A Holiday Before the Holiday

No meetings on the calendar and no extended family. Nothing required of me on this holiday but a good walk, some shop browsing, and some delectable yumminess to keep me energized. I ended up having a few hours of play on my floating holiday last Thursday. We couldn't get passports done for a variety of reasons, so that is still on the "to do" list but tackled a load of other things, so the wander about town was earned. It's lovely to have even small breaks from routines. While my home town is not a premier tourist destination, it has a few highlights. Here's part of my afternoon in pictures. 

I started the afternoon with lunch with DH at a dive bar, that recently has done a bit of sprucing up. No need to spruce up their  burger and sandwich menu, though as it always has been quality. I had the Rook burger with cheddar, green olives, and thousand island dressing. DH had a chicken cordon bleu sandwich. We shared onion rings. I was so hungry and didn't think to snap until I had eaten a few bites-sorry, but it was that good. 

A walk along the river  was perfect to burn off some of my excess calories. I hadn't noticed the high water marker before, indicating where the summer before I was born the Mississippi river crested 29.5 feet, flooding the entire levee. The river is about average right now, maybe a bit low since we did not have much snow, but look at the massive difference.

Finally, some buds are starting to pop. I need to make this walk again in a month, and then mid summer and fall, just so I can watch the changes. 

 With new river walk, an outdoor pavilion was built to hold concerts and other outdoor performances. DD2's music school did a few concerts. She performed on a windy September morning and wrangling the sheet music and keeping the stands from falling over took effort. Live and learn-I'm sure it will get figured out and many people will gather to enjoy whatever is being performed. Here's two angles.

After wandering in the various downtown shops, and getting an idea for unique gift giving for the year, I ended my afternoon with a fresh cup of drip coffee, Ethiopian blend with a splash of cream at the newish cafe that is a part of a visual arts center. I went here with DD2 the Saturday between her February flu and the night I succumbed so I didn't appreciate it in full as I did this afternoon.The hours go until 9:00 and besides coffee and tea, they also have  beer and wine menu so it would make a quaint date night venue at reasonable prices. 

Today I'll try not to indulge in too many jelly beans and chocolate rabbits. If the weather holds out, we may just head back to the river this afternoon. Happy Easter everyone.