A dream come true for me is to hang out in restaurants, watching the food come to life as servers match diners' expectations with the chef's vision on a plate. It's such a vibrant atmosphere, in a restaurant, and so much happens between the front door and the kitchen.

My friend Kim and I got that chance last May, when a student from our Ditch Your Gear class asked us to attend one of the opening parties for her new venture, The Whiskey Kitchen. The only caveat? That we come cameras in hand.

It was a great evening. Kim and I were both testing our new Fujis, and having the small camera helped me to feel unobtrusive as we shot servers, food and guests. We mingled as the house got ready to open up, and the excitement in the air was thrilling to witness. Neel joined me later for a special Opening Party dinner and we split an appetizer before ordering crab cakes and a beet burger. The strawberry shortcake did. me. in.

After our families left (Kim's family joined her for dinner too.), Kim and I stuck around for the remainder of the evening as the room got more and more lively. People were eating, people were drinking, people were laughing. You could feel the energy and excitement of the new venture thrumming through the air. I was thrilled to be a part of it.

If you're local, The Whiskey Kitchen is located at 2149 General Booth Blvd. in Virginia Beach. They're open seven days a week and in addition to any spirit you could desire, they have an astonishing variety of craft beers on tap.

Oh best laid plans. Remember how I was going to tell you what I did last summer? Well, that doesn't start today. No internet all day yesterday has left me behind and scrambling. There were also those storm clouds gathered above. I love going to my river when it rains.

It started pouring in the minutes before I was meant to leave to pick Cal up from school yesterday. I was debating leaving early when my phone buzzed with a Flash Flood Alert. It scared the beagle so much that I had to drag her from the top of the stairs before I left. She was shaking like a leaf. Watching the water bucket from the sky, I did decide to leave early, and turns out, it was a good call.

I've written many times about the flooding our city endures during storms (I've done a quick search for you here.), and each year, it seems the situation gets worse. The storms are bigger, the roads flood faster and deeper, and the water stays higher longer. Cal's school canceled all afternoon activities, and even as we pulled out of the parking lot, I was dreading getting home.

I bypassed the freeways (I could tell they were already backed up) for surface streets. I still think this was a smart choice, even though we drove through standing water most of the way. We'd decided to pick Neel up on the way home (no way our elderly Mini Cooper would cope with this high water), and we had inched our way close to the medical school where he works when Cal said, "whoa."

The intersection in front of us was totally flooded out, two cars stranded with water up to the roof line.

Time to turn around.

I headed a few blocks further into town before trying again, but no. Another intersection blocked, this time by a police officer who was parked in front of more flooded cars. At this point I really wondered how I was going to get to Neel and get us home. We tried one last time and were the last cars to make it through this final intersection, as an officer only let vehicles turn and not go straight. He was setting up flares to block the road as we just made the last green light.

It took an hour and a half to get home, and I was cranky for the rest of the night.

I woke up at 1AM to hear heavy rain falling again, and when I got up at 4:45AM, it was pouring. Our street was flooded, tunnels were flooded, freeways were closed, and I can't for the life of me understand why they didn't delay school. We got Neel into work no problem, but when I took my normal route home, I had to turn around again.

We're meant to get more rain throughout the day, and the beagle won't come out of her crate. Time to tuck in.

summer flashback :: whiskey kitchen

rain delay {still + life}