Closing down the Festival, and a little Absinthe

Sunday morning we had a light rain early in the morning, sometime around 5 am. I slept in late because I knew Teresa and Randy were getting up early to help Patty with the Sandwich Shop. By the time I got there after 9, they were closing up. Although the rain had ended before 7am,  it was enough to close the festival. A few vendors stuck it out until noonish, but the crowd had vanished; our reputation with rain may have something to do with this. So we closed the sandwich shop up for a couple of weeks - there will be a big show the last two weeks of October and it will be open then. 

Randy stayed to help Cheeseburger Jack, who decided to stay open and serve burgers a little longer. Cousin Jack was out driving a tractor at the Pumpkin Patch, near the Flower Fields; at this time of year the tractors pull wagons of visitors through the ripe pumpkin patch. So this was a good time to visit with Teresa. I thought we could go out to lunch and catch up. 

First we went to the Coyote Cafe. I  took several laps around the lot to find a parking space, then we discovered the line inside was long and not moving. It was after 11 by then, so we were competing with the "after church" crowd.

Next I drove to the Yellow Deli. It is closed on Saturday, but I figured it would be open today. Wrong - it was closed. 

Next I drove to the Sidewalk Cafe - not my favorite place, but I thought it would do. Wrong - no parking anywhere near it. 

Checked the place is across the street from Sidewalk Cafe - no parking.

Went to "When Pigs Fly" for bbq - closed.

Gave up, went to Stater Brothers grocery store and bought some fried chicken, brought it home and had lunch in Teresa's RV. 

And we had a nice, long visit there. Eventually I needed to let our dogs outside, so I asked to borrow Teresa's golf cart. It's a really nice cart, with just one personality trait; Teresa told me the pedal may stick. Sure enough, when I backed out, the cart went into fast gear! I made a quick turn to avoid hitting the RV across the road and going over the wall, then didn't know what to do because it kept going - backwards. I maneuvered it to the center of the dirt road and just kept doing doughnuts, backwards. Teresa saw my problem and came out tell me to hit the pedal again, but I kept thinking she meant the break pedal. I was working that break pedal for all I was worth but not getting anywhere. When I realized she meant the gas pedal, it took a couple of stomps before it suddenly stopped. Teresa came over to drive me to my RV because I was done with that cart, but first we sat there and laughed until we cried. I cannot imagine how stupid that looked!

To finish the day, something new. We had bought some Absinthe when we were in New Orleans in 2013 but hadn't tried it yet; Randy decided to give it a try tonight. There is a specific way to drink this stuff. Apparently the recommended serving is 3 parts water to one part Absinthe. You pour the Absinthe in a glass first, then set an Absinthe spoon over the glass, put a sugar cube on the spoon, and slowly pour the cold water over it. The sugar melts down into the Absinthe with the water. 

It's as much about the ritual as about the taste. And the taste? It tastes strongly of Anise - aka liquorice - and I could see where this would be wonderful in cooking. It was too strong for my taste as a drink, but then, most things are!