Worn Out

Took the family to what is normally our favorite restaurant, Los Tios Grille in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, Va. The food is good and the staff are friendly, but it is becoming doomed by its own success. Since it expanded, it is more popular than ever. If you don't get there by 7PM on the weekends, you have to wait for a table. We got there in time, but it was very hot inside. Maybe the AC isn't working for the newly expanded section yet. Then we had to wait too long for our food. And it is very, very loud. My ears are a little sore. They have zero soundproofing and lots of open space, so the noises resound all over the room. All that and we had to keep track of a very-active 3-year old. The chairs are slippery on the slick floors: just as I was warning my son to sit nice or he would fell -- he fell and smacked his head.

It felt so good to sign the check and get the heck out of there tonight. The evening breeze was heavenly! It will be a while before I go back there on a weekend night.