Short trip was satisfying

We went out to eat at a restaurant in Richmond over the weekend. There looked to be three or four occupied booths. Those customers had already been served. We were told that they were short a couple of waitresses as two of them had gone home sick at the beginning of their shift. There was only one person ahead of us and one couple behind us so we elected to stay.

It took a few minutes before they seated us. Then another five minutes or so before they took our drink order. After another 10 minutes the drinks arrived and our food order was taken. No one else came in while we were waiting. My point is that they didn’t look busy enough to justify a long wait.

About a half hour later I got up and asked the waitress about how much longer the wait was expected to be. She assured me that our order was almost ready. A few minutes later our meals finally arrived. It had been almost an hour since we walked in the door. I’m still not sure why it took so long or what a shortage of wait staff had to do with anything. It seemed to be more of a shortage of cooks rather than a shortage of wait staff that was causing the delay. We did tip generously to make up for their lack of customers and to let them know that we weren’t upset with how long everything took.

This was the first time that the pandemic tried to ruin our plans. We are cautious about where we dine. Most of the time we get food to go and head for the nearest park. We have both been fully vaccinated but that is not as much of a guarantee against the virus as we had hoped for. The vaccine does seem to keep people from dying of the virus, so it is better than nothing.

After enjoying our meals we stopped at a nearby park and wandered through the rose garden. The plants were in full, magnificent bloom. Roses of every size and color were carefully showcased. Sadly, most of them had had the scent bred out of them in exchange for a variety of blossom shapes, color combinations and sizes. The one that advertised a honey fragrance was close enough to the path that I could lean over and inhale its sweet aroma. The marigolds lining most of the beds were a pleasant contrast to the more formal roses.

We talked about adding roses to our flower beds. I typically don’t have a lot of luck with them. They tend to bloom for two or three years, then the grafted stock dies. The root stalk will take over and look magnificent for another year or so then, poof, it dies. Do I really want to condemn a beautiful plant to a certain death?

We didn’t have enough energy left to explore the rest of the park so we stopped at a local store for groceries. The ride home was peaceful and quiet.

There had been a time when Richmond was just part of the drive to Mom’s house or to visit her in the hospital. It had seldom been an end unto itself. Even after all this time, it felt odd to turn north instead of south.

Even though our dining experience was less than optimal, the food was still good. Stopping by the rose garden was a wonderful diversion. Maybe next time we head over that way we can explore a little more.