A Perfectly Fun Weekend!

We're so quick to go to make things black and white, and to put things in their box. But everything is this mixture - and that's what this world is - is this blend of different things.

- Matisyahu

Week 18: Black & White

One of the best things about this past week was having company!  My p2P friends were here until Monday morning, then our Paducah friends Judy and Randy arrived on Thursday evening for the weekend.  I love having the house full of friends or family - it just makes life a bit more exciting.  We have had to laugh since we moved to Tiki - we have probably had more company in the not quite eight years that we've been here than we did in the 30 years we lived in North Carolina.  To be fair, at least one factor in that equation is timing - neither we nor our friends were as free to travel and visit when we were younger and raising kids - but it's still kind of funny. 

Another thing that is interesting about life on Tiki is that once you're here, it's easy to just stay put.  If you follow any of my travel blogs, you know that I tend to pack a lot of action into my vacations.  I go to museums, attractions, restaurants, parks, anything that looks interesting.  So when I moved here, I intentionally did not go to all of the touristy things available on Galveston Island, because I figured I'd be going there often when we had company.  And now, years later, there are many of those attractions that I have yet to visit!  Turns out, it's easy to just sit on the back deck or lounge by the pool and just chillax on Tiki, so that's often what we do.  We may venture across the causeway into Galveston or 'up the road' for a meal or two, but staying put seems to fill the bill.  I love that!

This weekend, we even went all the way to Houston because we had tickets to Hamilton!  Judy and I had seen Hamilton on Broadway a couple of years ago (just before it got really hot!) and Judy and Randy had just seen it there again, but this was Rex's first time to see it.  We all loved it!  The Houston cast was stellar - my favorite actor played both Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson - and all of us who had seen it before got more out of it seeing it again.  It's such a different kind of musical - all of the dialog is sung in hip hop - and there is a portion of the stage that revolves (so appropriate for such a 'revolutionary' play!), so there is a lot to hear and see.  It's almost too much to absorb the first time, so I was grateful for the opportunity to see it again.

We ventured out for a few meals - we stopped at Whiskey Cake on the way back from the airport Thursday night for a late supper, then we had drinks at the Rooftop Bar at the Tremont on Friday before walking down to Riondo's for dinner al fresco.  We had a delicious lunch at The Grove before the play on Saturday, and we had time to walk around Discovery Green while we were there.  We made it home from the play ALMOST in time for the Derby - we watched it on Randy's phone while sitting in the driveway - so we had our mint juleps on the deck afterwards.  Following that was a nice dinner at Number 13 - that was a full day!  Sunday we lazed by the pool after breakfast and watched Crockett enjoy his first swim of the season.  All too soon it was time to get cleaned up and head to the airport...

Now the house is quiet, with just Crockett and me knocking around.  I have work to do (that I'm avoiding) as we are having a neighborhood-wide yard sale in a couple of weeks - so much stuff to go through and purge!  It's funny, isn't it?  We fill our homes with stuff and then get rid of it!  I also have a big pile of photos and slides that need to be converted...guess I'd better stop procrastinating and get to it!

Have a fabulous week and when you need a break, remember you're welcome on Tiki!