack of pizza planned at midnight which was awesome. A bunch of the wedding party went back to my room after the night to indulge in a fine selection of more pizza, Taco Bell, and McDonald’s.

Not much happened on Sunday. Got back in the early evening and watched some TV and caught up on the DVR. I watched Big Lake and wasn’t impressed but I will still watch a couple more episodes to give it a chance. True Blood was awesome as it always is. A little disappointed that there is only two more episodes left. It seems like the season just started. I also watched the Big C. It was entertaining and will make my tv viewing lineup.

Last weekend was my annual guys trip to Spring Lake and Lake Michigan for the weekend. I skipped out on the stop in Chicago this year. I hear it was a blast though. They went to Wrigleyville and the Cubs were playing the Brew Crew. There were some pretty crazy stories. Instead, Mike, Troy, and I drove up Thursday afternoon and got in late that night. We tried to meet our friends at a beer tent but it was shutting down right when we got there so we went to Tip-a-Few. It was the only late night bar and it was the first time I have been there. They had cheap $2 beers so it was fun.

The trip was also different from the last two year because we could not go (nor did we really want to) go fishing on Lake Michigan because the waves were really high. The major benefit was that we got a lot more sleep. Normally we don’t get a lot of sleep the Chicago night or the pre fishing night so we always start the trip pretty tired. This benefit made a world of difference because I was able to stay strong all day Friday. We went to “the beach” finally on Friday.  This is a big deal because we have only talked about it the previous 3 other times I have gone but have never even attempted it. Needless to say it was awesome. The beach was packed and full of activities like sand volleyball and football. The only bad part was that the water was cold but we were told it was actually pretty warm for Lake Michigan. Once we got back, we grilled one of the many hamburgers I ate on the trip. I probably ate about 5 pounds of hamburger in 3 days. Not complaining because it was delicious but probably not good for me. We went out to Kirby’s that night. It was probably the best time I have ever had there. The band was awesome and I wasn’t super tired so danced a ton. The only problem was getting a cab back but that is always horrible to do. We hung around at a food stand an hour or two before we finally got a cab.

Saturday is the day to be at the Hanky Pank. After devising a plan to get around a boat issue, we finally made the cove around 1 to 2. The weather was perfect and the water was warm, unlike last year. We got an awesome spot in line where we had boats on 3 sides of us. It was a ton of fun hanging out with the guys. We went back to the clubhouse around 6 to grill some more. I was cashed out so decided not to go out with the group (two other guys felt the same way). Instead, I watched the fireworks pool side and enjoy a relaxing evening (without humidity).

We went back to the cove  on Sunday. There was only 5 boat out there at 2PM. We decided to anchor and listen to tunes and relax. There was a line about 10 boats by the time we left but we never joined in. That night we went to Grand Rapids like we unusually do. We stayed in a very swank JW Marriott that was right next to The BOB. We pregamed to a little Hall of Fame Game which was fun to see NFL again. We then went to Crush in the BOB. It was empty when we got there so we went to the rooftop to enjoy a drink. We  went back down to find it insanely packed. It was too much for some of us so we went to other bars only to find them completely empty so we made our way back. No matter what, I had fun this night too which is a first for our annual trip. Normally I am so tired but my strategy really helped. We did have a weird experience where the new hotel tested its back up generators at 2AM. Power was out for 2 hours so no AC. We complained enough so they gave us 4 passes for breakfast. You would think they would have tested it around checkout time.

The much hyped Vegas trip has concluded which brings an end to what some of my friends have refereed to as Ericapalooza or the month of Eric. The Vegas trip went very well. There was a little worrying about bringing that many people together and wanting to do different things but everything work out.

We arrived Thursday afternoon, checked into our hotel at Mandalay Bay, then headed to the Mirage to pick up our tickets for Beatles Love. We wandered around the hotel and eventually made our way into the Venetian where we wandered around some more and picked a place to eat at the Grand Lux Café. This was the first of many delicious meals. Unlike my past Vegas personal trips, this was a trip where we ate pretty well instead of eating $1 double cheeseburgers from McDonalds. I had the Crispy Caramel Chicken and Shaking Beef combination plate with rice. It was delicious and I only could eat about half. We went to Beatles Love after dinner. I really did not know what to expect. A bunch of my colleagues had seen it and loved it. I have only been to one Vegas shows in all my trips and it was to see the Blue Man Group. I enjoyed it and had awesome seats but was also glad that the seats were given to me because I do not think they were worth the $150 price tag. All I can say is Beatles Love blew my expectations out of the water. The show was amazing. Well worth the $100 to $150 ticket (we got ours for free). The show was constant action and stimulation. It makes me want to now go and see the other Cirque du Soleil shows. We followed that up with a quick and only stop to my favorite cheap beer place of Casino Royale. We met up with another couple there then went to Freemont Street to meet the rest of the group. In all honesty, I was not impressed with Freemont St. It was cool seeing all the old casinos but its allure wore off in about 5 minutes. I was expecting more from the overhead screen. With that said, I would recommend it to anyone who has not seen it but I wouldn’t make a night out of it.

Friday was the big day with all the events. I had a huge omelet at Raffles Café in the morning. The $25 restaurant.com deal paid off and as our meal for two was still $20’s after the $25 coupon. We then hit up the cabana that we rented for the day. We had a lot of choices amongst the 5+ pools and I think we made the best choice. The size and location was perfect. It was well worth what we paid for it. It had a tv in it (which allowed us to watch the Cards lose to the Cubs), a safe, and frig along with chairs and a table. Another perk (which we did not realize till the next day) was that we had multiple waitress/waiters for us which made it easy to get drinks. The drinks were expensive but worth it. We ordered a lot of fruity drinks, food, and buckets and I was dreading the bill. I was pleasantly surprised because the bill was only half what I was expecting. We really lucked out because I know there were numerous buckets and other items missing. After the pool action was the planned group bday dinner at Rum Jungle. This was my pick and I read some pretty awesome reviews and the prices were good. All the guys got the Rodizio. It is basically all you can eat meat and sides. Meetza, as my friends call it, included beef sirloin, turkey breasts, pork, chicken, chorizo, lamb, and beef tri-tip. It was delicious. Probably the best meal I have ever eaten. All the meats had delicious rubs and seasonings. We just kept eating and eating. For those not familiar with Brazilian, they basically walked around the restraint cutting off chucks of the meat at your table off a slab skewered with a sword….pretty freaking cool. The only bad part was the bill. The waitress said that she could split it but obviously couldn’t. It took her over an hour just to bring back the split bill and took another hour plus to pay after I specifically told her we were missing items but she said we were okay then came back saying we were short. Needless to say I paid for 3 meals, filed a credit card dispute, and finally had them take one charge off after three calls. At least we got a free round of drinks and a good story. We stayed there once the club opened but the place was pretty empty and did not have the top dance floor open. We walked over to one of the bars in the casino that had a big dance floor. It was playing some good songs but we left after 15 minutes because we were exhausted.

On Saturday we walked around the strip. It was pretty exhausting. It was hot but I never did sweat. Someone told me that is because it evaporates before you realize it. On the way back, we realized that the new City Center has a free tram from Bellagio to Monte Carlo then we hopped the free tram from Excalibur to Mandalay Bay so we had an easy way back. We chilled at a different pool off the beating path when we got back which was relaxing. We followed that up with a delicious hamburger at Red, White, and Blue. Josh got the biggest hamburger I had ever seen. Saturday was also our big clubbing night where we were meeting the bachelorette party of my other friends. The chose Haze which is a new club in Aria. We got there super early so we did not have to wait in line (long). We waited about an hour since the place wasn’t even open when we got there at 10:15PM. The place was okay but it definitely was not up to par with other big Vegas clubs. Also, paying $7 for a small glass of water or soda was ridiculous.

Sunday was our departure day. I had another delicious omelet in the The Cafe in THEHotel. We paid another $25 after $25 off from the restaurant.com deal. Everyone else had an early flight where we had the latest flight so we wandered around to the Luxor and also checked out the aquarium in our hotel. It was pretty neat and larger than I expected but the $20 price tag is pretty steep. Overall it was an excellent birthday and trip.

This weekend pretty much revolved around our “annual” float trip. I felt like I had been planning this trip for months even though we only started seriously discussing it two weeks ago. The reason it seemed like it took forever because I think about 100 emails were exchanged between where we wanted to stay, who was going, and what we were bringing. The issue we ran into was that most wanted to stay in an air conditioned unit for the night and waiting till two weeks before is not a smart idea.

We finally found a place after calling several campgrounds. The funny thing was that the place we ended up at was our original plan. They had some cancellations that freed up some spots. We chose Ozark Outdoors since we floated with them several times in the past and they are the closest. We had two rafts, 1 canoe, 1 motel room and 1 camp site. We chose a lot longer than usual float  (for some reason) so we were a little worried about doing a 9 mile float. We got there early (or at least some of us). There was no reason to worry because we got done with the float by 5PM which sucked. The water was high and had a decent current so we were just flying down the river. I was hoping to get back around dusk.

We had a lot of float trip “rookies” this year and it definitely showed. I almost thought my girlfriend died after she got swept up by the current under the raft and did not pop up till another 15 feet down the river. It was pretty scary but was out of her control. It was definitely the fastest current I have ever seen on a float trip. Especially in mid July when most of the time you are worried if there is enough water for a raft. Also, a couple of the girls took long naps during the trip. Jello shots are not for everyone…lol.

The water camera was also lost again. This is the second time in three trips so no pictures from the trip. Sorry to Mike. Hopefully it turns up.

The motel was very nice. Having your own shower and bathroom was nice. We were right next to our campsite too which was awesome. Needless to say, I still prefer not staying down the night but staying in the AC is ten times better. I would like to explore the party bus idea where we rent a bus and a driver for the day to drive us down and back. I think the cost would offset what we paid for the cabin and camping.

Not much went on Friday evening and Sunday. I went to my favorite Mexican restaurant again on Friday. We got fake tattoos again for the float trip but the alcohol in the spray sun screen quickly dissolved them. I watched the World Cup on Sunday but was bored with it mainly because I was tired. The game itself seemed very physical and fast paced. A lot of scoring opportunities were missed too. There should have been at least 3 or 4 goals that should have been made.

Wow, what a fantastic weekend! Everything seemed almost perfect. There were a ton of things going on this weekend and I had a bunch of things to choose from like Cards/Cubs action in Chi Town with a bunch of my grad school friends or Rib Fest and all of the shows (right next to my condo) but I happily chose a weekend at the Lake of Ozarks with my girlfriend’s family. Most of you know me; how could I pass up a weekend of water filled fun?

We took off Friday to head down to the Lake. We were staying at my gf’s dad’s house in Camdenton. I have always been on the Osage side of the Lake so was excited to see the difference. We got down there around 2PM, took a quick tour, and immediately hit the water for some lounging around the dock. The water was amazingly warm and relaxing. It was awesome. We ate some pretty good pizza that night and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

I had my first true fisherman experience on Saturday (in my opinion). I have fished off docks and lands numerous times as a kid but have never really done any fishing on a true fishing boat. It was a fun time but we caught nothing. We didn’t even see a boat nearby catching anything either. My opinion is we started a little too late (around 10AM) but we value our sleep.

Once we got back to the house, we ate a quick lunch and took out the big boat for a cruise and to cove out. It was a lot of fun. I was definitely amused by the difference in the sides of the lake. I have never been on a holiday weekend on the Osage side but have heard horror stories. This side of the Lake was actually pretty quiet for Lake of the Ozarks in my opinion. There was a lot more pontoon boats and I don’t think I saw a boat over 30ft the entire time. It was also interesting seeing entire parts of the Lake with no houses. I did catch a fish that night while fishing off the dock at night. It was the only fish caught by anyone the whole weekend. It was a 14″ crappie which apparently is pretty big and is worth of mounting to a wall.

We took off early on Sunday to drive back to the Lou and knock out some errands. We hit a quick BBQ and passed out early.

My girlfriend hosted a BBQ on Monday for her family. It was fun with good food. I also cleaned my BBQ pit that was in storage for two years. I am a little bummed about it because I did not store it properly. I guess the grease produced moisture under the cover which caused some mold and rust. I cleaned it good but have my doubts. I will fire it up in the coming weeks to see how it is.

My girlfriend and I went to some of the Augusta, MO wineries on Saturday for a friend’s 30th bday party. My girlfriend had been planning it for the past month. She decided on the Mount Pleasant winery since this same group had such a blast last year at the same winery. The weather was amazing. There was barely a cloud in the sky and the temperature was in the mid 80′s.

Unfortunately, Mt Pleasant was a huge disappointment. We were the first group to basically get there at 11:30. We grabbed some tables and went back to the entrance for the tasting. Upon looking at the list, we realized that the choices were pretty dismal. We were told that the sweet wines were moved to Branson but we could still buy them at local stores like Walmart. My big problem is why would you not offer all the wines even though they might be made at different locations? I just got back from Chile and went to several wineries where they made only certain wines at each locations but all the locations carried all the wines. Don’t you want to market your products? Especially in Mt Pleasant’s instance that their Augusta location has always been their bread and butter location (in my eyes). This was huge for us since my girlfriend and I both prefer Merlots. The second big problem was the winery changed their policy and did not allow food to be brought in. Thus we were told after being there for an hour that we needed to take our food out to our cars. Every single table had food and was equally distraught. They told us we could buy food at the market. The problem with this statement was that the normal market was under renovation so they didn’t even offer winery basics like meat and cheese plates. Instead they offered pulled pork sandwiches which they supposedly ran out of anyway. We continued to eat our food out of protest (along with everyone else) until we were told again a hour later. We argued that they did not state their no food policy on their webpage not are they providing an alternative source for food. They explained it was a trash issue which is just hogwash….that is the logistics of running a business. The other big issue I failed to mention was the price of the wine. It was outrageous. We were buying $33 bottles of wine which is ridiculous. Like everyone else, we decided to go somewhere else. It was actually pretty sad because the place had probably 4 or 5 small groups at 3 o’clock on a perfect day. Their policy has to be a losing proposition in their revenue plan. I know they lost a couple hundred dollars from our group of 15 since we went somewhere else.

We went to Sugar Creek because we heard from other groups that they allow food. We were a little worried that we were not going to get a table being so late. We arrived just as a group was leaving to secure a table so it was pretty awesome. The place was packed. There was a band, all the tables were packed, and even the grass was full of people on blankets. It was a great atmosphere. People even brought their own tables and chairs. We had a huge spread so it was good that we could enjoy it here. Plus we got two bottles of wine for $31 and it was better tasting so goodness all around. Also, Sugar Creek specifically stated their policy on what can and can not be brought unlike Mt Pleasant. I would definitely go back.

The one other issue I had with both wineries was their no outside water policy. I understand trying to prohibit liquor, sodas, and other liquids but water? It promotes safety when it comes to alcohol. Especially in the hot sun. Even Busch Stadium (the mother of all rip offs) allows you to bring in water. Even more is that their was another DD checkpoint on 94 which has to hurt business for the winery. I was responsible and had only one glass of wine at both locations but brought a group of people that was drinking. Should I be punished by having to buy water when I am bringing revenue to their business? I think not.

I went to Nashville this weekend for one of my best friend’s bachelor party. We were all a little worried with the potential for flood damage and no one downtown but the location was picked months ago. The trip was very fun and I would recommend Nashville for this kind of event. It musy be pretty popular because I ran into two other guys that I went to Wash U with that were also there on a bachelor party.

We immediately hit the bars upon getting to Nashville on Friday afternoon. We went to a pretty cool dive bar that had a live band playing Blue Grass music. The interesting thing about all the bars in the area that we stayed was that every bar had live music. We also ate some delicious BBQ that night too. I ordered way too much especially after I had KFC buffet (my favorite) for lunch.

We hit up the pool, an awesome German restaurant, and more bars (including a 80′s/90′s bar on Saturday. It was a fun night.

I never saw any flood water but we did feel the effect. Our hotel’s elevator was out because I think the shaft was flooded. This sort of sucked since we were on the 5th floor. We were right next to all the Country Music Hall buildings which had all the flood damage. We saw one bar that was closed and we also went to a brewery that smelled horrible from flood damage.

I am going to try to keep this short since I was in Chile for 12 days so I could write a dissertation on my trip if I had time. I will sum up some of my activities and things I liked. I went on this trip for work. I was doing product training with several distributors, went to a mine show called MinExpo, and visited several mines to see my products in action.

Wineries

Santiago and Chile is full of wineries and is well known for their wine. I was told that wine is so successful here because of the weather, temperature, soil, and the fact that the valleys are blocked by mountains on all sides so it deters pests. We visited two wineries; Undurraga and Concha y Toro. I was expecting something like were use to in the USA when going to a winery but I was totally wrong. We made a reservation and there was only about 5 people there. At Undurrage, we got a private tour where we walked around the property seeing the vineyards, production areas, and wine cellars. It was pretty cool and lasted like 3 hours. We followed it up with a wine tasting of 4 wines. We then drove an hour to Concha y Toro which is company apparently traded on the US Stock Exchange so its pretty big. This tour was very short and we only tasted two wines but I believe they had some damage during the earthquake so we couldn’t see everything.

The Ocean

I totally had the wrong idea of Chile. I was thinking it was more tropical for some reason. I did not pack well. Santiago is over an hour from the coast so we made a trip to take in the sites. We visited two towns that border each other; Valparaiso and Vina del Mar. Valparaiso is an “industrial” town and Vina del Mar is a tourist area with more beaches. The water was super cold since it has an Antarctica current. We took a bunch of pictures, ate some good seafood, laid on the beach, and ate dessert (a lot) to the sunset over the ocean.

San Pedro

We flew into the tiny town of San Pedro the last weekend we were in town to visit a couple mines. San Pedro is an oasis village in the middle of the Atacama desert (which is the driest in the world). It is “centrally” located a couple hours from several tourist attractions. The town itself was very eerie. It was dirt rode, small adobe building (they would collapse if it rained I was told), dogs everywhere (Chile has a big stray dog problem) and people walking the streets. We stayed in one of the two hotels in the city even though there were a ton of hostels. The hotel was nice for the area but not nice for US standards. It had a skeleton key lock but it did have a nice pool.

Valle de la Lune (Moon Valley)

We visited Moon Valley the first day in San Pedro. We did a lot of hiking around the mountains through trails and caves. We saw some interesting rock formations of crystals that were surreal, the Three Mary’s rock formation, and the main reason we went there….to see the Sunset. We hiked up this large sand dune (keep in mind that were we already above 10,ooo ft in elevation) to see the sunset. I about died walking in boots up a deep sand hill but was glad once we got to the top. The thing that sucked was that it was cloudy so we didnt have a good view. The Atacoma dessert is also the best place to star watch in the world too because of its high altitude, no smog, and supposedly no cloud cover.

El Tatio

We woke up at 3:30 on Sunday morning to go an visit El Tatio. El Tatio is a geyser field located 13,750 ft in the Andes Mountains. It was pretty cool but freezing. It was below freezing and I didn’t pack any gloves….lol. There was also a fresh snow cover from the night before. The geysers did not erupt very high but it was pretty cool. I had never seen anything like that before so I was impressed. The water was extremely hot and there were hot water pools people were swimming in downstream of the field.

Swimming

I packed two swimming suits thinking I could swim in the ocean which I was totally wrong about. I passed on swimming at El Tatio since I was so cold and didn’t want to risk getting sick. But I still got my swimming fix in. First we went to a collection of hot spring pools at Puritama. It cost $40 to get in and we were the first since it was only about 50 degrees at 9:30AM. We had to drive down the side of mountain ledge that I was for certain that our 2WD truck could not make it back up. There was like several pool and scene was very surreal. You were in a tiny oasis in the middle of the mountains. It was very relaxing. After we got enough of that (and apparently I got way too much sun), we left around11:30 to go to Laguna Cejar. It is a collection of 40% salt lakes similar to the Dead Sea so you can basically float on the water. The water was freezing but I got in.It was very interesting but weird feeling when you just float on water.

Antofagasta

We rounded out our trip in Antofagasta. It a port city that is very close to some of the biggest copper mines in the world. We worked the couple days were were here so didn’t see much (and I don’t think there was much to see anyway). We did see La Portada de Antofagasta which is a National Monument.

The Earthquake

I did not know what to expect when going there. People kept asking if I was scared (which I wasn’t) and the local guy kept telling me its fine. The first destruction I notices was that a lot of the overpasses collapsed on highways. The area that our distributor’s office had some damage too. The park was only like 5 years old but it was supposedly built on soft ground. Thus the 10 story building shook a lot breaking glass. The biggest damage came from the air conditioner on the top of the roof collapsing and pancaking through all the floors. The AC unit was removed on the building I was in and they said it was safe but there were some pretty big cracks in the walls. There were several earthquakes when I was there and I slept through all of them so did not feel a lone.

Random Thoughts about the Trip

• I could not live their lifestyle of eating. We wouldn’t get to the restaurant for dinner until 10PM and sometimes we wouldn’t even order our entrée till Midnight. Thus eating dinner till 2AM and waking up at 7AM is not for me.
• We did a lot of driving. One weekend we drove 745 miles which is a lot when your talking about a lot of dirt and rock roads in the mountains.
• They had 100 km/hr (60 MPH) speed limits but we had our truck maxed out the whole time at 155 km/hr (96 MPH). I wish I had my car, It was like the Autobahn but it was a straight flat road for miles and miles with no cars anywhere.
• Two weeks is way too long to be gone. Especially after you had a week of Sales meeting in which you did not get much free time.
• Skype is awesome for calling people in the States overseas. I paid a total of $11 to talk probably 15 hours or more.
• Steak from Chile and Argentina are not good no matter how awesome people there think they are. I’m from the Midwest so its hard to compete.
• I love Chilean Sea Bass but I think we get a better cut in the US because it is much more white, flakier, and delicious every time I get it in the US but it also is 3 times more expensive in the US.
• I did eat some good local specialties like Pastel de Choclo, Cazuela, and Chacarero. The first two week good but a ton of green beans on a sandwich turned me off to the Chacarero. I also ate a ton of seafood that I would not normally eat along with something from a cow that was not beef….they would not tell me what it was so I just put a lot of lemon juice on it.
• I went to one Discotheque. It was like most dance clubs….smokey, crowded, and hard to get a drink.

Here are all my pictures.

I was traveling a lot the past week for work. I started in Maine and worked my way down to New York City. It was a pretty exhausting week since we were hitting multiple sites between 5 states in 5 days. Didn’t do much but work. We did have a drive by Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower 2. I planned on staying the weekend with relatives in upper New York. I found out in the middle of the trip that other relatives from St Louis were arriving to NYC on Friday which was a great surprise. So I met them and my other relatives in Times Square for a dinner and a stroll through China Town.

We ate at a very interesting place in Little Italy on Friday. It was Puglia on the border on China Town. My uncle had been before and seeing a ton of young coeds doing the “napkin dance” had us convinced that we needed to try it out. I had some Peroni and tortellinis stuffed with ricotta cheese and chicken in a pink sauce. It was delicious. We made a subway detour to Grand Central Station then walked around Times Square but we were freezing and it was rainy.

I went to a charity event at a local firehouse in town Saturday night. It was a lot of fun and was for a good cause. Beer and dancing was all around.

Sunday was a little disappointing. I was so looking forward to going back home to spend some time with the lady. The weather did not agree. I wasn’t 100% sure that I could make it back to St Louis so I had to book another flight the following day. I had to book a different airline out of a different airport. That was a first.

Here are some pictures from the weekend.