Some meals I’ve had out. Had to help out mom and dad with medical appointments down in RI. Dinner at Spaghetti Lane in Barrington, RI. Simple Italian-American, absolutely huge portions. Fish and chips for dad, sausage and broccoli rabe spaghetti for mom, red sauce spaghetti and broccoli rabe side for me. I wished the pasta had been cooked 1 minute or 2 less.
Another trip down to RI for yet another doctor’s appointment. We had lunch at Miku sushi in Barrington. It’s adequate, but they are really nice people and they always treat us well. Sashimi/nigiri/Cali roll for me and dad, pork katsu bento box for mom.
Mom and dad came back with me and spent a few days with us in Arlington. We had to have a meal at Szechuan’s Dumpling, one of their favorite places. It was REALLY crowded, but somehow the food wasn’t as good as the last time we went (it’s been a while). We shared a calamari dish, spicy fish filets (no photo), beef with rice cake for Spring Onion (no photo; too much green stuff in there for him, which he meticulously picked out 
), sauteed pea pod stems, veggie fried rice, tofu with broccoli (nearly all eaten before I remembered a photo).
We went up to Gloucester for St. Peter’s fiesta as guests of friends who have close ties with the festival (one of the women’s relatives was a founder of the Greasy Pole). We had lunch at Oak to Ember. We loved this place a few years ago when we had dinner with other friends and somehow, the food fell a bit flat, at least for me. I had a very bland eggplant sandwich (the only photo I took). Everyone else seemed happy but B told me afterwards he was a bit disappointed. Watching the Greasy Pole made up for it, though and the company was great.
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My brother and his family came up to RI for the 4th holiday. We all converged on Barrington on the 3rd and headed out to Blue Water Grill, a just-ok place but we picked it because we could get a reservation for 9 and my nephew wanted oysters. Well, as we’re heading out, I noticed that the sky had turned very purple. And next thing you know, we get caught in the wicked-est rain storm/microburst in memory (and remember how many times I’ve been to Iceland). As we’re driving (in 2 cars, us in the front), an enormous pine tree branch falls right in front of us. It definitely would have crushed our brand new EV (which just a few days earlier had sustained a substantial scratch when it was parked near Whole Foods in Arlington…thankfully, the guy found us). We got text notifications that both our house and my parents condo lost power and so we forged ahead to the restaurant, which still had power. A scenic 10-minute drive turned into a terrifying trip in whipping rain during which we had to pull over because the visibility was 0%. We finally made it, the adults so freaked out but the kids all hungry. The food was adequate but we were just grateful to be together. We came home to find the power on but our garden shed was destroyed by a neighbor’s tree. We’re just glad our house was spared because others in our and neighboring towns weren’t so lucky.
We cooked in for a couple of meals, had one last very mediocre dinner on Saturday at Trafford in Warren, which matches our previous experiences but again, they had a table for 9 so we jumped on it. No photos.
This past weekend, we decided to visit Halibut Point State Park. We arrived in the early afternoon and scampered down the rocks, looking for a spot with plans to have a later lunch at the Lobster Pool afterwards. And then I heard screams. Close to us, I saw a woman shaking a man who was flat on his face on the rocks and screaming his name. There was a young girl with them. I was the closest to them, while B and SO were exploring and I yelled out, “my husband is a doctor!” and then 3 of us start running towards them. B told me to call 911 and he continued running towards them. Very long story short, it wasn’t clear if he passed out and then fell over, or just fell. I’ll avoid being graphic, but it was not a pleasant scene. I coordinated with the first responders to locate us. There couldn’t have been a worse location for a medical emergency, because the family was right near the water’s edge, so lots of rocky terrain for first responders to navigate with a large guy on a stretcher. Once they arrived, we kept a respectful distance, but we couldn’t leave until we knew they got him out of there. We were in awe of the first responders. We were very close to driving their car and the 8-year-old to the hospital but then the woman got in touch with a friend who could help. She and I hugged numerous times and we all tried to comfort the little girl, who was distraught. What started out as a wonderful day at the sea became a terrifying situation for that little family. The 3 of us were very rattled, to say the least. We are hoping for the best for them (there were specific signs that made B very concerned for the man). We pushed ahead to the Lobster Pool, where we had our wedding feast 15 years ago. We were both disappointed in the small too-mayo-y rolls (we’re getting spoiled by Blount Clam Shack in Warren RI) and SO though his haddock fish bites were too dry. Honestly, I think we were all too freaked out by our experience to enjoy anything but our cold wine and beer that we BYOB’d helped soothe our nerves. We headed towards Bearskin Neck to try to salvage our day, stopped by a beach to skip rocks and play beach bocce. We walked over to Bearskin Neck where the monthly Art Walk was taking place, unbeknownst to us, which was fun and festive. We really needed it. SO needed his blue gelato - who gets blue gelato?! SO does, that’s who! 
We’re ready to have an uneventful weekend.
