A Day Without Mothers

At some point on Sunday, B leaned over and said "should we feel guilty that we aren't spending Mothers' Day with our daughter?" and I said, "we spend every damn day with that child." And I meant that in the most non-mean and non-cynical way. I love "that child" dearly and I am so incredibly thankful that she is ours.  Nevertheless, we spent this weekend galavanting around town while my parents spent time with (spoiled) LB.

On Saturday, we had lunch at Farmstead, where you can either go meaty or cheesy.  We went meaty, and now I'm a little sad.  Next time, we have agreed that we will just get a huge cheese platter and beers.  The meatiness was quite good, and we overindulged.  I really like Farmstead, and we have always had enjoyable slow service, which we stretched out even more with dessert and coffee.  After lunch, we wandered through Fox Point and College Hill and looked at all the historic houses, and I tried out my limited knowledge of historical architecture on B, "it's Federal!," "it's Second Empire!"

But, we didn't stop there, we went to the Cable Car and ate candy and saw a movie about ne're-do-well Scots and whiskey.  Then we waited a long time for the bus, and finished up at the Ivy Tavern for beer and seafood chowder-and please believe me that I would not eat chowder in a bar unless it generally had really good food.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, the child behaved perfectly, weeded the backyard like a pro, ate healthy food, and accomplished various other unbelievable feats.

So, Sunday we went out for more on the West Side of Providence.  We started at Mr. Lemon for Italian ice, which is exceptionally soft and good.  I don't know exactly where we were, but let me just say that a "bad neighborhood" in Providence doesn't have anything on a "bad neighborhood" in Baltimore.  We got a little bit lost in the area around Providence College, and I saw the most heinous college slum I have ever seen: an entire neighborhood that was a debris field of red solo cups, shirtless white guys with lacrosse sticks, and rundown houses.

Next stop, New York System in Olneyville, home of the Hot Wiener.  We got some hot wieners and a coffee milk.  The fries were just okay, but everything else was excellent and it was a great old-school place.  We finished up at LaSalle Bakery for a pizza strip (red sauce on pizza dough served a room temp, delicious) and a cupcake.  We went home to a happy, tired child, and all was good.