Afternoon Date

Yesterday, as part of our Independence Day week-long celebration, Larry and I went on a date. He "bagged" mowing the lawn and we drove to College Hill in Providence for the 2:00 p.m. showing of Moonrise Kingdom. This new film that was just released on June 22nd in Rhode Island has a cast of big stars: Bruce Willis, Francis McDormand, Bill Murray, Ed Norton and Tilda Swinton. Harvey Keitel also had a small role. It was primarily filmed in Rhode Island on Prudence Island and in Tiverton. As we were coming home one day, Larry and I came upon a big "hull-a-ba-loo" on Fogland Beach near our house. The neighbor's field across from the beach road was filled with cars, many people were on the beach and there were people directing traffic. We had no idea what was going on, but discovered later it was filming for this movie. We have waited for its premier mostly out of curiosity. We weren't disappointed.

This film is not your normal blockbuster movie. It's more of an "artsy/campy" film. It will probably go to DVD quickly as a result. It's a period piece from 1964-1965. The acting was excellent and the movie introduced two wonderful young actors: Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward as the twelve-year-old lovers who run away to be together. Both children were precocious but characterized as "emotionally disturbed". They discovered that they are kindred spirits, and desperately want to escape their sad lives. In fact, every character in this movie was portrayed as unhappy and dissatisfied with their lives. But, the characters were entertaining and definitely not boring. It must have been fun to play these roles with a straight face, because we interpreted them as "tongue in cheek".

The director did an excellent job portraying early 60's mentality, and as Larry noticed, authenticity of props. There was lots of use of technology: a portable record player, a tape recorder, ham radio; and he noticed the knobs and units looked true to the period. The soundtrack was very, very interesting as well, and I actually downloaded one song by the young girl's favorite artist: Francoise Hardy (Le Temps de L'Amour). We enjoyed this movie, and recommend it as a change of pace.

After the movie, we drove to my father's old neighborhood in the Smith Hill neighborhood of Providence. Using our GPS we found Candace Street and drove the entire length, which wasn't that long, to try and remember his family home. The last time I visited the house, I was either twelve or fourteen, I think. I don't remember much about it, and the neighborhood did not help rekindle much recollection.

All I remember was an over/under duplex (I think) with a long, narrow alley next to the right side of the house with a chainlink fence to separate it from the next house. I thought I remembered a tiny back yard, but that may have been our Aunt Helen's house before she moved to Greenwich or Greenfield. We only visited our father's family once a year, so I don't remember much about them. I do remember the kitchen was dark and our Uncle Dan ate raw oysters in front of us. He'd shuck the shells and slurp down those slimy suckers with a loud nasty sound. It was disgusting to me then. I think I realized which house was his on our tour, but I cannot be sure. My sister, Jeanne, said she remembered it instantly. I did not. I saw the last house on the right with an alley like I remember, but the house, yard and asphault lot next to it were not recognizable to me. Oh well. At least I was there.

Lastly, we drove a little over two miles to a restaurant recommended by Eric, my personal trainer, Los Andes. Eric told me the neighborhood wasn't that great, but the decor inside the restaurant was very nice. He was right. One of the benefits of dating in the afternoon, especially going to "the city", is that one can actually find on-street parking without much trouble. We only had to take one large turn around the College Hill area because of all the one-way streets going the wrong way to get a very convenient spot sans parking meter close to the theater. We pulled right up in front of the restaurant, again without a meter, and could see the car from our table. We were the only patrons, as the restaurant opened at 4:00 p.m., and the time was 4:10.

As the only patrons, the manager/owner introduced himself and we told him it was our first visit. I mentioned that a friend had recommended the place to us, and that made him very happy. We were well taken care of by our very friendly young waitress, and the food did not disappoint.

Apparently, Los Andes is known for its ceviche. I recently made ceviche, so I had to try it. Basically, the ceviche we were served in a martini glass was lightly fried and deliciously seasoned. The muscles, shrimp, talapia and calarmari were very tender, and the seasoned mayoinnaise dressing on the side was really good. We enjoyed this appetizer very much.

Larry and I both ordered entrees from the specials menu: he had a delicous prime rib with some kind of pesto on top made with cilantro I think. Larry says it was not like any prime rib he's ever had. It was really tender and very delicious. It came with roasted vegetables and he asked for mashed potatoes, which were red bliss and also very good. I ordered the lamp chops which were also really tender and delicious. They were coated with a wonderful yogurt sauce and thinly sliced cucumbers. I have never tasted such a sauce and will definitely order this again. In the end, I had to eat the chops with my hands because I just had to get all the meat that I couldn't cut away with a knife! My roasted potatoes were lightly salted and delicious as well.

Of course, as I have to do whenever I try a new restaurant, we had two desserts: flan and "tres leches" cake with two espressos. The flan was nicely dense and good, but the cake was fabulous! We will definitely come here again and highly recommend you visit as well. Shortly after 5:00 p.m., a man was setting up a microphone and seat. We didn't stay for the live music, but will plan to include this on our next visit. Oh, and they had an extensive wine list, mostly Chilean and Argentinian wines, plus a full bar.

All in all, it was a great date that ended with our Toyota Solara's convertible top-down: riding home with the wind in my hair and air blowing up my sundress. Ah.