Crossing the Line

I joke that I've become that curmudgeonly old guy who never wants to drive north of the Miami Dade line. It's actually true -- I rarely drive that far anymore. But I make an exception for a fun night out at a great place, and that was last night.

Friday Wifey and I met D1 and Joey -- after they returned from a corporate convention in Orlando, where D1 spoke to a huge crowd of fitness devotees. We went to Michael's Genuine, which has, to my opinion, the best roasted chicken in Florida. It was great to catch up with them, and talk of things to come.

Saturday was hot as hell, and seemed a good day for napping -- after I walked my 2.5 miles through the 'hood. Wifey had on some old classics --- one was "Anatomy of a Murder," and it proved excellent background for a rather long nap.

When I awoke, Wifey had on her case manager hat -- putting together paperwork to send to the state to keep her mom on Medicaid. They pay $1250 per month towards my suegra's ALF, and so we never blow past the deadlines. We got ready to go north, and stopped at the post office to send off the precious documents.

We walked into Anthony's Runway, and ran into some old friends, Justin and Natalie. Natalie was a young girl who used to babysit the Ds -- she's now 40, with three kids of her own. She married Justin, who was a student in Natalie's grandmother's class at Leewood, when they met on a plane returning from Tampa. Turns out they love Runway, too, and had stopped for dinner on their way to a concert at the Hard Rock.

Paul and Patricia were at the bar, and Paul handed me martini #1. And a few minutes later, my sister and brother in law came in -- we joked because Dennis is always the first to arrive, and last night he was stymied by an accident on the highway. But we were all still on time, and we snaked though the packed place to a wonderful corner table.

The martinis flowed, and food was bounteous and delicious, and the server a lovely young woman from Ukraine. She actually liked it when I quoted the Beatles line about the Ukraine girls really knock me out...or at least she pretended to.

We hadn't seen Trudy and Dennis together in nearly two years -- somehow the time slips away. We laughed a lot and talked of times past.

The men drank, and the women mostly didn't, and at the end of the night they drove us all home.

Wifey and I were both up at 4 am, laughing and lamenting at how hard it has become for us to sleep the night as we age -- but, hey -- what are ya gonna do?

Today we're headed to the Grove to see our old friend and neighbor Diane, and from there will swing back to Kendall to see the suegra.

But last night we crossed the line, and it was well worth it.