Sunday, June 12, 2005
Tallahassee
Our day off in Tallahassee was pleasant. We did not have to get up early, but we kind of did anyway because we’d both slept horribly the night before. I probably only slept an hour at a stretch. I wasn’t too pleased with that.
After we got ourselves together, Eric and I went back over to the strip-mall of our dreams and I was having a bit of an attitudinal moment and so we went to Ross and I bought some shoes and new sunglasses and felt a lot better afterwards, even though we had to wait like 25 minutes in line because there was only one cashier. I didn’t mind so much though. I was very happy with my shoes. And ever since I bought these sunglasses Eric periodically has been calling me Bono. Which is so hilarious, right. Anyway, after Ross, we went to AAA and picked up another New Mexico/Arizona map because Eric’s is in several pieces now and then we went over to the thrift store and as soon as I walked in there and started perusing, my phone rang and it was my sweet Amanda! She lives with her husband and two daughters in Seattle and we play a seriously rough and world-class game of telephone tag. So it was nice to chat with her and make some plans to get together when she’s visiting her parents in Sandusky, Ohio. I’ll drive down to see her from Detroit. Anyway, nothing in the thrift store called my name.
Eric and I went to have lunch at Curry and Wine, the Indian restaurant adjacent to the thrift store. Eric loves Indian food so he was happy as a clam with this. The soft-spoken and attentive waiter/owner came up to our table and we learned a little from him about his life. He and his family immigrated to New York about ten years ago but they only have been running the restaurant in Tallahassee for three years. He was a bit of a taciturn guy I think; he said that running the restaurant isn’t very lucrative and that it is the hardest work in the world. They do have a liquor license, which I thought would bode well for him, but he said no one comes in there to drink cocktails. And in order to have a license for more than just beer and wine, he has to have seating for more than 100 patrons. So the place did actually look a bit cavernous and had kind of weird wood floors, big pieces painted red. Our food was yummy and Eric of course ate a mammoth portion (his and much of mine) but a guy who rides as much as he does can put all that food away no problem.
After we ate, we went over to the Indian and British grocery, and wouldn’t you know it, they had my very favorite British candybar, Picnic! I often see stores that have a British foods section but they rarely have Picnic. They always have the Cadbury ones I don’t like. But this place did have the heavenly candybar that is Picnic. So I bought some tea, three Picnic bars, and two tins of condensed milk infused with cardamom. We walked from there over to Borders and I bought a music magazine for like the first time in eons.
That evening we drove through FSU and man, that is one big campus and it is a school that makes its goal of sporting excellence well known to the eye of the untutored. The academic buildings look nice and all, but the sports facilities? My heavens. Their stadiums look amazing and there are just so many buildings for sports. I won’t get going on this, but FSU, they sure are good at providing for their athletes. (And this is coming from a girl who went to University of Michigan. So I do know a thing or two about the lavish sums spent on athletics by big universities.) After leaving the FSU campus, we drove around looking for a dinner spot and we saw a placed called Cypress and decided to go there and I owe Eric a million thanks and kisses of gratitude for taking me there. What a champ. It was fancier than he probably would’ve picked but I was impressed with it and felt like it was a special evening to get to go to such a place. Our meals were beautifully presented, delicious, and of the highest quality indeed. The waitstaff was so nice and everything there was simple, clean, not fussy, but still imaginative. Like the reviewer for the Tallahassee paper, I give Cypress my top praises.
Me considering the deeeelish-looking entrees at Cypress Restaurant in Tallahassee
After our fine, relatively hip, and satisfying meal, we walked out into a rainstorm that might’ve penetrated every fiber of my clothing had I not been told to wait under the awning while Eric went across the street to get the car. I did wait, and then I dashed out in my new shoes across ten feet of parking lot to hop in the car and go back to the Comfort Suites to prepare for the next day, Eric’s fourth-from-last day of cycling.
After we got ourselves together, Eric and I went back over to the strip-mall of our dreams and I was having a bit of an attitudinal moment and so we went to Ross and I bought some shoes and new sunglasses and felt a lot better afterwards, even though we had to wait like 25 minutes in line because there was only one cashier. I didn’t mind so much though. I was very happy with my shoes. And ever since I bought these sunglasses Eric periodically has been calling me Bono. Which is so hilarious, right. Anyway, after Ross, we went to AAA and picked up another New Mexico/Arizona map because Eric’s is in several pieces now and then we went over to the thrift store and as soon as I walked in there and started perusing, my phone rang and it was my sweet Amanda! She lives with her husband and two daughters in Seattle and we play a seriously rough and world-class game of telephone tag. So it was nice to chat with her and make some plans to get together when she’s visiting her parents in Sandusky, Ohio. I’ll drive down to see her from Detroit. Anyway, nothing in the thrift store called my name.
Eric and I went to have lunch at Curry and Wine, the Indian restaurant adjacent to the thrift store. Eric loves Indian food so he was happy as a clam with this. The soft-spoken and attentive waiter/owner came up to our table and we learned a little from him about his life. He and his family immigrated to New York about ten years ago but they only have been running the restaurant in Tallahassee for three years. He was a bit of a taciturn guy I think; he said that running the restaurant isn’t very lucrative and that it is the hardest work in the world. They do have a liquor license, which I thought would bode well for him, but he said no one comes in there to drink cocktails. And in order to have a license for more than just beer and wine, he has to have seating for more than 100 patrons. So the place did actually look a bit cavernous and had kind of weird wood floors, big pieces painted red. Our food was yummy and Eric of course ate a mammoth portion (his and much of mine) but a guy who rides as much as he does can put all that food away no problem.
After we ate, we went over to the Indian and British grocery, and wouldn’t you know it, they had my very favorite British candybar, Picnic! I often see stores that have a British foods section but they rarely have Picnic. They always have the Cadbury ones I don’t like. But this place did have the heavenly candybar that is Picnic. So I bought some tea, three Picnic bars, and two tins of condensed milk infused with cardamom. We walked from there over to Borders and I bought a music magazine for like the first time in eons.
That evening we drove through FSU and man, that is one big campus and it is a school that makes its goal of sporting excellence well known to the eye of the untutored. The academic buildings look nice and all, but the sports facilities? My heavens. Their stadiums look amazing and there are just so many buildings for sports. I won’t get going on this, but FSU, they sure are good at providing for their athletes. (And this is coming from a girl who went to University of Michigan. So I do know a thing or two about the lavish sums spent on athletics by big universities.) After leaving the FSU campus, we drove around looking for a dinner spot and we saw a placed called Cypress and decided to go there and I owe Eric a million thanks and kisses of gratitude for taking me there. What a champ. It was fancier than he probably would’ve picked but I was impressed with it and felt like it was a special evening to get to go to such a place. Our meals were beautifully presented, delicious, and of the highest quality indeed. The waitstaff was so nice and everything there was simple, clean, not fussy, but still imaginative. Like the reviewer for the Tallahassee paper, I give Cypress my top praises.
Me considering the deeeelish-looking entrees at Cypress Restaurant in Tallahassee
After our fine, relatively hip, and satisfying meal, we walked out into a rainstorm that might’ve penetrated every fiber of my clothing had I not been told to wait under the awning while Eric went across the street to get the car. I did wait, and then I dashed out in my new shoes across ten feet of parking lot to hop in the car and go back to the Comfort Suites to prepare for the next day, Eric’s fourth-from-last day of cycling.
# posted by jnewwave @ 12:42 PM 
