Breakfast and a SeeSaw

Saturday we spent the morning visiting my daughter in the queen city. She wanted to take us out to breakfast and a little walk around the area.

Her boyfriend came along too. He is a joy to be around. We parked at her uptown apartment and walked 2 miles to a little place called Roots Cafe. 

Me and Nick just wanted something lite so we ordered a side of avocado toast. 

They messed up and gave us the whole meal plate which included 2 eggs on the side. I was ok with that as I love eggs and ended up cleaning my plate. 

We also shared a Latke with Poblano Cream Crema & green onions. It was a type of potato cake and was delicious. 

Afterward we walked down to a new doughnut shop tucked away in the back of a building called PepperBox Doughnuts. They offer different varieties of doughnuts each week. I chose the “Elvis”.

It was topped with a banana cream with a drizzle of peanut butter and topped with bacon. I only took two bites and I was finished. I’m trying to keep away from the sweets. But I just couldn't resist. 

My daughter ordered the Hibiscus Jelly filled. Hers was much better than mine. It tasted like real fruit and topped with sugar crystals.

While we were headed back, we came across a see-saw next to the lightrail and I had to jump on. 

We laughed and giggled like two little kids on a playground. I didn’t care who was watching. 

You can see her boyfriend sitting there probably thinking his girlfriend has a crazy mom. Haha.

It’s always fun to visit my daughter. Later we headed to my mom and dads to celebrate my oldest brothers 55th birthday. We had some good food, cake and laughs to finish off the night. 

Beauty and The Bee

Every day as we walk, we past a home where an old man and his wife passed away and left no one to care for their now abandoned house. It has been over a year.

We shake our head in disgust as we walk around this neglected yard that corners the street. We gripe, "I would have already called the city to get this cleaned up". or "What a mess! This is ridiculous and makes the neighborhood look bad". The complaining goes on every time. I guess you can say it at least gives us a conversation.

Rounding the corner and eyeing what once was a well kept yard full of roses and mixed flowers, we noticed some life in the mix of rubble. It was a bumble bee working diligently to gather pollen from an onion flower. I left my phone at home to charge so I asked my husband to be a photographer. He pulls his phone from his waistband and steps in to the snaky brush to get a closer aim. The complaining stopped and our conversation focused on the bee the rest of the way home.

I think God throws out little reminders for us to stop looking at the negative in things and focus on the beauty. The bee didn't care what his surroundings were, he just knew he had a job to finish and all he needed was in that place.

"The flower doesn't dream of the bee. It blossoms and the bee comes". 

                                                                                      ~Mark Nepo

Out For Ice Cream

Sunday, I wanted some ice cream. My husband suggested Sweet Frogs yogurt shop that we often visit. They had some specials going on if I had an account loaded on the phone app. After several attempts, I could not get the app to work. I was so frustrated. That's when my husband suggested we ride down to Cramerton to a little creamery we have only heard about. I was on board in a jiffy.

Cramerton is a small town where I attended middle school at the base of a small mountain. I have not been through there in years. 

We arrived at the small creamery and coffee house called Floyd and Blackies. Walking in was so inviting as there was no crowd and the atmosphere was set for comfort of a cozy coffee house. We made our ice cream choice as we stood in line. They carried my favorite brand, Hershey's Ice Cream, with several different flavors to choose from. 

I would have loved to try them all but choices are not something I'm good with so I went with my typical favorite of Salted Caramel Truffle. Nick had Raspberry Roadrunner. One scoop in a waffle cone hit the spot. 

We decided to go for a walk around the little town while we slurped the melting ice cream from the rim of our cones. The temperature was soaring in the upper 90’s.

Out back was a place to picnic by the muddy river. There was canoe rentals for the brave ones. 

Looking over the trees I saw a foot bridge and suggested we go a little further to see where it lead us. It was a nice little half mile walk to a park called Goat Island Park. A place I have always heard of but never knew where it was. 

Well, we just so happened to accidentally enter into it. There were sand boxes, a play ground and picnic areas for families. Throughout the park was a disk golf course. 

Our ice cream was gone by now and we headed back to the car then rode around more to find some new eating places to try in the future. It was a nice little afternoon outing. 

Greek Festival

Our daughter wanted us all to go to the Yiasou Greek Festival this year. Every year the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church puts on this festival full of dances, music, choir performance, re-enactments, food and more.

We arrived at her apartment (free parking) and walked two miles to the festival. It was a nice walk but hot as the temperatures were in the 90’s again. It would cloud up for a few minutes like it was going to rain, then the sun would come right back out. It beat having to sit in traffic, try to find a parking spot and pay outrageous prices to park. We were there in no time and our walk was faster than the traffic line. 

Once we walked in, I was a little disappointed that it was not that big and everything was jammed together. We are not big fans of crowds so this was an uncomfortable moment at first. It turned out to be not so bad after all. You can see the Greek Church in the photo behind me. 

We saw a lot of merchants selling hand made jewelry, clothes and crafts. You could see little children walking around dressed to perform traditional dances and play instruments of their ancestral villages. It became more interesting to me when I saw a Greek Warrior. 

I think I left my husband and daughter behind at the first glimpse of metal and red cloth beaming through the crowd. I should have warned him that if I see a man in armor, I will head straight towards him. I was able to snap a photo through the crowd and we moved on. Well, he moved on and we headed to the food. 

Our first stop was at the bakery area. There were about twenty rows of tables under tents, full of different breads and pastries of nothing I can pronounce. I have always liked Baklava. Since I have been dieting, I didn't realize how sweet that stuff was, so one bite was all I could handle. I ended up grabbing some other interesting goodies to take home. 

It was lunch time so we stood in a 30 minute line to grab some authentic Greek food. I purchased a few spinach/feta cheese pies and Greek fries for me and Nick and my daughter purchased a Souvlaki Stick (pork on a stick). There was no open tables to sit, so we squatted on a curb in a shady corner like little peasants and ate lunch. 

After lunch we took a walk inside of the cathedral. The Holy Trinity Cathedral was built in 1954 and consist of beautiful Byzantine and iconography architecture. It was absolutely beautiful as we slowly walked through with amazement.

Before leaving Nick nick disappeared under a crowded tent and emerged with a plate of Loukoumades (Greek Donuts) to share. I think I liked these best. They tasted like little funnel cakes. Yes, my husband photographer had to take this shot while I had my mouth full. He gets a kick out of that. You should see some of the ones I deleted. Ha ha

After the festival we headed back to my daughters place and took even a further walk uptown. I'm saving that story for another post. 

Do you like Greek food? Have you ever visited Greece? If so, what are some of your favorite things to eat, see and do?