weekends, empty nests and summertime in the south

Our soldier had a three day weekend drill at Ft Pickett this past weekend, so Queen Felicia and I had the place to ourselves.
Since he is now contracted with the Army/ROTC, he spends most of his Reserve duty with the Platoon LT. learning the ropes for the rapidly approaching time when he will be a newly commissioned "butter bar" 2LT himself.
They experienced training for urban warfare, in particular room by room building clearing tactics. Some of this was live fire, or with live ammo being fired over their heads to add a sense of realism and bring home the serious aspects of their future jobs in the Army.
He thoroughly enjoyed himself, considering this to be valuable training and not the 'busy' work they usually do during weekend drill.

So, even though he is away at school and the Army 10 months or so per year, (and out with his friends most of the rest of his time here at home) this weekend was atypical for the summer months.

What does a young (at least at heart) couple do when they have finished all of their household and yard work beforehand?
Let me clarify that, Felicia still looks young.
Maybe by virtue of being with her so do I, more likely people think I married a really young honey.

Friday we went to a movie, rare for us of late due to the general lousy quality and high price of most flicks. There are a couple of budget houses locally that we frequent but this time we paid the full Monty.

"Oceans 13" was a very enjoyable summer "Pal" movie.
It was light on plot but had continuous action, and was quite funny.
Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon (his disguise nose brings the biggest laugh in the picture) Bernie Mac, Ellen Barkin, Andy Garcia, Eliott Gould and a really good comic touch from Al Pacino as the 'bad guy' made me wonder if this was indeed the last of the "Oceans" trilogy.
As you may know the concept is a re-visitation of the famous "Rat Pack" movies of the sixties that featured Sinatra, Davis, Lawford and Dean Martin.
The background music was great, with hints of the big band Vegas music from the original era and some modern pop as well.
The crazy Vegas atmosphere and the allusions to Oprah also brought big laughs.
We heartily recommend it.

Saturday evening was spent with our local AA baseball team, the Carolina Mudcats.
Queen Felicia has finally found a way to enjoy baseball with me.
Watch it from the lap of luxury!
The restaurant at the stadium, Cattails offers a unique dining and game watching experience.
The food is truly gourmet (gourmand?) and allows you to watch the game in air conditioned comfort high above the first base line.
A fixed menu offers a choice of appetizer, salad, entree' and desert, with a pre-selected wine for each course, all for 45.00.
When in the child rearing years this would have been impossible, but now it's payback time for the Queen.
I have to admit, I miss hearing the crack of the bat, the pop of a well placed pitch in the catchers glove and the hoots and razzing from the fans against the opposition.
We did catch the last couple of innings down in the stands, and the home town nine even won this one, with a couple of dingers and a good job of relief pitching to save the win.

This coming father's day weekend however we will be sitting down in the stands with the real folks eating dogs and burgers, with perhaps an adult beverage thrown in to lubricate the tonsils.

You can't have Park Avenue every night!