Location: Galveston
Our 1/2 day off yesterday was much needed - but today, it's back to work. Our goal is to finish all of the Pergo flooring in the house, as well as all of the quarter-round trim, and paint. After we leave today, our hope is that the next team only has to install the kitchen counter top and appliances, and the house will be just about ready for Mr. Castro.
We get to the house and settle into our routines - Don & Judy finish up the quarter-rounds, while the 4 of us girls work on the flooring.
The Ipod is playing, and it's fun to stop every so often to take a break and have some fun. Anne & Sherri pose for a picture - not realizing that I have the video turned on them...as you watch this video - watch Anne's face, when the "light bulb" comes on and she realizes she's being videotaped. What a hoot!
At some point in the afternoon, I step out the front door to throw something in the debris pile, when I hear a commotion going on in the front yard. There is a gentleman being held down by 2 men - my first thought was, "Oh, this man must be hurt - and he needs help." Being the good Samaritan that I am, I start walking over to see what I can do - when it dawns on me that the voices I hear are raised in anger....Hmmm....let's reassess this situation. Are the 2 guys mugging the man on the ground? What is going on? As I stop and listen, I realize that the 2 men are accusing the man on the ground of stealing something - and they've pinned him to the ground until he confesses.... I run back into the house and inform the rest of the team and tell Gina to call 911 - tell them there's a disturbance at the house. The police arrive within 10 minutes - 2 squad cars, as well as a motorcycle cop - and we all watch from the windows of the house as this unfolds in front of us. All we could figure out was, the guy on the ground had been at a Marshall's store up the street and had suddenly began running as fast as he could. The 2 other guys saw him take off and assumed he was stealing something, so they gave chase. They didn't find anything on him, but they went back to search the alley to see if he had thrown something out during the chase. They ended up taking the guy into the station for more questioning. Such was our excitement Thursday afternoon!
Around 4:00 pm, all was done in the house - our part anyway - and we cleaned and packed up, admiring our work. Okay, we're not experts, but I think it looked pretty damn good when it was all said and done.
After heading back to the church, we quickly all cleaned up so we could go out to dinner. Tonight, we dined at Gaido's. Oh. My. God.
Gaido's has been in business since 1911...when visitors would arrive by boat just for the experience of dining here. It was voted in the the top 25 restaurants in the United States for seafood, and it won the 5-diamond award for excellence back in 1993. After Hurricane Ike, Gaido's had a "free lunch" for first responders - set up right outside on the sidewalk. Pretty cool.
I had the famous Wade Watkins Shrimp Bisque - which is one of their signature dishes - and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Never before did I seriously think about licking a bowl clean - but that is how good this soup was. For my entree, I had the salmon prepared "Michael" style - encrusted in parmesan cheese - along with au gratin potatoes. Again, this was excellent. I was getting so full that several times, I would have to lay my fork down, rest, and then resume eating. I really wanted to finish, but the portion was so large there was just no way.
Tonight was church night. Four members of our group went back to Crockett Place UMC (our home away from home) for services there, while Sherri and myself went to Island Church. I had attended Island Church one Sunday last November - and had such a wonderful time with my friends, the Rodriguezes, that I wanted to return. The pastor at Island Church, Rusty, is an avid surfer, so the church has a unique way of welcoming visitors:
The music was awesome and the message that night was a study of Proverbs 15. I really enjoyed the message, and it is always enriching for me to experience difference religious services. We sat with Johnny and Christina, and then took a photo after church.
After church, we rushed up to our favorite nightly hangout, Ben & Jerry's, and got there at 8:59 pm. They were already CLOSED! What?! No ice cream tonight?! That's just not right - how will we survive??!! We left, in a state of ice-cream withdrawal. It wasn't pretty.
Back to Crockett where we all began packing - some of the group is going home on Friday, while I will be checking into a hotel for one night to extend my trip.
Peace.
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