heading out for father's day

father's day 2020 was a little different from mother's day 2020.  for some reason, the governor decided somewhere in between that it was safe to open restaurants and shops and things...even though we're now number one in the country when it comes to COVID cases. winning!

the hub really wanted to go out for a nice family meal though, and while we couldn't snag a dinner reservation at his restaurant of choice - fleming's in pasadena - we did grab one for a late lunch.  it was at an odd enough time that we were able to request seating outside on the patio, which i much preferred to sitting inside an enclosed restaurant with other patrons.

there were lots of social distancing guidelines in place, like a QR code to scan for digital menus and markers placed outside at least 6 feet apart for parties to wait for their tables.  hand sanitizer was available at the front desk, and directional arrows were placed on the floor to direct what traffic there might have been.  the hosts and hostesses were all wearing masks and all servers wore face shields and disposable gloves.  i suppose it was about as safe as it was gonna get.

i didn't take a lot of pictures, because i was just trying to relax and have a good time with the hub and the kids.  and i have to admit, it was nice to share a meal with our little family somewhere other than the back yard.  the hub and i both opted for the father's day special prix-fixe meal, which included salad, main entree and dessert.  i only took a picture of the entree because it was fabulous - a bone-in ribeye steak served alongside a perfectly cooked lobster tail.

outside, i managed to get the girls to stop and pose with the hub for a quick masked photo.

back at home, we presented him with some fun cards and the one present we could think of that he would like.  he's notoriously difficult to buy for, although he's always grateful for anything he receives and usually discourages us to get him anything at all.  he'd mentioned a few weeks ago that he wanted the backpack-style yeti cooler, and so i'd latched onto that tidbit of info and filed it away for later use.  the bean had drawn him this funny mask out of a piece of styrofoam she'd fished out of one of the boxes in the garage, and he loved it:

he liked all of the cards - one from me, one from the bean, one from the old lady and her special friend, and one from the dogs.  heh.

and as expected, he loved the yeti.

i realized that it had been quite awhile since we'd taken a picture together, so i cornered him as he was enjoying a cigar poolside.

funny thing...even though it was father's day, he'd gone that morning to pick up a curbside order for something i've wanted for a long, long time.  check out MY father's day present!

while he headed off to the lounge for one of his semi-regular visits to check up on things and make sure all is well, i plugged that bad boy in and got it all set up.  i downloaded the app, named him R2 and hit the button to start him on his trial run around the house.  cocoa was...a little apprehensive about the newest member of the household.

she and teddy seemed to have switched personalities - while she's usually full of bluster and bravado, something about R2 didn't sit well with her and she avoided him at all costs.  teddy, on the other hand, who's usually a pretty big scaredy cat, was super curious about the new robot and stayed nearby for the duration of that trial run.

i wonder how they'll feel when D2 arrives.  D2, of course, is R2's robot mopping sister who's on backorder and is scheduled to join the household any day now.

that's gonna be fuuuuuuun!

finishing off father's day

we wrapped up father's day with dinner at the meat cellar in claremont.  the hub and i had been there for lunch before, but they've relocated into a bigger facility since our last visit.  their new spot used to be a hometown indie grocery store that i used to visit when i worked in the area, so i was kind of curious to see what they'd done to the place.

the old lady had called ahead to make sure we could get a table, being a holiday and all, and was told that the wait was about 30-40 minutes.  not too bad.  except that by the time we got there, the girl seemed super confused and a little frazzled and quoted us an hour and a half before we could be seated.  ugh.  and so we did what anyone else would do:  head to the bar.

while the hub and the old lady's special friend went with the old fashioned, i opted for "the boss lady," which sounded cool until i remembered that i hate the taste of fresh mint.

the old lady ordered the "coachellarita," which also sounded cool until she realized that there were bitters in it, which she also hates.  heh.

oh well.  we drank them anyway, while chatting with the bean and waiting to be seated.  i kept looking around at the place, remembering how it looked when it was still a grocery store.  they did keep their meat counter in this corner where the actual meat counter used to be:

and then when we were finally seated (at a table that was open and available the entire time we'd sat there waiting), the butcher came over to show us the wagyu tomahawk steaks he had on hand.

we ended up ordering it along with a flatiron steak to share between the five of us, and while it was being prepared for us we ordered a charcuterie board (because we love our meat and cheese plates).

fresh cornbread and butter was a welcome sight.

and the old lady was happy to keep the wine flowing.

the chef sliced up our steaks for us for easy serving, and while both were delicious, we all agreed that the less expensive flatiron steak was actually tastier than the super pricey wagyu beef.

brussels sprouts caramelized with balsamic vinegar, bacon and hazelnuts.

garlic mashed potatoes.

we had mac & cheese too, but it was far away and i never got a shot of it.

when we were all done, the hub dared the bean to pick up the giant bone and try to chomp off a piece of meat from it.  she was all for it.

and in an attempt to atone for the long wait we'd endured for our table, our server brought us a cup of their spicy chocolate pudding.  and while it looked innocent enough, this stuff served up a major kick that came through as you swallowed a spoonful.  the bean was...not a fan.

we shut the place down, basically.  they were scheduled to close at 9, which was what time we were finally being served our meal.  by the time we were done, the place was pretty much empty.

while i thought they'd done a nice job of remodeling the old space and the food was good, i don't know that i'd be in much of a hurry to go back.  between the clueless hostesses and rather surly bartender, they need to work on their customer service.  hopefully they'll last long enough to work out their kinks and develop a good solid customer base.  considering the lack of decent restaurants in the area, i hope they make it work.

a day at the races

so because our forecast for father's day weekend showed it as cooling down into the 70s and cloudy, i figured the beach might not be the best place to spend our day.  and since we'd already been up in the mountains the week before, that was out too.  and then facebook came to my rescue again as a sponsored post from santa anita race track popped up on my timeline, with a few different packages to pick from.  brunch, day drinking and horse races?  sounded good to me.  luckily, the hub agreed.  and even though we've driven past that race track a bazillion times over the years, we'd never been there together.  actually, the last time i remember going to watch the races there was probably when i was even younger than the bean.

we arrived just after noon, making our way through the crowds and finding our way to the entrance.

once we'd checked in, we were directed to the elevator that would take us up to the clubhouse for our brunch buffet.

we were given wristbands and a hat for the hub, who was already wearing one.  so he plopped it onto the bean's head for safekeeping.

from there our fabulous brunch buffet experience kind of slid downhill fast.  we were standing in a long line that we thought would lead us to a staffer who was going to seat us at a table, but no one seemed to know what was going on.  there were people scurrying around everywhere like chickens with their heads cut off, no one at the check-in table had given us any instructions, and so we just stood there waiting for help.  finally the hub went ahead of us to find out what was happening, and a few minutes later he texted me to tell us that he'd found a table.  we were sharing it with another couple who smiled but quickly picked up their stuff and skedaddled, and after putting our stuff down we headed to the buffet.

now, while we'd checked out the menu online beforehand and thought it sounded good, in reality it was - not so much.  not to mention, there wasn't a whole lot of anything at all.  there was salad with one choice for dressing.  cream cheese and capers for the smoked salmon and no bagels in sight.  pats of butter with not a single roll anywhere to be found.  the pan of mashed potatoes was empty and waiting patiently to be replaced.  there was a pan half full of some sort of fish and another with some very dry-looking chicken, and then some sliced meat in bbq sauce sitting on the table that seemed like an afterthought.  and this was all about 45 minutes into the 2-hour buffet.  huh.

the kids' buffet wasn't much better, with a pan of tater tots, some macaroni & cheese and another pan that looked like it once held some chicken nuggets.  i grabbed what i could and made my way back to the table with this:

oh well.  at least our view was pretty.

and we got to see the horses trot past us on their way to the start line for the second race of the day.

the girls and i headed down to watch the race, which we hadn't bet a penny on but enjoyed watching anyway.

we'd caught a glimpse of the dessert buffet lineup while we were making our plates, so we were hopeful that they would make up for the lackluster food we'd eaten.  too bad it looked like this when we got there:

it looked like they still hadn't gotten around to refilling those mashed potatoes:

and even the salad was completely wiped out.

the kids' buffet was still being replenished regularly though, so most of the attendees were noshing on finger foods to fill up.

and with just one bartender for the entire club court area, the hub loaded up and brought drinks for the rest of us.

the old lady finally managed to score some sweets:

and the bean snagged a plate o'tots for her still-hungry mother.

the old lady and her special friend headed down to watch the next race after taking a few bites of dessert (which wasn't terrible but also wasn't anything special).

and the hub gave the bean a crash course on horse racing, explaining all of the terms in the little booklet and showing her all the fun names of the horses.

we finally got bored enough to leave our table and on our way found that the staff had put out a plate of pb&j on the kids' buffet.

after placing bets for the next race we headed down to watch it from a different vantage point, closer to the finish line.

father's day family photo, courtesy of the special friend.

...and they're off!

we didn't win, in case you were wondering.  no biggie.  we decided to head over into the infield to see what there was to see there, and to watch the next race as the horses ran around us this time.  on o ur way to the tunnel, we came across the horses that the staffers ride when they're helping the racehorses get into position for their next run.

the bean immediately pulled out her trusty sketch pad to do a little drawing.

and i got a quick shot of the hub and his girls.

horse butt.

off to the infield.

the bean sat on one of the benches to continue drawing.

and then she discovered the huge expanse of soft grass that was perfect for relaxing on.

she did get up to watch the horses run by, while the hub went off to enjoy a cigar.

after about an hour of that, we finally tore her away to head on out of there.  the old lady asked me to take this for her before we left:

and then on our way out they both stepped up to compare themselves to the jockeys.

we decided that next time we'd come prepared like so many others had, with lawn chairs and blankets and snacks and things.  although next weekend is the last for the season, with the races not starting up again here until late september.  i guess that just gives us time to get ready and do our homework on how to pick the winning horses, amirite??