Allie and Perri came to Maryland the week before Thanksgiving, then Allie and I flew to Denver to spend Thanksgiving with the Embreys. Barb stayed in Maryland with Perri.
In the summer of 2021, we had a nice week in Colorado with the Embreys and had our first visit with Embrey Ann (Emmy). Sara invited us to Emmy’s first birthday in March of 2022 but the date interfered with my trip to Nasnville and Memphis so we sent Allie as our family representative. All the Colorado Embreys joined Joe’s family reunion in the Outer Banks of North Carolina in July 2022 but couldn’t fit in a visit to Maryland. Betsy subsequently invited us to join her family in Colorado for Thanksgiving…which also gave Tylor and Sara an excuse to spend the holiday with our family rather than his in Minnesota. Allie and I were interested but Barb was very hesitant to travel over the Thanksgiving holiday or potentially miss work. Eventually, we decided that Allie would come down to Maryland with Perri for some time before Thanksgiving, then she and I would go to Colorado while Barb stayed in Maryland with Perri and Manny. A workable plan even if it meant not being together for Thanksgiving itself.
Wednesday, November 16
To get ready for Perri, we removed breakables from the lower levels of the Chinese cabinet in our foyer. We filled the spaces with crossword puzzles. The last time Perri was left alone for an afternoon in our house, she knocked over one of the soapstone sculptures from this cabinet. Barb and I spent several weeks carefully gluing it back together and we don’t want to do that again.
Allie and Perri arrived around 9pm; I picked them up at the airport and we got home just as Barb was also getting home. The two of them had sushi and soup from Katana that I picked up earlier in the evening. I tried Donburi rice with chicken – it was not great. I think it’s time to search out an alternative Japanese restaurant where I can get other cooked dishes like pork katsu or something. Maybe the place at Dorsey Search? Perri and Allie quickly settled in for the evening.
Thursday, November 17
Allie worked at home, surviving the cleaning of The Maids. I went out for lunch, trying the new Urban Kabob in Marriottsville. I got a chicken seekh salad which was decent but not particularly better than Mimi’s Kabob or a half-dozen other kabob places near us. Maybe another time I will try their Nashville hot chicken sandwich which seems a little off brand but it’s a dish they highlight.
After lunch I went to the Glenwood Community Center and signed up for Beginner Pickleball starting in December. I’ll give that a try and then maybe start doing their Tuesday and/or Thursday pickleball sessions starting in January. It’s cheap and seems fairly well organized. Better than the pickleball opportunities offered by our Cattail Creek club.
Thursday evening, Allie wanted to meet with her high school friend Evan Schlick and his girlfriend Amanda for drinks so Allie and I went to an early dinner at Walker’s. We shared the crab mac and cheese, grilled shrimp appetizer and a fish and chips entree. All were pretty good, and I had a nice time with Allie. I left her there to meet Evan and brought a mushroom pizza home for Barb; Allie, Evan and Amanda had to shift over to Ten Oaks Tavern because Walkers closed at 9pm. Who knew? I went to fetch them around 10:30. We capped off the evening with one episode of The Crown.
Friday, November 18
Barb and Allie both took the day off but Barb managed to squeeze in some crisis management work issues until 11:30am or so — par for the course. Then we went to Eggspectation for brunch: shrimp and grits for me, eggs benedict for Barb, and an omelette with grits for Allie. Then we went shopping for Emmy goodies at Arundel Mills. Allie especially enjoyed looking at all the cute things for kids. We ended up getting a nice assortment of things, some of which we’ll save for Christmas. We also went to DSW and Target for other odds and ends. A happy shopping day.
Friday evening, Allie and I went to fetch meals at the Common Kitchen. I ended up with chicken momo soup, Allie got butter chicken and samosas, and we got Barb a poke bowl. We decided we quite like having this international food option, a sort of night market, available so nearby. After dinner, Allie and I settled down with our respective cats for a couple more episodes of The Crown while Barb puzzled in the bedroom.
Saturday, November 19
Saturday’s morning we went to Asian Court for dim sum. Afterward, we just took it easy, as they say, watched some more of The Crown, various Christmas offerings, and had various leftovers for dinner. Allie and I fit in a nice long call with Laurie in the afternoon. Allie made reservations for her and Perri to return here for Christmas, staying through New Year’s so she and Evan and maybe some others can do New Year’s Eve festivities in DC.
Sunday, November 20
Barb made bacon and eggs for breakfast while Allie and I watched the opening match of the 2022 World Cup. We had some more leftovers for lunch and I made mashed potatoes for Barb to take to Leslie’s for Thanksgiving. We had an early reservation for Medium Rare in Bethesda for steak frites, our version of Thanksgiving as a family this year. This was perhaps our last visit to this location as we will soon have our own outpost in Columbia. We like the food; I don’t like driving nearly an hour to and from each visit.
Monday, November 21
Allie and I said goodbye to Barb and the kitties before heading to our 9:50am Southwest flight to Denver. The flight was uneventful and on time, with clear skies all the way. Allie and I checked into our Homewood Suites hotel room, then grabbed some lunch at the Yard House to catch the end of the USA-Wales football game (a 1-1 tie). Allie got some work done at the hotel in the afternoon before we headed over to Betsy’s to see her, Joe and Emmy.
Emmy was scared to meet us at first, clinging tight to Papa Joe, but after about 10 minutes she got comfortable. The ice was broken when Joe invited Emmy to show us her doggie – the winner of the companion contest, triumphing over a menagerie of llamas, bunnies, pandas and more. Sara and Tylor showed up a bit later and Emmy became the star of the show, loving her time as the center of attention. We gave her presents: two books including Goodnight Moon and her holiday outfit; she and her parents seemed to like them.
Betsy and Joe prepared a nice steak, potato and salad dinner. We had a fine time catching up with each other. Sara’s wedding plans were the dominant topic even though the event is one year away. It is an all-consuming production, it seems. I’m going to stay positive about it as a big family event, but it does seem to be taking on a life of its own. You have to wonder a bit about the money and energy being spent…a year ahead. Sara already knows all the details down to a “T” and they are busy putting deposits down on all manner of items.
Tuesday, November 22
Allie and I enjoyed our hotel breakfast, then she worked while I watched World Cup games, first Tunisia-Denmark, then Mexico-Poland. So far I haven’t seen a goal scored. Next comes France-Australia. It’s only the third day of the World Cup and I’m reaching saturation. I’m not sure I will maintain interest through the next month.
Allie and I sought out a relatively late and light lunch at the Highlands Ranch Toastique, which lo and behold is a DC-based franchise that is quickly going national (including one coming soon to Columbia, I find). I had a Tuscan tuna while Allie got a Tomato Burrata. Both were quite good and moderately healthy. I look forward to having this chain around and wish them success.
Allie was due to join Kristen for a Friendsgiving dinner that evening, but the more she learned about it the less appealing it seemed. The final straw came when Kristen said that no one was cooking anything — everyone was ordering their own carryout items. Allie elected to join me at Betsy and Joe’s for lasagna with Sara, Tylor and Emmy. Allie and I went over to see Betsy and Emmy in the afternoon and had a nice little stroll around the neighborhood while Betsy gave us a tour. We saw ducks, geese, bunnies and dogs. A fine time was had.
We had fun with Emmy back at the house while we waited for others to arrive. Emmy showed off her new buckethead behavior, to everyone’s delight…especially hers. We spent quite a while playing with various balls. Emmy has a good throwing arm already but has a long way to go in the catching department.
Kristen blew in and out again, dropping some vegan stuffing ingredients for Thanksgiving dinner and picking up some other items for her Friendsgiving activity. The lasagna dinner with everyone else was quite nice. Sara, Tylor and Emmy left shortly after dinner to get Emmy to bed at their house. Allie and I stayed for a while and had a nice chat with Betsy and Joe, covering my family, music and TV shows. We bailed out around 8pm to give Betsy and Joe a break.
Wednesday, November 23
After our hotel breakfast, I settled in for more soccer while Allie worked. I had a separate bedroom so I could watch things and not bother Allie who worked in the other room. It turned out to be a good arrangement, though Allie reported that her sofabed was not very comfortable to sleep in. It turns out that the day before Thanksgiving is known as Green Wednesday in the weed business so Allie had quite a bit of work to monitor in the morning but things settled down by midday, Denver time.
For lunch, I succumbed to the siren call of a patty melt so Allie and I followed Yelp to Zig Zag Burger nearby. The patty melt was decent but nothing great. I really need to get out of the habit of craving patty melts — I haven’t had a good one in a long time and they’re just about the worst thing for my health. Allie’s burger looked good but it was huge and she barely ate half of it.
The plan for the day was for Betsy and Joe to pick us up at the hotel in the afternoon, then we’d all head into Denver to see a Christmas Market with everyone before heading to the place where Kristen was housesitting and dog watching for a pizza dinner. When Betsy and Joe arrived around 3pm we got the story that plans had changed. First off, Sara and Tylor decided not to come, choosing instead to stay home with Emmy and get ready for Thanksgiving the next day. That made good sense.
Then we started hearing the tale of Kristen calling Joe and Betsy at 10pm. Evidently, after working at one of her gigs — either Lululemon or her yoga studio — she went back to the house where she’s housesitting to find that the front door was open. She didn’t dare go in alone and waited for Joe and Betsy to arrive nearly an hour later. Together, they searched the house, half expecting to find either a burglar or dead body, but found nothing but the dogs. Kristen contacted the homeowners who said, oh yeah, there was this other guy who was doing some work on the house and had a set of keys. Evidently he didn’t lock up. Kristen refused to stay the night on her own so went back to Betsy and Joe’s that night. The next morning, they all drove back to the house so Kristen could walk the dogs and retrieve her car. The homeowners apologized for the confusion and said the guy was finished anyway so he dropped the keys off. Nevertheless, Kristen was spooked and stayed with Betsy and Joe for the next several nights. With all of that activity and anxiety, everyone was a little bit tired and rattled.
Nevertheless, the four of us drove back to the house where Kristen was giving the dogs their afternoon walk. We picked her up and drove into downtown Denver to see the Christmas market near City Hall that Betsy had talked about. In the meantime, we discussed dinner options and decided on a sushi restaurant that Kristen liked; Allie quickly made a reservation.
We arrived, found a parking place and soon saw a bandstand and brass band playing to a small crowd in front of City Hall. We listened for a minute then headed into the Christmas market. We enjoyed wandering through the stalls and found a stand for hot cider. If we had been better briefed and/or prepared to eat outside, we could have easily made a meal of the various brats, schnitzels and other German goodies on sale from the various stands — well, I’m not sure what Kristen would have been able to eat — but we had our sushi reservations and saved our appetites.
After wandering through the stands for a while, we headed back toward the car only to discover a ceremony underway at the bandstand. It was the official unveiling of the lights on City Hall which is evidently a thing. We stayed for the countdown and then ohh’d and ahh’d as the lights came on and shifted colors, accompanied by the brass band and some singers. It was quite pleasant and became a photo opportunity for all involved.
We drove to the LoDo neighborhood of Denver for our dinner at Bamboo Sushi. The restaurant was mostly empty but didn’t seem to have room for a table of 5 indoors, so they cranked up the space heaters and put us on the patio. It was a cool evening but not uncomfortable under the heaters. We ordered quite a variety of dishes to share, including shishito peppers, grilled saba/mackerel, chicken karaage, shrimp tempura, blanched spinach, one of the crispy rices, and several of the rolls and nigiri. All of it was quite good, especially the mackerel; there were no duds on the table.
We had a very nice time lingering over the dishes, drinking sake and various other beverages, and listening to stories mostly from Joe and Kristen. Somehow the discussion wandered into Joe and Betsy recounting how they met and that began a long, involved tale, only parts of which I’d known before. Allie knew almost none of it and much seemed new to Kristen, too. It seems Betsy knew most of Joe’s family long before meeting Joe. She knew Tom’s wife, Julie, who was a roommate of Betsy’s co-worker at Delta. Through that connection, Tom had done some work renovating Fred and Louise’s townhouse. It was only after Betsy had broken up with Graham and Joe had broken up with his longtime girlfriend that they were connected (set up) by Betsy’s friend. Even then, it took Joe several months after getting and losing Betsy’s phone number before he actually arranged to take her to a John Sebastian show at the Cellar Door in Georgetown. The story wound on through a long-distance courtship while Betsy was at grad school in Fredericksburg and home on some weekends in Oakton. I can’t do justice to the whole tale or many digressions, but a highlight was Fred telling Joe one Sunday evening when the Fishers were trying to watch PBS, “Joe, you’re a fine person. We like like you. Please be quiet.” (Or maybe it was “Please shut up!”).
After dinner, we drove a few blocks to get ice cream at Little Man, a popular hangout that was Kristen’s favorite and Allie wanted to try but the line was always too long. It was short on this cool night and we enjoyed a various flavored treats. It was, in all, a very fun evening.
Thursday, November 24
Thanksgiving Day arrived with another quiet morning of our hotel breakfast and plenty of soccer. We moved our watch party over to Sara’s house around 11am. Sara gave us a tour of their nice new home, literally across the street from Tylor’s parents. It seems a perfect fit. Sara was also busy in the kitchen but seemed to have most of the Thanksgiving meal preparations well in hand. Tylor bustled about as well, taking care of Emmy and Sara in stride. I stayed out of the way watching Brazil beat Serbia.
Betsy, Joe and Kristen arrived around noon to join in the festivities. We took the opportunity for some photos and generally played with Emmy and/or watched soccer and then eventually college football until it was time to eat.
Some other friends of Sara and Tylor’s arrived with their baby and a brother/uncle, filling the table and keeping everyone busy and entertained. The dinner itself was very nice, with turkey, mashed potatoes and all the trimmings prepared mostly by Sara. Allie and I contributed three pies from a shop that Sara selected. Later on, we played a few rounds of Scattergories, following the actual box game rules that are a little different than the online rules we use with Sue. It was a fun family evening.
We checked in with Barb who had Thanksgiving dinner with Leslie and her cousins. They also had a good time, it seems. Manny and Perri survived the holiday on their own, but did have a little turkey feast of their own.
Friday, November 25
Allie, Betsy, and Sara went together for a round of activities with Kristen, including some photo modeling at one of Kristen’s yoga studios. I’m not sure where the photos will appear, possibly on her website Mind Over Mat. That left Joe and I to watch Emmy, which we did mostly by having her watch football with us. Emmy also played nicely with her toys. It was a mostly low-key morning.
Lunch was a smorgasbord of Thanksgiving leftovers followed by more football. For dinner, we did Chinese takeout and ate at Sara’s followed by different board games. We tried one called Chronology that I was very good at. Then we did one called Codenames that was a little more complicated. At one point, Sara banged her head on the dining room chandelier and claimed disability from the welt on her head. She scrounged up am ice pack of sorts and suffered the rest of the evening in no little silence. We suggested a booboo bunny but they didn’t know what that was, so Allie and I resolved to send them one for Christmas.
Saturday, November 26
Allie and I checked out of our hotel and headed over to Sara’s for a little more soccer and Emmy time. Betsy, Joe and Kristen showed up a little later with bagels and smoked salmon which we all enjoyed, including Blue, the dog.
Around noon I headed to the airport to drop off the car and fly home. Allie stayed for a few more days to attend a work party thrown by Lantern to celebrate Colorado’s ten year anniversary of weed legalization. That party was on Wednesday, November 30. Allie was supposed to spend the weekend with Kristen but what with the scary key situation at the housesitting house they decided to stay at Betsy and Joe’s on Saturday night. Allie had a low-key day on Sunday with Emmy, including an outing to a local park with Tylor. After that, Allie checked into a downtown Denver hotel and spent the next couple of days on her own, working and getting ready for the Wednesday event.
Betsy, Joe and Kristen showed up for the Wednesday event, which was nice. Allie reported that the event was not especially well attended but the folks that showed up had a good time.
Allie came back to Maryland on Thursday, December 1 and stayed over until Saturday before heading home to Boston with Perri. We squeezed in one final hot pot dinner on the Friday evening before she left.
It was a fine Thanksgiving, overall. Allie and I had a good time with the Embreys. Barb was able to avoid all the Thanksgiving travel anxieties, though in actuality Allie and I had little trouble. It would have been nice to everyone together in one spot, but under the circumstances things went about as well as we could hope, aside from Sara’s self-inflicted and self-diagnosed concussion.
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