Post Delayed One Month By Photos - Dang Verizon!

In full swing: I guess local restaurants made all the money they needed on Valentine’s Day. By Saturday, they were all tuckered out, as we discovered when a friend who ranks highly at the state’s largest business magazine came to visit.

After rejecting TakoSushi because the wait was too long, we headed downtown. We should have headed to Washington Road. Asking to be seated after 9 p.m., but long before 10 p.m., at three restaurants - Blue Sky Kitchen, Nacho Mama's and The Boll Weevil - was akin to asking for a free meal. Two places refused to seat anyone else, and one offered us only dessert menus.

It didn’t seem an unreasonable time frame to us — about what you’d get if you went to a 7 p.m. movie and then headed to dinner. What do you think?

We ended up at IHOP at 10:15, starving and pissed, dragging our 3-year-old with us at a time we always swore we never would. It's nearly 2 hours past her bedtime. But we required certain considerations for our friend, who is a vegetarian with food allergies, and I thought IHOP, having such a diverse menu, could meet them.

(L) My elbow, although it reminds me of something else.
(R) Doodle-bug up past her bedtime and loving every minute of it.
She takes her coloring very seriously.

Emmie was the only person in our party not irritated with the entire
city of Augusta by the time our food got there. She was having a blast.
Do you see how everyone in the background seems to be glaring at us?
I think they wants their own princess Belle dresses, too.
Especially that guy on the right.