It's Amazing What an Extra Day Off Can Do For the Soul!

 

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I feel like John & I really made the most of this three-day weekend.

On Thursday (or Friday?) I declared that I wanted to try a "new to us" restaurant. (During the pandemic, I spent a lot of time researching restaurants in the area that I wanted to try once things got "better." Let's just say I came to the discussion with John with plenty of places bookmarked. 😜)

We chose a place that I'd heard good things about from friends on Facebook and the local Facebook restaurant/food group. John has been on an eggroll kick lately and they had steak & cheese eggrolls, so that sealed the deal. (And guess what...I didn't have it bookmarked!)

Saturday we got all of our errands done in the morning, took Murray for a walk in a nearby park, and then made our way to Pica's Pub & Grill, which is about 10 miles from our house.

The inside was much smaller than I anticipated and I think the bar had more seats than the tables did. (Ok, not really, but you catch my drift.) There was one table open (lucky us!) right behind the host station (meh), but we took it.

We started with drinks- a pomegranate martini for me and red sangria for John.

Both were very good. We did get the steak & cheese eggrolls for an appetizer and they didn't disappoint. The queso they came with was yummy, as well. 

For our meals, we decided on burgers. I got the Bacon Onion Jamburger with homemade potato chips and John got the poutine burger with homemade chips. Both were cooked just right and had a great taste- would definitely recommend. I had read a post in the local Facebook restaurant/food group about the cornbread with maple bacon butter and knew we had to try it. (We get something similar at a restaurant in Portsmouth, NH that we absolutely LOVE.) This didn't quite meet our expectations. We expected a side of the maple bacon butter next to the slab of cornbread. Instead, it was melted onto the bread. I'd say that was probably the only thing I wouldn't recommend or get again.

Overall, it was a great meal and I'm glad we "found" it. I think next time we'll try lunch there, as dinnertime is very busy (they don't take reservations) and it can get loud in there. 

Sunday we celebrated John on Father's Day. My mom and Grace came over and John grilled steak & shrimp. My mom tried a new recipe for Caramelized Onion Potato Salad- it was very good! For dessert, we made homemade Raspberry Turnovers. (Well, John made them...lol.) Making them was a little dicey- the filling was watery and John didn't think it would stay inside while baking. Oh, and we were about 1/4 cup short of white sugar, so had to substitute brown sugar for the filling and powdered sugar for the topping. They were a hit! 

Well, with everyone except Grace. 

Me: Do you like it? 

Grace: It's different. 

That's code for "not so much" 😉

Grace brought a dress over to wear, however it was ridiculously cold, so on her own she layered with a skirt underneath the dress and I recommended the sweater layer. Whatever works!

Today I took the opportunity to have a very relaxing day. I didn't sleep in as I'd hoped, but I stayed in my pajamas and laid on the couch and read for a few hours. That was very relaxing. John went golfing, so I braved the park and took Murray for a walk, which went better than I thought (he's a puller). I then came home, had lunch, and sat outside on our beautiful porch with our four-legged friend. 

Monday is Pilates day and since not enough people were around to do the class I usually go to (mat class), I did an equipment class an hour earlier and was able to come home and eat dinner at a reasonable time. 

Now? I lounge in my pajamas sipping a Strawberry Banana Smoothie and watching the Red Sox. 

All in all, the three-day weekend was a success!