June.
The month brings June Bugs, sometimes dramatic early morning thunderstorms fueled by the northward flowing humidity from the Gulf of Mexico and of course graduations and brides.
It is the latter that brought our son Grant and Kaileen, his girlfriend into DFW Airport direct from Laguardia Airport and their home in the borough of Queens, New York. Kaileen's cousin was to be married in the next suburb over, and Grant and Kaileen (as well as her family down Houston way) had scored an invitation. So it was to be a little North Texas getaway for the New York couple, our visitors from the East. It was late Thursday, well nigh unto Friday when they landed in Texas, and already Friday morning from whence they came - the 'city that never sleeps'. They were greeted with hugs and then the directive came from this pair of transplanted Texians; "Take us to a What-A-Burger".
I am not that familiar with Kaileen's proclivities, but I know for a natural fact that Grant is compelled by his natal roots to crave a native Texas burger, the beloved What-A-Burger, as soon as he sets a boot on Texas soil after an absence of either days or in this case, months. The What-A-Burger near our Garland house is open 24 hours, but after 11 PM it is drive through ordering only. We pulled in to the drive-thru lane a few minutes past midnight, and we had four cars in front of us. I had to figure there was a lot of folks just arriving back in Texas on this late Thursday night that had to get their What-A-Burger fix just like my passengers.
We unloaded their small amount of luggage and plucked from the patented orange and white striped bags the craved comestibles wrapped in their distinctive orange paper. It was a late dinner (or technically an early breakfast) meal, some conversation and then our adieus were said and everyone was off to bed.
After some reasonable amount of sleep, the young ones arose and inquired about a coffee shop to start their morning. Sue suggested she take them downtown to Garland's Square as she thought they might enjoy Roslyn's. The downtown Garland area has seen some upgrades since Grant graduated from high school, but the area was still known and recognizable for him, but Kaileen marveled at the spacious, rustic wooden floored interior of this late 19th century building that was now serving coffee under Roslyn's shingle. Grant pointed out a flyer for a musician scheduled for a solo gig in the coming days at Roslyn's; "That guy used to ride my bus." Welcome home man.
After coffee, they enjoyed the morning touring the vintage clothing shop next door and wandering inside a boutique to look around. I got a text at work letting me know that I was to meet the vacationing party for lunch at an Ethiopian Restaurant. That plan was later changed to meet at Intrinsic barbecue & brew house off of the square, where Kaileen's parents and brother were to join us. We lunched, we laughed, we licked our fingers and eventually we left. I went back to work, Grant and Kaileen borrowed Sue's car and headed to the hotel which was accommodating the wedding guests, where they enjoyed an afternoon swim on this, our first 100-degree day of 2018.
The young'uns brought the car back to our garage in the evening after requesting a home cooked dinner of beef stroganoff. Delighted with their company, we cooked up a nice meal, served it with salad, a crusty bread and a bottle of young Beaujolais red wine. I love a good meal, good company around my table and an empty bottle shared between us.
I was far from disappointed.
But wait! June not only brings June bugs and brides, but in this case it brings a birthday! Sue had baked a batch of Birthday Cupcakes for Kaileen (a few days after the fact). Following dinner, Sue lit a candle and our/my gift to the birthday girl was that we didn't sing. A wish was made and the tall, single pink candle was extinguished.
The next morning had us all meeting at Cafe Brazil with Kaileen's family for breakfast, including her Grandmother who flew in from Florida for the wedding that afternoon. It was a table chocked full of fine folks, coffee, crepes, migas and a breakfast relleno. A few cell phone photos to mark the occasion and then we dropped off Grant and Kaileen at the hotel where they would travel together to the wedding and reception and then fly back to NY, NY on Sunday morning.
June has brought us a few good memories and an enjoyable time. Let's not wait for summer 2019 before we do something like this again.
The month brings June Bugs, sometimes dramatic early morning thunderstorms fueled by the northward flowing humidity from the Gulf of Mexico and of course graduations and brides.
It is the latter that brought our son Grant and Kaileen, his girlfriend into DFW Airport direct from Laguardia Airport and their home in the borough of Queens, New York. Kaileen's cousin was to be married in the next suburb over, and Grant and Kaileen (as well as her family down Houston way) had scored an invitation. So it was to be a little North Texas getaway for the New York couple, our visitors from the East. It was late Thursday, well nigh unto Friday when they landed in Texas, and already Friday morning from whence they came - the 'city that never sleeps'. They were greeted with hugs and then the directive came from this pair of transplanted Texians; "Take us to a What-A-Burger".
I am not that familiar with Kaileen's proclivities, but I know for a natural fact that Grant is compelled by his natal roots to crave a native Texas burger, the beloved What-A-Burger, as soon as he sets a boot on Texas soil after an absence of either days or in this case, months. The What-A-Burger near our Garland house is open 24 hours, but after 11 PM it is drive through ordering only. We pulled in to the drive-thru lane a few minutes past midnight, and we had four cars in front of us. I had to figure there was a lot of folks just arriving back in Texas on this late Thursday night that had to get their What-A-Burger fix just like my passengers.
We unloaded their small amount of luggage and plucked from the patented orange and white striped bags the craved comestibles wrapped in their distinctive orange paper. It was a late dinner (or technically an early breakfast) meal, some conversation and then our adieus were said and everyone was off to bed.
 |
| Sue, Kaileen and Grant satisfy their craving for a Classic Texas What-A-Burger after arriving from New York, NY. |
After some reasonable amount of sleep, the young ones arose and inquired about a coffee shop to start their morning. Sue suggested she take them downtown to Garland's Square as she thought they might enjoy Roslyn's. The downtown Garland area has seen some upgrades since Grant graduated from high school, but the area was still known and recognizable for him, but Kaileen marveled at the spacious, rustic wooden floored interior of this late 19th century building that was now serving coffee under Roslyn's shingle. Grant pointed out a flyer for a musician scheduled for a solo gig in the coming days at Roslyn's; "That guy used to ride my bus." Welcome home man.
After coffee, they enjoyed the morning touring the vintage clothing shop next door and wandering inside a boutique to look around. I got a text at work letting me know that I was to meet the vacationing party for lunch at an Ethiopian Restaurant. That plan was later changed to meet at Intrinsic barbecue & brew house off of the square, where Kaileen's parents and brother were to join us. We lunched, we laughed, we licked our fingers and eventually we left. I went back to work, Grant and Kaileen borrowed Sue's car and headed to the hotel which was accommodating the wedding guests, where they enjoyed an afternoon swim on this, our first 100-degree day of 2018.
I was far from disappointed.
But wait! June not only brings June bugs and brides, but in this case it brings a birthday! Sue had baked a batch of Birthday Cupcakes for Kaileen (a few days after the fact). Following dinner, Sue lit a candle and our/my gift to the birthday girl was that we didn't sing. A wish was made and the tall, single pink candle was extinguished.
The next morning had us all meeting at Cafe Brazil with Kaileen's family for breakfast, including her Grandmother who flew in from Florida for the wedding that afternoon. It was a table chocked full of fine folks, coffee, crepes, migas and a breakfast relleno. A few cell phone photos to mark the occasion and then we dropped off Grant and Kaileen at the hotel where they would travel together to the wedding and reception and then fly back to NY, NY on Sunday morning.
June has brought us a few good memories and an enjoyable time. Let's not wait for summer 2019 before we do something like this again.
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