Clam Bake!

The first time that the whole of the wedding party gathered together in one place was not until the third night that we had been in town (if one counts the one during which my father and I arrived as the first). The second night some of us had dinner at that Spanish restaurant. Oh, but that third night! A staple of my very early childhood was trips to my mother's family in Connecticut, and the typical form of social engagement there and then was the clam bake. As we were to see many of those relatives for the first time in years, it seems appropriate that even in Florida the event would be a clam bake. My first question and last question was on the possible attendance of Elvis Presley. I got a maybe, but was disappointed.

Obviously a clam bake entails the eating of clams in various forms, and in each they were delicious. Lubricating conversations were two tasty beers, one being a tangerine ale (which I repeatedly avowed was good for you) and the other being Yuengling (which was too much fun to say given that we were in Sarasota, evidently the winter home of the Ringling Brothers/Barnum & Bailey circus). We had it all: clam cakes, chowder both New England and Manhattan and all the little neck clams one could eat. I regard them as the pistachios of the sea. The mechanics of eating them are effectively the same.

Easter

I have three things going on today. This morning, I went to Easter Mass at a local Catholic church. In a little bit, I'm going to visit a former roommate for Easter dinner. Then tonight, a second dinner here at home with an indeterminate number of people being invited by my current roommate.

Now, I hadn't stepped inside a Church (except to vote) in a long time. I can't remember the last time. It's been years, for sure. Today I went though, at the behest of my mother. I was resistant to the idea, but actually I had kind of been waiting for a nudge to go. It was a good experience, actually. I may try to make a habit of going again.

How A Small Dinner Becomes A Party

Well, around mid-day yesterday my roommate told me that some people would be coming over the next night. That night, it became that a group of people were coming for dinner. Tonight, perhaps by no one's conscious doing, it went from dinner party to very nearly just a party. Dinner was served, but was not confined to a table. Liquor was served independently of dinner. Anyway, it's fine.

The food was pretty good, although it was not all to my ordinary tastes. There was rice, some kind of bean soup, some kind of vegetarian meat substitute, fried bananas and plantains, a carrot and onion thing, and cake. Alcohol, as I said- beer, white and red wine, vodka, whiskey.
The parties here tend to have a great deal of European expatriates and therefore a certain amount of conversation in foreign languages. Not understanding some of the conversation can be a social hindrance, but I didn't observe a problem tonight.

Anyway, a good time was had by all, unless someone didn't have a good time but kept it to themself.