Two Courses, Two Parks

Knowing that the temperature will drop by twenty degrees tomorrow was all the motivation I needed to find an excuse to be outside today.

So when a friend suggested lunch, I responded by suggesting a fun lunch. When he asked what that meant, I said it meant eating outside, so we headed to Church Hill and Alamo BBQ.

Since my last visit, here, new items had been added to the menu, including blackened tilapia tacos which sounded good to me. My friend got the brisket, which I already knew was terrific.

Part of the pleasure of Alamo dining is its al fresco ambiance, but with winter supposedly on the way, the potential for cold could present some dining problems sooner rather than later.

While we were ordering, my friend mentioned that they would soon need walls and a space heater and, lo and behold, we were told that they're expected to be installed later this week. Alamo all winter!

Once our names were called, we took our big brown bag and walked up to Jefferson Park to find a bench overlooking Church Hill's bustling streets.

We watched a mom and two boys walk towards us and all of a sudden the older boy (9 or 10 probably) drop and roll all the way down the long, steep hill. Ah, the highs of childhood.

My tacos were bursting with black beans and corn, the tilapia blackened with just enough heat. I tried some of Friend's jalapeno mac and cheese, an interesting blend of creamy and hot.

The funny part is that jalapenos make him hiccup, so he was doing his best to pick out half of them, hoping to reduce his hiccuping by half without completely giving up the little bits of hot green goodness.

My friend wanted the details on my recent dating exploits and I tried to glean male-mind information from him. I'm way out of practice on this and I'm having a hard time figuring out what means what and why.

He was no help at all. When I asked him why these guys jump to the conclusion that I'm so awesome, he says, "Because you are." Whatever. No help whatsoever.

On that useless note, we left and drove over to Mezza's for some Gelati Celesti; our thinking was, how many more days are left in 2010 where ice cream will seem like a good idea?

I had the chocolate decadence (but not in a cone, because they were out of cones. I asked about the ones sitting on the ice cream case and was told that they were old. Like months old? No, maybe a year old. Okay, no thanks then).

My friend got the chocolate peanut butter over a scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough and we took our scoops over to the little park behind Crossroads Coffee. The last time I'd been there, a guy was playing bongos for the crowd, I told him.

No bongos today, my friend observed. There was a little white dog walking precariously along the top of the rail fence. I feared for a fall, but another girl whipped out her phone and started snapping pictures of him doing it. I'd like to think she wasn't hoping for a disaster photo, but you never know.

I'd also like to hope for more 75-degree days, but that's just not realistic. Not that reality has ever been my strong suit.