Today's Blog Today!

Always a good day when I get to blog. Which is just about everyday. Ok, most days are good even when I don't blog.

Ah, Sunday. A lot of driving! From Clayton to Charlotte. I think it is about 180 miles. We did it in about two and half hours. Two hours and 45 including stops. I thought it would be nifty to brunch at the the Charlotte Saucer and then head to Columbia for my 17th plate party. The brunch is so much better in Charlotte. Mainly, apparently, because the have a grill top. That works for me! Cate and I got there first. Paul, Chris and Dave showed up just a little before we were going to leave. The food was good. I had a new-to-me server named Mattie who was one of the women in the Charlotte picture from the 2010-11 Saucer Calendar. She graciously signed my calendar. Cate thought she was lovely and had great hair!

I only had one beer, which turned out to be $7. Eeek!

I just checked out some of my past lottery tickets. Out of 7 tickets, I had one number match. Gosh, I am so lucky! :)

But that was a digression. Here we are, back on Sunday. We got out of the Charlotte Saucer mostly on time. Stopped to talk to a Brit and his puppy. Drove to Columbia without incident. Yippee!

Got to Columbia and lo and behold, Chris didn't bother to mention to anyone that I was coming for my plate party. Not only that, but I did not see any evidence, nor could any evidence be found, of my plate having been turned in or put up. Yippee! Way to go Chris! Wow, I am so glad for the Saucer chain that he is the manager there. Will was the manager on duty and I did not know him. Brandi was either a key employee (my guess) or a manager too. Will was gracious and offered to let me have a tab then and another when I came down to have my plate unveiled. Yippee! That was kind of him.

Cate and I stood around for a while, waiting for all of this to get sorted out. Not one server spoke to us for ten minutes. And at least five tables were unbussed. Columbia, for some reason, oh, right, Amber, nevermind. What I was going to say was that I used to like the Columbia store. I still like it. I think it is a cool space. I like the patio more than Cate does. There are two little sofa areas. But all of the booths are awkward feeling. I eventually found one that I liked well enough to sit there. Actually, I sort of stole it from a group who went out to smoke. Honestly, I thought they had left! I wa very apologetic and they were very forgiving.

After Cate and I had been there for an hour or so, Paul and Chris and Dave showed up. Then Chris's friend Julie. And later, Paul Selig, his friend Joe and a guy named Mark Smiley. First, Julie. Wow. She is a teacher. I am scared for the youth of America. I think I will leave it at that. Paul Selig is the top beerknurd at the Columbia Saucer. He is very forgiving, most of the time, about the faults of his local Saucer. He takes bad service in stride. Unbussed tables seem to be the norm. Food is mixed in quality. Yippee. Joe I didn't really chat much, but he seemed like a nice guy. He extended a faceboook friend invite to me, which I accepted. And lastly, Mark Smiley - who likes to go by Smiley. He has cards to all of the Saucers and has finished plates in 11 of them. At least I think that is what he said. He even has cards from the two defunct Saucers. But he is not an MOU because he didn't finish at least five plates on one membership. Yet. He is planning on working on his Little Rock Membership to get the perks.

So, we ate and drank and hung out for a while. I also had a free tasting of Amber beers with Brandi. Sigh.

At about 8:30, we started our way home, stopped a couple times to "stretch" and got home around 11:45. Long day, but pleasant overall. And what is best, I get to have another plate party in Columbia. I think I am going to do it backwards next time. Have the party Saturday night (perhaps good servers will be on duty) and stay the night in Columbia. Then get up and go to Charlotte for brunch on the following Sunday. Yippee! This will happen in March - which pushes my Nashville plate party back a bit. Yippee?

Ok, pictures:

My sixteenth plate - number 601 - gee, exciting isn't it?!


Mattie was kind enough to take a picture of Cate and me sitting at my favorite spot in the Charlotte Saucer.


Cate and I saw this van driving along. PETA apparently doesn't like the way that McDonald's does its chickens in. But they are ok with the way they handle cows? I love the evil Ronald McDonald!


I just liked this payphone. A) there aren't a lot of them around anymore and B) it is pink!


Brandi, the one on the right in the picture, was kind enough to give me a tasting! Sigh.


Plateless party!

More pictures will be posted, or maybe other pictures, well, something, on Facebook eventually. Stay tuned! And tell you friends that it isn't painful to subscribe to my blog! My goal is 15 followers by the end of 2030!