Monday, August 18, 2025

The Weekend Rundown

Good Monday morning friends. We had a fun weekend catching up with college friends, floating, boating, wining, dining, and just being together. Linking today with Holly and Sarah for their regularly scheduled Monday morning weekend recap party, and here's how ours looked-

Two couples we've known since way back when we were fresh faced college students in beautiful East Tennessee, made a trip to the lake to spend the weekend. The guys were fraternity brothers and have remained close…

Their girlfriends turned wives have also always been close...

Everyone arrived around lunchtime and we sat on the deck chatting, then decided to move ourselves to the water because the air was toasty. 

One of the girls brought her famous super-secret-recipe of a savory cheesecake for an appetizer and it was delicious as always. One of the guys is in the food business and brought some pre-cooked ribs for us to warm up on the grill for dinner. Of course about an hour before dinner the skies opened up and it rained buckets well into the night.  

We have had so.much.rain. but no matter, we warmed the ribs in the oven, added roasted vegetables, deviled eggs, and a pasta salad and we ate in the dining room instead of on the porch as planned. It wasn't a late night as everyone was tired. 

Not too tired for this yummy key lime pie though. This recipe is a no-fail keeper. 

Saturday morning dawned bright and beautiful and hubs made bacon and eggs on the griddle outside. We dined al fresco, then loaded up for a day of boating. With kids back in school and sports taking over the calendars of so many, the lake in August hums a quieter tune.  

We love it. We packed the coolers with assorted snacks and beverages, then motored back to a cove, dropped the anchor, and whiled away a few hours on the water. 

A small but somewhat black cloud rolled in, but we weren't worried. The forecast was for maybe rain later in the day, but that black cloud started to grow and we decided to pack up and head back to the dock. My daughter1 was going to drop by with her kids to say hi to the friends who've known her all her life so the timing was good. 

Not quite good enough though. When we came around the bend the sky was ominous. Luckily we were already wet because we had to fly through a downpour before coming out into sunshine on the other side. It was the kind of rain where you can't see your hand in front of your face, but hubs managed it like a pro. 

Daughter1 stopped by the dock with two of her three littles. One grandson is playing soccer and one is playing baseball and never the twain shall be conveniently meeting at the same park, back to back. C'est la vie. Her hubs took the mancub to baseball and she did the soccer run. Little Miss was along for the ride. 

We had dinner reservations at a nice local restaurant that evening. Hubs and I have only been there once before and we enjoyed the food. We've heard it can be a little loud, but as hubs said, 'well, we're a little loud', so we booked a table. 

It was absolutely fabulous. We were seated and presented with a chef's treat which was the most delicious little morsel of cacio e pepe shortbread topped with a dollop of parmesan aioli cream. 

We raved about them so much the chef sent us out another bite. He seriously should package and sell these. We also shared their 'Wellington' poptart starter, another delicious item. The whole evening was pretty much perfect. 

From the food, to the service, to the friends around the table it was a solid ten. Bonus fun fact Nikki Haley was a few tables over enjoying her dinner too. We didn't interrupt to say hello, but we absolutely considered it.  We came home and stayed up too late playing our favorite card game Swoop. 

Sunday morning one couple got on the road right after breakfast, but the other hung around long enough for a boat ride and an early lunch on the lake. 

Once we were back at the house they loaded up their car and hubs and I planted ourselves on the couch for an afternoon siesta. 

It will be a week of regrouping here, changing all the beds, washing towels, getting groceries and meal prepping for another round of company this weekend. It's still summer here and we're not mad about it. 

So what kind of fun did you have this weekend? Are you in fall mode or still hanging on to summer? 

19 comments:

  1. "A perfect 10 of an evening! Delicious food, stellar service, great company—and a surprise celebrity sighting! (Resisting the urge to say hi to Nikki Haley took serious restraint. 😆) Ending the night with late-night ‘Swoop’ sessions? That’s the cherry on top! �♠️✨"

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  2. What a great weekend with friends! Glad the weather mostly held out and that you still had lots of time in the water. The restaurant sounds fabulous as does all the food that you had over the weekend. Glad you were able to rest a little on Sunday. There's nothing quite like relaxing after a time of lots of activity and fun! Have a great Monday!

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  3. You are and your hubby are the best hosts! What an amazing weekend despite the rain- so much fun!

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  4. That is my idea of a perfect weekend! Too bad I didn't have it! Ha! You make meals and entertaining seem so effortless. I must know - do you overthink the menu or is it just that easy for you? I feel like I hem and haw. That restaurant looks so good - I love creative but good food on a menu the pop tart idea - wow! I have only seen the sweet versions but I love wellington. We had a restaurant that had a vegetable wellington that was to die for.

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    1. Meals this time were fairly easy because one couple brought the main for Friday night. I love doing sides. I try to keep the lake menus pretty easy because no one wants to be cooking while everyone else is out having fun!

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  5. That does sound like a fantastic weekend. How great to have a catch up with college friends, it sounds like everyone had a great time.

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  6. Oh that is so much fun- meeting friends and having a good time! That savoury cheesecake looks delicious. Thank you for sharing! :)

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  7. Looks like a wonderful way to spend the weekend.

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  8. Sounds like a perfect summer weekend!! That savory cheesecake looks delicious. I’ve never heard of the card came, Swoop. I’m going to look it up. I love the quality time you got to soak up with dear friends this weekend.

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  9. What fun even with all the twists and turns of weather. A savory cheesecake...hmm. I might have to investigate that. That restaurant experience was amazing. I enjoy special treats from a chef. We are in prep mode here for our oldest and his lovely for a short visit. We will celebrate their 24th Anniversary while they are here. Enjoy your preparations!

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  10. Oh, what a fun time with college friends! I may need to hear more about this cheesecake dip and that key lime pie looks fabulous! Hope you are continuing to heal and I bet so glad to be out of that boot!

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  11. That sounds like such a fantastic weekend with friends. All your food looks quite tasty too.

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  12. Looks like a super fun weekend. And a yummy one too!

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  13. All those happy faces leads me to believe a good time was had

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  14. You had the best weekend! I’m so glad you got to catch up with longtime friends.

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  15. What a fun time you all had. Old friends are just the best kind of friends! Kudos on recognizing Nikki Haley and allowing her to enjoy her evening. All the food sounds so good and the photos are great! xo

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  16. Time spent with longtime friends is a special kind of fun! Sounds like you all had a wonderful time together, despite the showers! We had quite a bit of rain during our own weekend at the lake which was a bummer but we managed to pull off our own fun, too! Have a great week!

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  17. I agree with Laura above ^ - time spent with longtime friends is a special kind of fun. We are looking forward to some of that kind of time this weekend!!

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  18. How awesome was that. Looks like you all had a wonderful time and lots of good things to eat and drink. Sorry about the rain that came. I really enjoyed all the photos. So happy for you.

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