Saturday Night Date

John and I were busy all day working on various things that made us hot and dusty and tired.  We were cleaning up the garage (a lost cause by the way), painting convention displays, working on packaging and other almost creative things.  By dinner time we were through.  We cleaned ourselves up and went to dinner at Vento.  Vento is owned by Patricia Heaton, of "Everyone Loves Raymond" fame.  She grew up in Bay Village, the next town over from us.  Her restaurant is right in the middle of a park next to the PlayHouse (live productions) and next to BayArts, a creative center for adults and kids.  My friend, Gayle Pritchard, often teaches there and it is where we go to listen to Chris Pritchard sing and play guitar for summer evening concerts on the lawn.  It is also right across the street from the Lake. I love this area.

On our way there we went by the elementary school which is doing some sort of construction this summer.  After the heavy rain the previous night, there were some major puddles.  As we drove by, John made a quick stop.  There were deer in one of the "puddles".

The two young fawns were splashing and running and having a frisky evening playtime while mom watched over them.  We were surprised they didn't bolt when we stopped very close by them.  They just continued to play, running back and forth and jumping into the water to make it splash.  I swear I heard them giggling.

On to Ventos for dinner.  The atmosphere was lovely and simple with lots of candlelight.  The service was very friendly and very efficient. The bread and drinks were good.  The meal?  John's was excellent. He had halibut.  I ordered pistachio crusted chicken that had a good taste but the chicken was dry and tough.  Such anticipation given the above observations.  I am sure it was a one-time problem since everything else was great.  But really, when have you ordered chicken in a good restaurant and it was tough?  Odd and disappointing.

As we walked out of the restaurant, the sun was beginning to set and our favorite spot for watching the sunset was right across the street.  We went over to the Lake side of the street and this is what we saw. People frolicking and running and splashing in the water just like the fawns. This at about 8:50pm.

Within a few minutes the sky was ablaze with all those wonderful colors I love.

A few minutes later:

Two couples standing and watching the sunset near us were catching up on family news.  One of the snippets I heard was that there were 800 guests at their daughter's wedding! I keep thinking about the logistics of 800 guests and the cost!  Can you imagine?

Anyway it was such a nice Saturday night date.  

Comments

[Nancy C]

Love the deer photos! And the sunsets? Wow! Beautiful!

[Tace]

Awwwww, deer frolicking in puddles! That's so sweet! They look like they're having fun, great photo moment! Times like that it's so cool how portable and available digital cameras are. :)
Sunset photos are beautiful too. We just recently moved and I've already accumulated more photos of the sun setting every night than any one person could every possibly have need for...but it's so addictive. :)

[Marianne]

deer in mud puddles and a beautiful sunset. Tis is a perfect post

[EyeStamp]

Great Post! Love the tie-in between the deer family and the families at the lake....we had a great sunset at the Lincoln Memorial in DC...that place is awe-inspiring....now I'm beat after a long, hot day in our nation's capital. (I saw a Robert (?) Essig book construction at the Smithsonian Crafts museum and some other wonderful creative things. And the National History Museum has a special exhibit on "Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop and Turn" that was kind of fun, but far too limited....your Art Continuums have spoiled me for the Smithsonian Exhibits!!--but I still can have some good fun here!)

[Rachel Greig]

Great post Ginny, shame about the tough old chook, but sounds like everything else has been wonderful!