June 2020 - Screw it....Let's go to Key West!!

June 2020 has started off warm and pleasant and we've spent a lot of time out on our patio and in the pool.  Our biggest achievement has been to seal off the fence between the patio and driveway so our young cats can't wander off.  Now they are free to roam the backyard, and we are free not to worry about them...much.  We still are spending a majority of time at home with the Covid-19 virus still lingering around and we haven't been out to eat yet.  

Tuesday, June 2 - We were proud to join in the Blackout Tuesday Movement today on social media in our support of Black Lives Matter.  How can racism still be so rampant in our world??

We are trying to shed some pounds for our upcoming planned trip to Key West, so the first three weeks of June have been devoted to all smoothies from our local Smoothie King nearby except one meal a day.  It's also a good cleanse from evils of fast food.  Let's hope it works.  At least it's a tasty endeavor! 

Saturday, June 6 - We headed into Nashville today and enjoyed our first official meal out in several months.  Sure, it was just tasty and healthy acai bowls from the Franklin Juice Company for lunch, but it still counts! We doubled-down after that and stopped at the brand new TennFold Brewing in Donelson for a beer there as well.  We sat outside on their patio and the place was busy!  Good to see the world slowly going back to normal hopefully.  We spent the rest of the day (and the weekend) in the pool as it was a couple days of very sunny, but hot weather.  

Monday, June 8 - Our friends, Toney and Lisa, invited us over to their house tonight to watch a movie on their projector screen in the backyard.  We chose Playing With Fire, a sweet and silly family film that was in theaters just before all this Covid-19 mess started.  We enjoyed snacks and some low humidity for an enjoyable evening.  And it was ALMOST like going to the movies again! 

Saturday, June 13 - What could be better than fresh grilled peaches??(our first time preparing them)

Well, grilled peaches and ice cream, of course!!!
A great meal during beautiful weather out on our patio after a day in the pool.
Kinda perfect.    

Sunday, June 14 - More peaches, less problems!!  Ashlee took a few more of our peaches from our recent order from The Peach Truck and made these tasty peach beer cocktails for us and couple of dinner guests we had tonight.  It's vodka, Jackalope Brewing's Lovebird fruit beer and fresh peaches.  

Monday, June 15 - We met up in Mt. Juliet after work today and had our first official dinner out at a restaurant since this whole Covid-19 mess started.  It was just Red Robin and it was just burgers and fries, but it at least felt fairly normal even though the place was half-empty and the staff had masks on....and yes, it was, yummmmm!! 

Thursday, June 18 - We "spotted" this little cutie last night in our backyard.  We've seen him a few times already, but this was our first chance at a good pic of "Edgar Alan Doe."  Yes, if it's a doe how can it be named Edgar, but just go with it!  He's growing like a weed and is very active; jumping and running about.  Finally, some positive news from 2020!! 
(Editior's note:  we now have TWO FAWNS in our backyard!  We saw another one when we got back from the trip detailed below along with Edgar.  No name for this one yet...Buck Naked, maybe?)

Sunday, June 21 - After some real soul-searching and serious consideration regarding Covid-19, we decided to mask-up, hand-santizer-up and  fly down  to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, today and then drive on to Key West and stay at our old, old friend, The Eden House, for a few days.  It certainly was great being in the air again.  This is our first flight since February.  And Southwest not selling the middle seat for now for social distancing is fine by us! The view in the picture above is some of the coastline around the Ft. Myers, Florida, area before turning east toward FLL.

After a long (and what should have been unnecessary) wait in line at the rental counter, and a first rental SUV that smelled like weed: we got a free upgrade to this sweet Mercedes GLS 450 for our drive down to Key West and back.  There was plenty of room for us, Ashlee's sister, Paige, and her husband, Andy, and their daughter and our niece, Ella.

We took an early detour off Hwy. 1 South in Key Largo and headed eastward to check out Alabama Jack's on the Card Sound for lunch.  We weren't overwhelmed with the food ("best conch fritters"...I think not).  But, it was a cool lively, little place with a lot of character sitting among the mangroves.

We had an easy drive thru The Keys (always a fun road trip) and got down to Key West and checked into Room 502 at The Eden House.  This was the first place we ever stayed in Key West way back in 1998, but we sure never had a king-size bed here!    We got some great rates (thanks to Covid-19 I'm sure) which was another incentive for the trip.  Paige, Andy and Ella had an apartment in Room 302 with a nice private patio to hang out on also.

Monday, June 22 - We took a short walk this morning over to Cole'z Peace Artisan Bakery (another long-time favorite like The Eden House) and got some killer breakfast sandwiches (and some sweets for later).  

Ah, The Eden House Pool.  Nothing much has changed here in the 20+ years since we first visited, but they have added a sweet tiki bar to the pool area from whence they still serve a complimentary happy hour.  We spent most of the day here today relaxing and imbibing.  Here's a shout out to our new friend, Chris, from Louisville who we met here today.  His wife was feeling under the weather, so he was kind of on his own, and we were happy to let him hang out with us and make his acquaintance.  

Dinner tonight was at Firefly Key West in the Bahamian Village.  Everyone's meals were stellar (best seafood gumbo I have ever had.  Sorry, NOLA).  We all shared in their unique key lime cake for dessert.  

Tuesday, June 23 - Did I mention that Key West breakfasts are important to us?  Because they are!  Some of the best breakfast choices on the island are served up every day since 1909 at Pepe's Cafe.  

Ella and our new friend, Chris, joined us today as we headed north to Marathon to take a snorkeling tour to Sombrero Key Lighthouse Reef.  The picture above has no filters and has not been altered.  The water was that blue!!  Man, what a beautiful place.  And the snorkeling was the best we've ever had in The Keys with clear water and tons of fish.  We were proud of Ella for going with us on her first snorkeling trip because this one wasn't an easy one for a beginner.  I chose this place because we've done most of the snorkeling tours out of Key West and I love old lighthouses (this one's for sale!).
When we got back, we all had a late dinner at The Dirty Pig, a rather new BBQ place within walking distance.  The experience was a little ho-hum, but we did arrive late and they were sold out of several things (including the smoked wings, damn!), so it's worth a mention here as a place we might want to try again sometime.  

Wednesday, June 24 - Guess what?  It's breakfast time in Key West again!  Thanks to our pal, Joe, for the suggestion of the amazing and popular (the line was out the door) Glazed Donuts.  The donuts were huge and fantastic.  

Man, it was hot today.  We did some touring around Old Town and one of our first stops was The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory.  We have been before, but you forget what a magical place it is.  And we don't remember there being so many active butterflies on our last visit.  Plus several colorful birds including two large and beautiful flamingos. The easiest pictures to get were the sleeping nocturnal moths including this huge atlas moth.   Note how the wing tips look like snake heads...scary and effective camouflage!

Live webcam!  Enjoy the view:https://www.keywestbutterfly.com/live-webcam

We enjoyed seeing the brand new permanent rainbow crosswalks installed recently during Pride Month.  This pic is also a good example of just how uncrowded it was in Key West while we were there during the pandemic.  There were plenty of other visitors, but nothing like usual.  It was a little strange and a bit sad knowing a lot of livelihoods dependent on tourism are suffering here.  Most things were open but our favorite restaurant, Blue Heaven, was closed, as was Duval Street's granddaddy bar, Sloppy Joe's.

To escape the heat and grab some lunch (and a few craft beers for me) we checked out a new-to-us place called the Mellow Cafe and Gastropub up at the Garrison Bight harbor docks.  I had the amazing catch-of-the-day mahi mahi tacos and Ashlee had the light and refreshing avocado tomato bruschetta. We are definitely putting this place on the Visit Again List!!  

Did I mention it was hot?  Did I mention our passes to the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory were good all day?  So we went back for another enjoyable walk thru.  This screen grab from a video I took finally captured one of the fast moving butterflies at a very brief rest.  

We were extremely lucky to catch a very rare manatee sighting at the Key West docks late this afternoon.  Props to Paige for spotting it and a clap on my back for catching this quick shot as it swam quietly away.  I wonder if less boat traffic due to the pandemic has these gentle giants coming closer to usually very busy Key West Harbor?    

Here's the whole gang on a sunset cruise in Key West Harbor this evening.  Thanks to Fury Charters for the smooth ride, plentiful beverages and great service (as always).   

Another beautiful Key West sunset.  No two are ever exactly the same, but they are almost always a sight to behold.  We feel very thankful to have witnessed this one during these tough times.

Thursday, June 25 - We headed back north this morning, saying goodbye to Key West with a couple of nights in Ft. Lauderdale still to go.  We stopped in Islamorada for another snorkeling tour with a couple of stops at Cheeca Rocks and then (photo above) the Donut Hole (note the outer rings of the "donut" in front of the sailboat.  While not as clear as a couple days ago, both stops were pretty good.  Ashlee and I both saw a lot of fish including a few larger barracuda and Ashlee was fortunate enough to see a sea turtle as well.  I had hoped to snorkel around yet another lighthouse, Alligator Reef, but our guides chose these two place instead.  We will just have to come again and use Sundance Watersports who were top notch.

We stopped in Key Largo again for dinner.  This time the food was much better (even if the ambiance was not) at The Fish House.  This place has been a staple here since 1982 and it's got a great vibe inside and great service along with tons of seafood choices.

We all partook of the dessert dish of fresh coconut ice cream served up in a coconut shell.  

Friday, June 26 - We had a full day in Ft. Lauderdale today and decided to just hang around our nice hotel, The Double Tree at Bahia Mar, since Covid-19 cases were spiking again here in Florida.  We spent a few hours at the beach across the street and a couple more at the outdoor hotel pool enjoying some complimentary cocktails.  This fish-eye view out of our hotel room looking north shows the unique location of this hotel in terms of the beach to the east, marinas on both the north and south sides, and the New River Sound to the west.

We did venture out for dinner to the Benihana in nearby Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.  Yeah, it's a chain restaurant, but man it has a killer view with many of the tables overlooking the inter-coastal waterway and the Commercial Boulevard Drawbridge (far left in photo above).  We discovered this place a few years ago before a flight to Norway from FLL.  The food prep was great and the meals were fantastic! 

When we got back to the hotel, we had a nice after-dinner walk along the marinas and gaped at the amazing number of gigantic yachts docked here.  I chose this shot because I like the sunset-lit clouds in the distance, but these yachts pictured here were actually some of the SMALLER ones!  Wow, what a strange world we live in...this kind of wealth and yet homeless people everywhere.

Saturday, June 27 - We had a VERY early flight home this morning, but it was well worth it.  Southwest Airlines offered all five of us $500 each in flight vouchers to change our flight from the day before.  Heck, yeah, we will change!!  Now all we have to do is decide where we are going to go next!! 

Sunday, June 28 - I am still not sure how it happened, but today we welcomed our newest fur-ball, Dudley. into our lives.  Ashlee says he's technically a replacement for our dearly-departed, Ms. Bea, but somehow we keep adding the number of cats who live here!  But, good grief, isn't he cute!! 

March, April and May 2020 - Our most surreal months ever..

Tuesday, March 3 - We were awoken very early this morning to tornado warnings and sirens.  So we hunkered down in the bathroom and while our home and surrounding trees were basically untouched, it was sheer devastation less than a mile away as Middle Tennessee was ravaged with deadly tornado damage from Nashville to Cookeville.  We spent a night without power, but were lucky that temps were moderate.  I spent long hours at work the rest of the week helping where I could restore power throughout our county.  It easy to say this is the worst natural disaster we have ever witnessed up this close.  We feel fortunate we were spared when so many others were not.

Even one of our favorite music venues, The Basement East in Nashville got slammed.  We have tickets to an Airborne Toxic Event show there in June and it has already been moved to The Cowan over at Top Golf, but they do plan to rebuild.  Photo courtesy of Spin.com.

Tuesday, March 10 - We went to see the new sports drama film, The Way Back, at our local Roxy Theaters ($5 Tuesdays and recliners!) tonight.  We had dinner beforehand at a new and close-by (to us) place called El Sol Tex-Mex Express and it was very good.  The movie was solid, albeit quite sad, with a great performance by Ben Affleck.  

We have some visitors at our house this month.  Ashlee agreed to help foster a couple young cats up for adoption here in Wilson County.  The sisters are Dora Lee and Violet and they are as cute as buttons.  They are eating and growing like crazy!  The jury is still out on how Doris and Byron really feel about them sharing their home and toys. 

Saturday and Sunday, March 14 and 15 - We endured an entire weekend of social distancing as we self-enforced staying away from crowds due to the coronavirus pandemic that is sweeping across the world.  We got some much-needed work done around the house and just hung out online.  What a strange, strange time it is.

Ashlee bought a Cat Tailer collar and app that will hopefully keep track of our wandering young cats when they are outside.  Doris has been the worse one for sneaking off into the neighbors' yards.  Bad cat!! (Editor's note:  And it really works!  I found her today in the neighbor's landscaping thanks to the Cat Tailer app and collar!)

Saturday, March 21 - We couldn't take another weekend cooped up in the house, so since the rain had finally stopped, we took a little road trip east seeking out a few places without much human contact to maintain our social distancing with the pandemic still raging around the world.  Our first stop was a hundred or so miles northeast at the historic York Grist Mill on the Wolf River in Pall Mall, TN.  We only saw a couple other people here and at the surrounding park and homestead of WWI hero and Tennessee native, Sgt. Alvin York.

A fairly new and interesting addition to the York Mill and Farm State Park is this replica of a WWI trench.  It gives you a first-hand look and feel of the type of warfare Sgt. York and thousands of other soldiers had to endure during The Great War.  

The next-door neighbors to the York Mill and Farm State Park had this odd Statue of Liberty replica in their front yard.  It's an interesting world out there...

We headed south next to check out some of the Obed River area which is a National Wild and Scenic River.  It was definitely wild and scenic today with all the rain we've had lately.  We weren't equipped to do much hiking on the muddy trails here, but we've put it on our list of places we would like to return to and explore more.  

We did find a good passel of people at the Lilly Pad Hopyard Brewery across the road from the Obed River in Lancing, TN.  We filled a couple of half-growlers to take home with us:  a ginger-cocoa ale for Ashlee and their signature IPA for me.  This will be another place worth a visit on another trip when this awful virus isn't a concern.  Until then, bottoms up...from a distance! 

Sunday, March 22 - We helped out our local independent movie theater, The Belcourt, which is closed currently due to the virus issues, and streamed a showing of  the new, independent film, Saint Frances, which they would have been showing at The Belcourt at this time if not for the crisis.  Some of the money from the streaming rental went to The Belcourt Theaters.  The film was sweet at times and a little tough at times, but overall an enjoyable experience.  

Friday, March 27 - In a bit of good news, our pool got opened earlier than scheduled today.  Just in time for some decently warm weather to hang out by it and maybe take a float...which we did on Saturday, March 28 under cloudy, but warm conditions.

Sunday, March 29 - We enjoyed some sunny weather and some beers on the patio today as we kept up our social-distancing.  It was a little too breezy to take another float, so we just put our feet in the shallow end a few times and lounged the day away in the shade.

Saturday, April 4 - We've been doing some grilling outside with the mild temps (and some more beer drinking).  We even had collard greens for the first time thanks to a shipment of them that arrived from a vegetable delivery service Ashlee signed up for.  Being stuck at home doesn't have to be all bad! 

Sunday, April 5 - We had special (secret) visitors today as our friend, Wayne, brought his new puppy, Carter, for his first visit and first encounter with our pool!  Carter loved the water (a little, it's still pretty cold) and romping around freely in our fenced-in backyard.  Our friends, Wendy and Charly, also dropped by and we all had an impromptu party hanging out soaking up the sunshine, drinking some adult libations, smoking cigars, grilling out and just enjoying each other's company....from 6' apart, of course. Thanks to Wayne for the great selfie photo.  

Thursday, April 9 - We were in Mt. Juliet running an errand and decided to stop at the new Slim Chickens restaurant for dinner (take-out only, of course).  It's basically a knock-off chain of Zaxby's except for one great addition:  decadent desserts served up in a mason jars!  This one is the strawberry cheesecake and it was served chilled and it was phenomenal! 

Saturday, April 11 - Hey, whaddaya know, Nashville is still there!  It's been a couple months since we've actually seen the Nashville skyline during all this pandemic lockdown, but we ventured to town today on an important mission....

...DONUTS!!  Yes, donuts were our mission!  We just had to procure some of the new spring-themed mini-donuts at Krispy Kreme and the closest location was downtown Nashville!  

We had a good, well-needed laugh while in downtown Nashville today also.  We saw this sign in the window of The Hustler Store.  I guess when you are jonesing for adult toys, you're just jonesing!! 

Our second important mission was pizza and craft beer!  We stopped at the brand new TennFold Brewing in Donelson on our way back home and picked up a large pepperoni and banana pepper pie and a couple of mason jars of their craft beers to enjoy back home on our patio.  The one in the picture above was their excellent Scottish wee heavy ale, Howling Winds. 

Somebody wants some pizza!! .

Saturday, April 18 - It was another stay-at-home-Saturday for us, but we did it up in style with some Mexican Cokes with our grilled-out dinner.  This cocktail of extra-sweet south-of-the-border Coca-Cola, bourbon and salted peanuts was from our visit to Bar 306 which we've heard is no longer in existence over in East Nashville.  While sad, it has been replaced with a national-park-themed bar, so that might be worth a visit once this virus melee is over with.  

Sunday, April 19 - Since we missed the showing of the 2020 Cat Video Fest at The Belcourt Theaters this year, it was great to find out that we could stream the Best of Creature Comforts Edition online thanks to The Belcourt Theaters.  So, we ponied up a $20 donation and checked out the 45 minutes of cuteness and hilarity today knowing that the funds not only helped Nashville's only art-house theater in these trying times, but also aided in cat rescue as well.

Monday, April 20 - Despite the social distancing and self quarantine at home right now, we both decided to take my birthday off from work today.  Since we couldn't travel very far, we embarked on a short driving tour of the region since it was such a beautiful day. Our friends, Wendy and Charly decided to join us...in a separate vehicle, of course.   

Our first stop was pretty Waterloo Falls right outside Cookeville and when arrived we found this unfortunate situation.  This poor schlub for some reason didn't think this mud hole was that deep. We didn't have anything to help him, but we did call him a tow truck since he didn't even have a phone with him.

Waterloo Falls was flowing like a dream after the rain last night.  We even caught glimpse of a rainbow from the spray.  I have been here a few times, but this is the first time Ashlee and I have seen it together.

We headed back west next and stopped at little-known Union Camp Falls just outside Lafayette.  As the name says, this pretty cascade has some history as a Union Army camp location during the Civil War.  I brought a couple beers with me and cracked one at each of the waterfalls.  Cheers to my birthday! 

We continued west with short stops in Westmoreland and Gallatin and our final destination was the Southern Grist Brewing location in East Nashville where I picked up an online order of some of their beer in crowlers that they delivered to us curbside.  Cheers again to my birthday!! 

Back home on the patio after stopping to pick up dinner at Town Square Social (smoked wings!)  here in Lebanon, we enjoyed the evening as I looked through my haul of gifts during this mail-order-only-birthday.  One of my favorite gifts was this box of gingerbread men from the Yum Yum Shop in New Hampshire.  Well, maybe I should say it was my favorite gift as far as Doris was concerned.  She actually more interested in the confetti paper than the gingerbread.  
Overall, a great little birthday considering the circumstances.  

Sunday, April 26 - You know you are in quarantine when the prospect of going to get food gets you excited.  Ashlee saw where the Five Daughters Bakery mobile kitchen was going to be in Mt. Juliet, so we placed an order of tasty doughnuts and hopped in the car to go get them.  They were soooo good!! 

While in Mt. Juliet, we figured we might as well also go for an late lunch/early dinner at Red Robin.  We again ordered online and picked up our food (after securing some craft beer to take home) and enjoyed our burgers (and extras fries...well, we had them later at home) right there in the parking lot.  

 WHEN YOU ARE STUCK AT HOME DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC,
YOU GET EXCITED ABOUT THE LITTLE THINGS!!  
Saturday, May 1 -We got a new drive-thru car-wash open near our house this week, so I bought us a monthly "family plan" for all three of our always-dirty cars.  Thanks to Wash-N-Roll for the good, discounted car washes especially now in the days of endless pollen and bird bombs.  

WHEN YOU ARE STUCK AT HOME DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC, 
YOU GET EXCITED ABOUT THE LITTLE THINGS!!
We had a baby robin's nest in the tree by our pool.  We have been interested in watching their progress and this little fella showed himself today.  Mom flew off before I could get a shot of her.  

Also very interested in the robin's nest are our young cats, Doris and Byron.  They haven't messed with it yet since it's up pretty high and they aren't really climbers, but they do get excited watching.  Here's a great action shot of Byron near the tree that Ashlee took, but he's focusing on a flying bug this time.  

Sunday, May 3 - Surreal Month # 3 started with another loud bang as a strong band of thunderstorms and straight-line winds hit our area again with tons of trees down, broken power poles and power outages including us for about 5 hours.  We cranked up one of our Bonnaroo generators and got a few essentials going:  lights, cellphone and IPAD chargers, and, of course, two water fountains for Doris and Byron...so spoiled.  

WHEN YOU ARE STUCK AT HOME DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC, 
YOU GET EXCITED ABOUT THE LITTLE THINGS!!
Monday, May 4 - Man, our backyard roses are going gangbusters this year! 

May 5 - Happy Cinco de Mayo! (Quarantine Edition).  Thanks to a recent Blue Apron shipment. Ashlee whipped us up a delicious (and healthy) dinner of Mexican-spiced salmon and cilantro sauce with quinoa, shishito peppers and orange slices which we enjoyed outside on the patio along with a few south of the border-inspired libations! 

We "celebrated" the rest of the holiday by clearing out and stripping the walls along with the dated wallpaper in our den in preparation for a new paint job and our having our woeful hardwood floors refinished over the next week.  Tomorrow and Friday, it's the bedrooms turn...at least there is no wallpaper to strip in those rooms! 

Saturday, May 9 - Just another quarantine Saturday chilling in the back yard.

Sunday, May 10 - Ashlee and I celebrated Mother's Day with a quick trip east to visit the graves of our wonderful mothers who have both left this earth.  We miss them both greatly. It was such a beautiful day that we actually had a picnic around the grave of Evelyn, Ashlee's mom, along with Ashlee's sister, Paige, and her kids (and grand-kids!),  Ashlee's Mom, Evelyn, is featured a good amount in this blog, but I don't think I have devoted an entry to my mom, Eleonore, who always loved Ashlee and was about the best momma I could ever ask for.  We miss you, Nore! 

Tuesday, May 11 thru Tuesday, May 16 - Well, it's not really a trip per se, but we were staying in a hotel for most of this week as the second half of our hardwood floors get refinished.  The baby cats joined us at the very nice (and new) Home2Suites by Hilton Hotel in Mt. Juliet.  Zippy manned the outside fort back at home.

Sunday, May 17 - Part of the fun of our Mt. Juliet "stay-cation" was ordering take-out every night to enjoy back in the room.  We found a clear winner in Jason's Deli which became our favorite above them all and we wound up ordering from their large menu on numerous nights.  I was very impressed with their take on the New Orleans muffuleta sandwich (photo above) which was very, very good.

Here's the impressive "after" picture of our den with its new paint job on the walls and the ceiling along with the refinished hardwood floor not only here, but now throughout the house.  It was a project well worth the time and money.  

Tuesday, May 19 - Hoo-ray!  It's our 19th Wedding Anniversary!!  While we weren't traveling today as hoped thanks to the pandemic.and our "gifts" to each other were the new refinished hardwood floors,  a new rug and new paint in the den, plus our stay in Mt. Juliet during the project, we still celebrated with take-out dinner from Painturo's around the corner and some libations at home. 

Saturday, May 23 - We headed east a few exits today around lunchtime to check out a new-to-us seafood food truck at Cellar 53 Winery in Brush Creek.  The food was off the chain good!  We had some of the best conch fritters we've ever had from Mark's Specialty Seafood.  We loved it so much that we are negotiations with them to cater one of our pool parties this summer maybe! We also got a tasty bottle of Cellar 53's Sleepy Bird white table wine to wash it all down.

We ended the day with supper down at Mayday Brewing in Murfreesboro who were also having a food truck, Big Boy Shrimp, and an old-fashioned shrimp boil.  We grabbed a couple beers and our plates and dug into a ton of boiled shrimp (head and tails still on, so it was some work), corn on the cob, potatoes and kielbasa sausage.
A great day of eating good and supporting local business during this pandemic mess.

We spent the rest of the long Memorial Day weekend pretty much at home working around the house and enjoying the pool as we dodged thunderstorms.  We had several visits from friends who dropped by to enjoy the pool and a family cookout on Sunday, May 24, that was a lot of fun.