The Reluctant Chef

We had a great weekend filled with amazing food. Last night we were invited over to a friends place for lobster and steak. So good. On Saturday night we went to one of the great new restaurants in St. John's. It's called The Reluctant Chef. They do a 5 course tasting menu and you can get it paired with wine.

The first course was a radish salad and it was paired with a glass of Champagne.

Then we had a seafood soup with mussels and lobster. It came with a Chardonnay.

The next course was a pan-fried cod with a Riesling.

The main course was their take on lasagna. It was house made pasta with duck and was delicious. They poured their wine very liberally so things were getting a little fuzzy at this point. I can't remember what kind of wine came with this one, I just know it was red.

For dessert we had a piece of banana bread and chocolate ice cream and it was served with a really nice port.

 It was a great meal and a long way from Ches's fish n' chips.



I hope everyone has a great Canada Day tomorrow. Lori has to work, so we aren't doing anything special but it's nice to be home this year.

db

6,274 kms

I made it home safe and sound on Saturday night following a LONG LONG drive. I wanted to track how long it was, but I couldn't find a pen on the morning I left Calgary to write down the odometer reading, so I took a picture with my phone. Then I took another picture when I pulled into the driveway.

You can see the difference is 6,274 kms (around 3900 miles). That's a long way to drive east.

Although I won't ever do it again, it was fun. I got to visit family and friends along the way and see a lot of familiar sights. You know how you always look for familiar landmarks and sights to mark your progress when you make a long trip? When Lori and I would drive to the cottage we would always look for the numbers embedded in the hills around Kenmare, North Dakota. The graduating class of the local high school has been putting them there since 1945.

I always look forward to my favorite places to eat as well. Every time I pass through Harriston, Ontario, I always stop in to the Cedar Rail for lunch. It's hard to find a place that still sells a foot-long hotdog.

You know you're doing a long drive when you have to take 2 ferries.  My first was the Chi Cheemaun across Lake Huron from Manitoulin Island to Tobermory.

My second was a much larger one from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland.

This one crossed overnight, so I booked myself some luxurious accommodations.

Actually, it was very comfortable. Of course, I was pretty exhausted by this point so my standards may have been a little lower than normal.

Thanks to Linda and Colin in Calgary, James and Amanda in Wiarton, Dean and Charlene in Cambridge, Brad and Darren in Ottawa for putting me up and feeding me beer. It was a fun week.

db

Goodbye Calgary

Even though Lori and I haven't lived in Calgary for some 18 months, it is now official that we are no longer Calgarians. Lori no longer works for the firm here in Calgary, I am no longer a student at the University of Calgary and all of our belongings are on a truck heading east. 

When we left in January 2013, we assumed that it was temporary and we would be back. Then when Lori was extended, we thought we'd be gone a little longer, but we would still be coming back. Life sometimes has other plans. While we are excited about the new opportunities in front of us, we are still sad about leaving Calgary.

When we left Halifax 11 years ago, we actively searched for a change. This time, change was presented to us and we couldn't say no.  Like any place, there are a few things we won't miss about Calgary, but there are a lot of things we will miss. The can-do attitude of Albertans. They never complain, they just get the job done. The Rocky Mountains, whether it's Banff or Lake Louise or Jasper, they are spectacular. 17th Ave with 1410 Bierhaus, The Ship, Local 510 and Tubby Dog.

Most of all, we will miss our friends. We have lived in a lot of different places and it's great to have friends spread across the country, and now the world, but it's not fun to be so far away from them. Even with instant communication, you still drift apart. It's the friends that we leave behind that I will be thinking about tomorrow as I'm heading down the Trans-Canada Highway towards Medicine Hat, Moose Jaw and all points east.

Goodbye Calgary. I will miss you.

db