Last night, the member of our quilt group that moved upstate was back in town. So I drove to Delray Beach, where another member of our quilt group moved, and we walked over to DaDa, a cool restaurant in an old house. I gave myself plenty of time to get there, which meant I got there early. When I leave and give myself precisely the amount of time it should take to get there, there's inevitably a slow down.
My Delray friend showed me the remodeled downstairs of the apartment building, and I got a coffee out of the upscale coffee machine. We went up to her apartment to wait for our other friend. The last time I was in her apartment, in 2019 just after she first moved there, I couldn't imagine doing what my friend had just done: downscaled, sold her house, and moved to an apartment. Now I have done the same thing.
The website said that the restaurant didn't take reservations, so we were surprised to get to the restaurant to find that they did. Consequently, all the lovely outdoor seating was taken. However, they did have seating inside, and luckily we got to sit way in the back, in a small room, and even more luckily, very few people were seated back there with us. The front rooms were very crowded and noisy, and I am so glad we didn't have to sit there.
I was also glad that we didn't have to find another restaurant; they all looked full as we walked by them. In fact, I was astonished at the crowds of people everywhere. While I know that we're at the height of the South Florida tourist season, and while I know that many people have decided that the pandemic is over, it was discombobulating being around them all.
The meal was delicious. I decided to order the special--yellowtail snapper, which is one of my favorite types of fish. It was served with a citrus buerre blanc sauce, which would have made anything delicious. We decided not to eat dessert there, in favor of the ice cream shop down the street. The ice cream shop had candy too, but we didn't buy any. I loved all the different flavors of ice cream, but I limited myself to one, the almond joy, which was exactly how it sounded: coconut, chocolate and almonds, all woven together.
As I drove home, I thought about all the people we had seen. As I drove by the restaurant district of downtown Hollywood, I didn't see similar numbers of people, although it was much past the dinner hour by then. This morning I woke up thinking that perhaps I should use one of our COVID test kits in the coming days. I'll have to research the optimum time.
It was good to see my friends in person, which happens much more rarely these days. In some ways, I'm grateful we've had our monthly Zoom sessions--we didn't have to catch up on 2+ years in one evening out.
In fact, I keep thinking about how much easier Zoom is, in so many ways: less driving, less noise, fewer crowds, less irritation (at least, as long as the technology is going smoothly). I think about all the other settings where I've assumed that meeting by way of electronics is a pale imitation: school classes, church. I've thought they are a pale imitation, or something so different that we shouldn't compare them at all, like comparing apples to tricycles.
But maybe, they're better in many ways.
I'm still grateful we had a chance to meet in person. I'm still grateful that we have multiple options. And I'm also glad that the whole culture is figuring out how to make connections when making connections is a challenge.
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