Text 38701, 65 rader
Skriven 2010-06-05 14:14:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: end o picnic 256
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I got up at 2 with an eye to checking out the blue raspberry
Italian ice situation, but the back door, which is the way to
get to the kitchen without disturbing Carol, was locked. Settled
for a Lite beer instead, reminding myself to try again later.
Got the remainder of a tolerable night's sleep.

Charlotte and Carol both had places to go and were up and out of
there early, in the 7 range - I roused myself for hugs and then
went back to the land of nod for an hour, then did the e-mail
but in fact forgot about the blue razz.

Dale and Gail showed up right on time at 9, and after chatting
a bit and saying goodbye to Don, we were on the road. It was a
smooth ride all the way to lunch and beyond.

Virginia Barbecue Company is at the edge of the Randolph-Macon
campus in Ashland (though this isn't saying much - I guess the
atmosphere doesn't get collegy for a couple more blocks - the
neighborhood is a commercial/residential mix, not too affluent,
with a used-car lot next door, which we parked in after not
finding an appropriate restaurant lot). We got there right at 11,
when they open. It's more a joint than a restaurant, with a room
where you order in front, a small dining room with 10 or 12 seats
to the right, the kitchen being straight ahead out back. Not much
choice - you get Virginia style (tomato sauce) or North Carolina
style (vinegar sauce) pulled pork or Texas pulled beef. It's probably
pulled in big batches days before but is still pretty decent, sauced
to order. My pulled beef (p.s. the Texans don't really pull beef) was
rather lean brisket (I got only one tiny precious morsel of fat)
soaked in an oniony broth - it tasted more Jewish than Texan but
was enjoyable, especially with substantial lashings of the
hot version of the Virginia sauce, available on the wall of hot
sauces by the ordering counter. I also had a little cup of green
beans (cooked with ham, the list said) - it was underflavored,
light on the ham, boiled mostly to death, and no bargain at 1.25
for about 4 oz.

They don't serve beer, so I had iced tea, which was okay. You
get one free refill, so for dessert I had half a cup of sweet
tea, which was very sweet.

Traffic got bad as we approached Quantico - we turned on
"traffic and weather on the 8s" (103.5) and discovered that
there had been an accident in Dumfries, just north of us,
but that it had been cleared. The going was slow up to the
big Springfield intersection called the Mixing Bowl, and then
the rains hit. I was glad that the preferred route back to
Casa Shipp on the GPS took us within a mile of the house, so
I didn't feel guilty about asking for a ride all the way home,
else I'd have had a soggy bus and/or train ride that would
have taken an extra hour or more.

On a whim I immediately checked my credit card statement on
line. Everything was hunky-dory except, of course, for the
Hog Wild one, which (luckily I've kept the receipts) was for
$40, only the waitress rang it up as $53, so I had it voided
and redone. Well. The $40 + tip went through. But now the
$53 one has been resubmitted. It is listed as "pending," but
now it looks more and more like real fraud. Too bad - the
muffaletta looked pretty good. [Note several days later - the
bank caught it, and the charge was reversed.]

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