Fishermen on Shawnee Lake / Antipasto at Rizzo's!

Thursday was expected to be our first sunny day after more than 10 days of rain. My husband and I were talking about what to do with this day, when he came up with a grand plan: we would drive my little blue Chevy Sonic down to Shawnee State Park, near Schellsburg, and after that, we'd enjoy a lovely anniversary meal at Rizzo's in Windber.

We had not been to Shawnee for a number of years, nor to Rizzo's. It looks like our last Shawnee trip may have been in October 2018. Our last visit to Rizzo's was likely in July of 2019, the day after my big sister Barb's funeral. (Pardon me if I mention that those few days were just a blur; I wasn't in the best frame of mind, as it looks like I did not even photograph what I ate that time!)

So we were stoked. My husband and I were both wearing new shoes. His was a jogging shoe. Mine was my new Scarpa Gore-Tex trail runner. The Lake Shore Trail is reportedly around 3.5 miles long; he jogged it in about 50 minutes, while I walked it in around an hour and 40 minutes.

We started with a very heavy fog, which drenched every spider web in diamonds. But then the sun came out and it was as charming an October day as you can ever imagine. Shawnee is further south than we are, and so the colors are just starting there. You may see some nice foliage beginning, and a boat with fishermen hanging out amid what I must say are some VERY fine reflections on the lake, which was still as glass.

It is not hard to follow the Lake Shore Trail, and in fact, if you miss it, and just sort of stroll around the lake, you'll do just fine. The restrooms in the park are still open, and the bathhouse too. I walked inside and found like-new conditions. The restrooms, changing areas, and showers are gorgeous; it is QUITE civilized (though the beach is closed - somehow we've never arrived during the season when the beach is open, so we've never swum there).

I got back to the car a hot and sweaty mess, but we had a few minutes to sit around and cool down before we changed clothes and headed off for our meal at Rizzo's. We had plans for a low-key visit, eating in the bar rather than the formal dining room. He wanted to be there by 3 p.m., but we were running a tiny bit late; we got there by 3:30.

And I want to tell you that our visit to Rizzo's just may have been a BEST EVER. We ordered a large antipasto (see photo in the extras!) and a large spaghetti to eat in, and we ordered two quarts of sauce (with four meatballs each), to go, for later. The food was wonderful. They treated us very special, like FAMILY. AND we have two quarts of sauce and eight meatballs for later! Oh nom!

Our waitress was so lovely. We chit-chatted with her a bit. My husband offered, "My dad asked my mother to marry him right here, in this restaurant." Waitress: "Did she say yes?" Me: "Of course!" Waitress: "And where did HE (my husband) ask YOU to marry him?" Me: "Well, from his hospital bed. It's a LONG story."

And so my husband told her we were actually there celebrating our wedding anniversary (which is actually in the coming week or so). Then he gave her the short version: about how he was dying, and how he did not have any health insurance, and how my PSU health insurance would begin for a spouse on the day of the wedding, and how we got married quickly and I drove him to the hospital on the same afternoon, and how he had a miraculous recovery a week later, and how we got to live happily ever after! Hooray! *Whew!*

Of course, there were references to the healing power of Jesus, and also to the power of true love as a healing balm. "I like to think it was true love that helped save him," I teased, as I smiled at the man I love. The waitress was listening, wide-eyed, by the end of it all. She said it was a very good story.

She disappeared into the kitchen, and when she came back, the whole crew was with her, and they gave us a free dulce de leche dessert, which we ate, though we barely had room for it. They were singing: Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary to us! It was so nice and cheery, and I clapped and clapped, and I told her how good it felt to be back.

Probably in self-defense, she scooted off again, came back, and she tucked nearly a whole loaf of Italian bread and about 20 butters into the box with our takeout sauce: "Since you've come so far, I thought I'd put some bread in," she said sweetly. It was just lovely. Every bit of it was right-on. Yes, we were treated like family; actually, maybe even better!

It's been a while since we've had a day as marvelous as this one was. We are grateful for the sunshine. We are grateful for each other, and for the second chance we've had at getting such a wonderful life together. And we are truly grateful for the gifts of outdoors, exercise, and beautiful, delicious food.

I've got two photos, so let's have two songs. For my fisherman fishing amid the colors and their reflections, I've got the Wailin' Jennys, with Come All You Sailors. For the gorgeous antipasto in the extras, I've got Grand Funk Railroad, with Some Kind of Wonderful.