Today is World Pasta Day and I'd like to share with you a little pasta story. Last week, for our 24th wedding anniversary, my wife Kelly and I took some time off for a Staycation or should I say a Playcation. The week was full of fun with family, some household chores, shopping and a mini road trip to the Cleveland area. It just so happened that Kelly has been dying to watch a Brown's game in a sports bar atmosphere with a Brown's crowd and the Browns were hosting Denver last Thursday. We had a couple of places picked out east of downtown as we wanted to avoid game and concert traffic in downtown Cleveland. Why not attend the game in person? The tickets we had a chance to buy were $125.00 each and were for seats waaaaay up high and the weather forecast called for rain. Besides we wanted to visit with Debbie, Kelly's matron of honor. Debbie invited us to stay for dinner. It just so happens she had a pot of spaghetti sauce with meatballs and Italian sausage simmering and a bowl full of cavatelli. It's kind of her specialty! A couple of helpings of pasta and garlic toast later and we were down for the count. Pasta has been known to induce the need for an after dinner nap for me. But before we could nod off for a brief snooze, dessert was served. Chocolate cake! At that point Kelly and I looked at each other and realized we were having a much better time hanging with our friend. Plus the food was so much better than anything we could have found in a sports bar.
Normally we would make the drive home from the Cleveland area but we had additional plans that would keep us in town for a couple days. We had arranged for a hotel for our three day, two night stay. Ultimately we were so stuffed from the incredible pasta meal we finished watching the game from our hotel room. I know we sound like a couple of lightweights but it just felt like the smart thing to do. And give us credit. We stayed awake through the post game commentary with smiles on our faces and our bellies full.
One additional note. We had pasta dishes from restaurants each of the next two nights and pasta leftovers Sunday. If you are sensing a pattern, you are correct!