Trip for my Grandfather, part 2

I had set the alarm to go off at 5:45 the next morning. Well I guess mom was already up, she knew I had to run that morning and that we wanted to leave the hotel by 8. So I consumed my pre workout drink, which I had already prepared the night before. As I was getting dressed, the alarm went off. But there was something different about this alarm. It wasn't the radio. It wasn't a buzzer. It was a church bell. The type with that familiar rhythm that ends with the loud chime. One chime for every hour. And I recall when I was a boy, my grandfather kept a clock on the wall that would go off with that same sound every hour. It woke me up dozens of times. I swear my grandfather had one last joke to play.

So it was off to the chlorine gym. I covered 6.5 miles in 50 minutes, definitely good progress. A sweaty mess, I went to the lobby to grab breakfast, which was alright. The turkey sausage wasn't great, it could've been seared better. The cheese omelets were fine, at least they tasted like actual eggs.

After a shower, I put on my suit and we drove a half hour south to pick up Linda and drive to Byles Funeral Home in New London. My grandfather had conducted dozens of funerals in this home. Now it was his turn. When my turn came to speak, I told the alarm story and prayed the prayer, which I've posted previously. The pastor did a great job. One of the things I remember is when he was talking about thinking of a word that defined my grandfather and then applying that to our own lives. I heard words such as positive and resilient. Mine was servanthood. There were maybe 40 people and I was the youngest by probably 15 years.

We had our luncheon at Filomena's, the same place where the tribute had been for my grandmother 19 months earlier. There were not as many people, maybe because it was during the week, maybe it was the weather. But it was a nice simple occasion, the only thing missing were photographs.

Mom and I made quick shopping trip to the Crystal Mall, before we drove over to the Springhill Suites. I have to admit I was ready to get to the hotel and change clothes; I was feeling pretty spent emotionally. I didn't cry during the service, but I got kind of close when we sang "How Great Thou Art."

The room was kept quite clean, management included a bag of mini-shortbread cookies which became my dinner the day I left! The front desk was quite personable. The gym was pretty decent with dumbbells going up to 50 pounds, several TVs and pieces of cardio equipment.

We watched an episode of Dr. Phil before going to dinner at the Engine Room in downtown Mystic. We decided to sit at the chef counter, which provided a great view of the kitchen. It took a few minutes to get a server but Leah was wonderful, very personable and knowledgeable. She let me try two samples of beer, and I'm thankful, because I didn't really care for the $10 amber ale.

We were given a free sample of chicken and waffles. Now I've never been a big fan of this dish, but if they all tasted like this one, I'd eat it every week. Sesame honey hot sauce, maple butter, perfectly crisp skin, moist thigh meat, crunchy waffle. Amazing job.

Now they only have five or so burgers on the menu but on Monday, they have a burger and draft beer special for $15. I got a French onion burger and a German helles lager. Holy crap. The dry aged beef was cooked to between medium rare and medium, pink with a hint of gray and a nice amount of juice coming out, which I let drip all over the fresh cut fries. It came on a soft Martin's potato roll with Swiss cheese, frenched onions, and herb aioli. I couldn't put the burger down; it was gone in about four minutes.

For sides, I had the tangy potato salad which had some fresh herbs and whole grain mustard, which kept it from tasting too creamy.  And the fries were fresh cut, the way God intended. Oh and did I mention the house made pickle spear that wasn't too sweet or sour?

My dessert hormones were kicking in at that moment. I went for the monkey bread with the bourbon caramel sauce on the side. We got a tower of monkey bread inside a super hot mini cast iron skillet. If anything, it could have been cooked a minute less, I wouldn't mind it a little more gooey.

We got our bill, and I have no idea why, but dessert was on the house. We got back to the hotel and mom realized she left her purse behind. Thankfully, they held it for us at the desk.

When mom and I got back to the room, I turned on a Wes Montgomery jazz guitar album and we played a little bit of the 80s and 90s trivia card game that mom had bought me. I did a lot better, she wasn't too into pop culture by the time I was growing up.

The next day... not much to say aside from lifting weights in the gym and getting bumped off two planes out of Providence. I got first class... but no food. Three Jack and gingers.

We got bumped off another flight and we had to settle for flying to Norfolk at 10:45 pm. So now I need to pay for a freaking Uber to get to the Newport News airport. And we couldn't get our luggage, the staff had already left for the night. What a disaster. But it could have been worse. We nearly ended up stuck in the Charlotte airport overnight.