I talked my friend Lou into having lunch at Boathouse on Sunday. He had been before, but I hadn’t.  We went in separate cars and I was supposed to follow him. I had passed it a few times before and knew about where it was but wasn’t sure how to get there from church.

Lou turned on Riverside Drive and I followed him but he didn’t go down far enough. He pulled over and had me roll my window down, “I think I went the wrong way,” he said.

I followed him in the other direction and we ended up at another place where he told me to roll down my window. “I think I was going the right way the first time … I‘ll follow you,” he said.

I wasn’t sure I knew exactly where it was either but I was getting hungry by this time and headed back the way we were headed the first time!

I kept driving and had a feeling it would be on the left and, sure enough, there it was. When I had passed by it sometimes, I barely noticed anything about it; but when we got out of the car I looked out at the water and the scenery was so pretty!

It was worth going just to sit out on the deck and enjoy the view! When the host had asked us, “In or out?” Lou asked me what I preferred and I did the dumb thing females do, “It doesn’t matter,” I said.

I did want to sit outside but when a woman tries to let the man decide, they decide wrong!

We were seated at a big round table and given our drinks while we took time to look over the menu.  Lou was facing the long wall of windows that led out to the deck and the glare was such that he couldn’t see well, so he moved on the other side.  That made it hard for me to see him when we talked but that was okay - Lou isn’t Brad Pitt or anything.

There were many choices on the menu, but I wanted to try the Lotta Lotta Garlic Chicken for $15.45 with black beans and rice, arugula, pineapple, tomatoes, avocado and feta cheese. I liked the sound of all those flavors together and I didn’t care if it was a lotta, lotta garlic; I sure wasn’t planning on doing any kissing! Lou is just a very old friend. He chose the Trout Almandine for $14.95.

When they brought our meals, I wasn’t sure what to do with mine. The plate looked like what you get when you order fajitas and you put it on a flour shell. But that is not what this was and there was nothing to fold it in.

My chicken looked wonderful and was to the left of my plate. Then there was the rice with the black beans on it. And then it had diced tomatoes in a pile and then the avocado wedges were in a pile. I didn’t know if I was supposed to mix it or not!

I did reach for the hot sauce for my beans and rice! Then I just ate the rest of the things by themselves and I didn’t know what to do with the oil. I had never eaten a fork full of diced tomatoes… was I supposed to put that on top of the rice?

Lou was no help, he was busy talking. In fact, he talked through the whole meal so I was finished way before him. While he talked, I was so busy listening that it didn’t matter how I ate my meal. I just looked down and I was through.

It was delicious, I just think I did it wrong.  I also never tasted or saw any pineapple. Eating the avocado by itself was a little bland, so I did try to scoop up some beans and rice with it.

Lou said his meal was good, but he had been talking the whole time and barely got to eat it. We had been there for quite a while and the waitress came by to take my plate away and asked Lou if he was through. He let her take his plate and said he was finished, but I don’t think he was.

She asked if we wanted dessert and Lou said he would. He ordered a chocolate brownie/ice cream dish and I told him (like females do) that I would only have a bite.

I took three, it was good.

When we were heading out, I saw over the bar area a fast drip coming from a pipe and into a bin. Lou said that when he had first tried the place he thought it was a leak and they told him it had something to do with the oysters they shuck. I looked for oysters raining down but didn’t see any. It confused me so I asked Lou questions of “how” and “why” and he didn’t really know.

It might be interesting to have oysters there, but I like oysters when I am near the Gulf or a Bay. I may try them next time after I figure out the drippy thing. The food was good and the atmosphere was nice. I liked the place.

I would like to visit the Boathouse again and next time sit out on the deck.