Tied in Omaha

So I had a wonderful day in Omaha yesterday with Marcy.

(It is a Sunday. You're checking blogs. Please indulge me and my hyper linking.)

We started with breakfast at Dixie Quicks Magnolia Room (which a sign outside informed us was going to be part of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Food Network, and by entering we were letting them use our images captured therein in "perpetuity"* Of course we read this as we were leaving.)

Marcy had the red beans and rice omelet with fresh fruit and a biscuit, and I had the asparagus and prosciutto (I spelled that correctly the first time.) omelet with grits and a biscuit. OH, we ate outside on their patio at the back of the building which we got to walk through the adjoining art gallery to reach. So it was a super way to start the day.

Then we took a quick jaunt up to Beer Corner USA where Marcy napped in the car while I wandered up and down Beertopia's aisles choosing some bottles to expand my database:

Olfabrikken's Porter (I had this on my birthday last year. I do think the "baltisk porter" style is my favorite.), Great Divide's Yeti Imperial Stout and Oak-Aged Yeti Imperial Stout (Why does their 75 IBUs go from "hefty" in the normal Imperial to "respectable" in the oak-aged?)(tried the Oak-Aged Imperial Stout last month at Yia Yia's and wanted to compare to the non-aged), Ommegang's Rare Vos (sly fox), Hitachino Nest's (translators aren't quite top notch for some fun solecisms) Red Rice Ale and XH [matured in sake (not a wine since it's made from a grain and not a fruit) casks], Theakston's Old Peculier (an old favorite I first had at a Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band concert), Schloss Eggenberg's (I really enjoy their stereotypical website.) Mac Queen's Nessie (Never been to Austria in a bottle), Baron's Black Wattle Superior, Fuller's 1845 (Haven't had a Fuller's I didn't like.)

Tasting notes to come.

Then we went to the first of many College World Series baseball games. After hitting a three run homer to tie the game in the bottom of the 8th inning, Florida State gave up 11 runs in the top of the 9th to lose the game 16-5. It got so bad that they even had their star catcher Buster Posey pitch for them, to no avail. So with such an offensive outburst at the end of the game, it was the third-longest CWS game ever, at 4 hours and 11 minutes. This meant that Marcy and my's (never been comfortable with that construction) SPF 30 that we applied at 12:15 was of little effect at 5:15.

One of the great parts of being at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium was enjoying the tremendous "organizer" by the name of Lambert Bartak. He was such a good organizer that he could play a song from the "Great American Songbook" and I would immediately recognize it yet still take one or two verses to identify it.

Then we stopped at Sur la Table, where I very quickly looked at some chef knives before they closed. I did have the opportunity to hold them which was what I was looking for at this point. I'm leaning toward Wusthof and Shun. I also held the Global and a Henckels but wasn't compelled by either. Separate and related, I have moved the La Creuset piece down on my shopping list and up on my wish/dream list.

Our loverly day in Omaha ended with a super meal at Taste in Rockbrook Village. Marcy had the seared mahi mahi with asparagus risotto, and I had the mussels in wine butter sauce. She also got the chocolate lava cake for dessert.

Part of my reason for doing so much in Omaha on one trip was to justify driving the 120 miles when all was said and done.

*Perpetuity is a magnificent word to say aloud.

Watching The Soup last night, I noticed two names from a dance competition TV show: Kherington (girl), Thayne (boy)

An Even Better Twelve Hours. Seriously.

So the last twelve hours were really great. They started around 4 when Karen finally brought over what turned out to be her most delicious veggie lasagna. We (Karen, Ellen, Scott, and I) had a first course of the lasagna, my Sierra Gold Creamy Mashed Potatoes, and Texas Cheese Toast. The second course was watermelon. Third course a bean bag beat down of Team P-Hartman; fourth course Ellen's Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie (judiciously juicy) a la mode chocolat. The fifth course was two more whoopings with a side of left-handed (sinister) smackdown of the aphorementioned Phartman.

Then Wendy arrived, and she and I went to the Saltdogs game. We were so close to the field (second row) by the on deck circle that I could (and did) personally query the St. Joe Blacksnakes on their ages. SS Jimmy Mojica is 21. CF Scooter Jordan is 24, but his team bio says otherwise.

The first Saltdogs game I went to this season, with Karen, a player and a coach were ejected from the other team. The second game I attended, with Wendy and Kyle, went extra innings with a Saltdogs loss. Third game, with Karen, Ellen, and Thomas Trumble, was in section 104. So this fourth game was a combo of all the previous. We sat in section 104, and after the manager and the catcher (Mikaela "Mischa" Dworken) and the starting pitcher (Mark Nussbeck), who was no longer pitching, were ejected from the game in the bottom of the 9th, we went to extra innings, in which the Saltdogs proceeded to concede the contest. So I'm hooked. Wendy and I will be in the self-same seats about twelve hours from now.

But if you were following along, we are not yet done with our twelve hours. The Saltdogs game ended at 10:30. Wendy and I went to Cracker (cuz it's so white) Barrel (cuz it's that much fun) for apple cakes with a side of hashbrowns and Wild Maine Blueberry Pancakes with a side o' grits. After picking up Mus and dropping me off, my time with Wendy endy(?).

Earlier in the day, I was autotuning the start of The Venture Bros. second season and happened across Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos at 4:00 am. So with Chuck Norris being all the rage, I autotuned that one too, not figuring I'd be awake, but preparing for the occasion. So happens, after I went to bed at 12:30, I woke up with a start at 3:51. So my preparation paid off. The episode begins with a "live-action" Norris pausing from his workout on the Total Gym and waning philosophic on the importance of recognizing and admitting your mistakes so that you will never repeat them. "This was the lesson we learned when we went to The Island of the Walking Dead." I also liked when he split the group up and said, "Kimo, Tabe, come with me." So Lone Ranger.

So ends our latest installment of what seems to be hourly recountings of my weekend/life. The next hours hold a viewing of The Third Man, An Inconvenient Truth (I'll tell you what's inconvenient--having to spell it.), and The Venture Bros., the Saltdogs, some shopping, some reading, and some web logging of it all. See you on the side that has been flipt.