Return to the Bar — SoCS

Dan Antion

March 30

Last week was the first week in many years that David and I did not meet at the bar. Not that I was on a non-alcoholic sabbatical, but I wasn't here. One of my fears, when I realized I'd be missing this challenge, was that Linda G. Hill would offer bonus points. Fortunately, she didn't, but she is offering bonus points today. So, David and I are here. We are ready to eat, drink and catch up, and we are ready to tackle the challenge of Linda's Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: "plain/plane." Use one, use 'em both, bonus points if you get 'em both in your post. Have fun!

Linda G. Hill

If we were having a beer, you'd want to catch up.

"Welcome home, Dan!"

"Thank you, David. It's good to be back, but it was good to visit my old hometown for a few days."

"Including those stairs? Those looked daunting to me. I guess nothing in Pittsburgh lies on a level plane."

"Well, the football and baseball playing fields are both level surfaces."

"Were you there? I didn't think either sport had started yet."

"We toured both Heinz Field and PNC Park."

"Hey guys. Welcome back, Dan. Did you discover a new favorite beer in Pittsburgh or are you still drinking Modelo?"

"I was drinking IC (Iron City) Light while I was there, but Modelo will be fine."

"IC Light. That sounds a little pedestrian, Dan."

"It's a very good light beer, David. It's the only light beer I actually enjoy. and you know, when in Rome."

"What were you washing down with that beer? I'm guessing the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church doesn't serve beer at their fish fry."

"I took Faith to Carmody's Grill. My brother and I discovered that a couple years ago. It's right on Neville Island where our hotel is."

"What did you have to eat?"

"Faith had fish tacos, and I had their meatloaf special."

"Meatloaf? Now that's some good old plain food"

"I love that stuff."

"Here are your drinks, guys. A John Howell's Special for the, oh what's the opposite of pedestrian? Snooty? And a cold Modelo for the plain old guy."

"Dan, earlier, you said you toured Heinz Field. Isn't that a historic reference?"

"Yes, yes, David, it's Acrisure Stadium now, but it will always be Heinz Field to some of us."

"I suppose we'll be seeing doors from both stadiums in the near future."

"Oh, I think Thursday Doors will be stuck in Pittsburgh for several weeks."

"Where else were you? I mean where else that had doors?"

"We also toured the Carnegie Science Center."

"Museum doors? That doesn't sound very exciting."

"They have a gigantic model railroad setup, and we also toured the Titanic Exhibit, and some life-size models of modules from the International Space Station."

"Ha ha—Doors from Space!"

"Did you have anything else interesting to eat?"

"We had breakfast at Eat'n Park."

"Of course you did. Anything we couldn't predict from reading your books?"

"We went to a small Mediterranean restaurant that we discovered when visiting the city for my mother's funeral."

"Did you go bowling?"

"We did! We also played a round of mini-golf."

"Two more level plane playing fields. Who won?"

"Faith beat me at mini-golf—and that surface was hardly level. I had a higher score while bowling, but we were both pretty bad."

"Did you watch any basketball? I think Pittsburgh was one of the sites for the first round of March Madness."

"It was, but we were out for the only games I cared about, Iowa State and the WVU women—neither of which played in Pittsburgh."

"What about UConn?"

"Not a fan. I mean they're doing well. I think they have a good shot at repeating, but still not a fan."

"What did you watch? It's hard to avoid basketball that first week."

"I travel with a Roku device. Faith enjoys film noir, so we watched The Big Sleep and Key Largo."

"Bogart and Becall—good choices."

"I love Bogart movies. Last night, I watched Dead Reckoning."

"What's on deck for tonight, assuming your still in the mood?"

"Maybe the Maltese Falcon."

Series page on Amazon

If you like character driven stories with strong female characters, magical realism, action, suspense, mystery, a bit of family sarcasm, and a slight religious undertone, you will enjoy these books:

Knuckleheads
The Evil You Choose
When Evil Chooses You
Secrets held Against Evil