One bonus during our recent trip to Australia was meeting up with my first real girlfriend, back when I was in college. That was a long time ago, considering that I graduated in 1978. Actually, I met Miriam in Cleveland during a Summer of 1977 Internship when I agreed to give her a ride to a class at the Cleveland College of Jewish Studies. She ended up marrying here Australian pen-pal and has lived here for well over 30 years.
The 3 of us met up at Brighton, hung out at Miriam's home for a couple hours, and then shared a very nice dinner at The Camden Hotel, a local's establishment in the West Caulfield area. In some ways, our meal was beside the point as we caught up, were surprised how much we remembered, and maybe forgot. In some ways, Gayle enjoyed this even more as it was a life window about her husband that she previously didn't know much about. Miriam's husband had a schedule conflict, which was unfortunately an important missed opportunity.
In Australia, if the menu says Entree, it really means appetizer, while a Main is just that. We weren't all that hungry and found that the Thai Chicken Skewer Entree looked good and with the right amount of food to go with the wine and beer selections.
The local atmosphere was relaxed and pleasant, although the service was a bit on the slow side. I think they might have had some kitchen issues, as I noticed later that the food deliveries where originating from a food truck parked outside the establishment. But the food was really good and of course waiting on the food was "A-OK" when the conversations were so stellar. read more