Frisco, Texas

Back in Frisco, we head over to the Andrade’s house to see Simone and Leonard Andrade, Tim’s parents and old friends from Hawaii. Got a chance to catch up with them, gossip a bit about our friends in HI, eat some sweet bread and mac nuts, and check out their beautiful home. Loved hearing Leonard talk about the paintings of Hawaii, especially Mt. Olomana, Rabbit Island, and the Koolau Range. Amazing that for 30 years he had the first Saturday tee time at Olomana Golf Course. Also loved seeing Tim’s older brother (and our old basketball coach) Scott, his wife Maristella, and their three kids: Amelia (8), Isabella (4), and Sean (2). Beautiful kids, and clearly well-loved by all.

Though it is hard to believe that they all live in Frisco and not Hawaii Kai, it was so great to see everyone. Another reminder of how important old friends are, and how much better I need to be about keeping in touch.

From the Andrade’s to dinner at Spring Creek Barbeque. Finally. Because LVL doesn’t go for meat, a BBQ meal is a bit hard to justify. This place is a very casual, buffet-style joint serving brisket, ribs, several kinds of sausage and tons of sides, including mashed potatoes/gravy, green beens, mac and cheese, and more. For LVL, nothing more than a baked potato. For me, brisket and ribs, with mac and cheese and mashed potatoes. All in all, tasty, but not everything I had dreamed it would be. Maybe this place wasn’t the best spot in the world, but it was still pretty good. Loved the hot, fresh bread delivered right to our table and the chocolate pie. The crowd was an interesting mix of Latino, White, and Asian families, some dressed like suburbanites, others wearing cowboy stuff.