I drove to Tuxworth Springs at 9AM and Erin and I drove out 78 to the Mountain of Stone. Or as the locals say Stone Mountain. I have not been on the grounds since I saw Maria Parra there with the Big Apple Circus LAST year and I forgot how vast it is. There's antebellum homes and educational centers and lots of walkers. We drove to the base of the walking trail parked the car and with our bottles of water started the climb. I remember Angela saying to drink lots because you are basically walking on stone. She wasn't kidding! It's odd terrain. A path of smooth granite with woods on both sides. There were lots of intricate carvings (you know of the initial variety) from 20-30 years ago, which makes me think that the kids today do not have the same level of patience. Or there are more trolling staffers that won't allow the defacing of the rock. Anyway, there were a bunch of kids from a church group or camp that were RUNNING up the mountain. Um, yeah, crazy!
The best is when we got to the halfway point and there was a sitting area a group of counselors were standing at the top of a small staircase and one counselor yelled to one of the kids, "Miles, why are you walking!" That cracked me up. Mostly because Erin and I needed to take a breather from our WALK.
At the top of the mountain the view is very cool. There is also a little pit stop and snack bar. We sat down on the rock and just took it all in. After 10 minutes or so, we bought a box of popcorn and headed back down. Luckily we found some nice walkers who took our picture since we planned to take photos of each of us and then photo shop them later.
Even though both of us wanted a nap, we got back, took showers and headed to the farmers market and to Kroger to get some groceries for Erin and Steve's Wisconsin Cheese Party. Can anyone say, cheese curds?!
I did manage to sneak a nap in later before meeting Crystal Dickinson at Bajarito's to talk about her experience teaching acting and her impending move with Brandon to NY. Then on to the Hilton and Nikoli's Roof.
My expectation of this place was pretty high, so I have to say that I was a tad disappointed based on that alone. It was very old school and the place was just not that busy. It was white glove service and the waiter was very nice and much more approachable than the dudes at Bluepoint. Kate, Chris and I decided to do the Chef's Tasting Menu which clicked in at $95 a head. There were lots of yummies -- a trio of pieroshkis, sliced scallops with microgreens, halibut, lamb chops and these fantastic cheeses. But I have to say that at that price EVERYTHING should have been OUTSTANDING. I also expected it to be, oh I don't know, a tad more Russian.
It was great to see Kate and Chris and get a cool view of the city. I certainly do not regret the decision to dine there.
T-minus 10 days 'til departure, baby!
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