TWO April birthdays for me this month...
I've been celebrating my birthday the end of April for as long as I can remember.
Well, I don't recall
"the early years" very clearly, but I'm sure my parents observed the day....eventually with a cake and ice cream.
And, for at least the last 5 years, I have been aware that certain restaurants will provide an annual complimentary birthday meal.
But, today, I had an April discount on a meal not due to it being MY birthday.
The occasion instead, was because it was
Ruby Tuesday's 44th birthday.
It wasn't a free meal but they did offer a 44% discount on my total tab.
[Some restrictions apply. Like it was only available today. Sorry.]
That's almost the same as a 50% BOGO (Buy One Get One free) they used to offer.
I chose to have garlic mash taters for one side dish and then I was able to add RubyTuesday's great full salad bar as my second side.
I have not wandered down a salad line in a long time but recall I used to see how high I could pile it.
Ahem, now that I am older (and wiser), I made a sensible size salad,
But I had forgotten the small, tasty biscuits that come with the meal, so it became a nice balanced and filling repast at almost half price.
Had been a while since I had had lobster so I ordered the "Coastal Trio" that had a lobster tail, tilapia and a skewer of spicy shrimp.
I chatted with Eric, the Manager, who took over about a year ago at the Savannah Highway location.
He said the lunch crowd was quite large, and they were braced for a busy evening dinner crowd.
I took a long look at the upside down pineapple cake shown on the menu but waddled, uh, er, walked out without the sweet-tooth finishing touch.
Wisely, I drove there and was seated about 2:15. so I missed both crowds.
My server Bri, wished me an early Happy Birthday.
Labels: 44% discount versus BOGO 50%, 44th birthday, Coastal Trio meal, my end of April birthday, Ruby Tuesday, upside down pineapple cake
A very full birthDAY celebration.
You start a full day of birthday celebration with a hearty meal.
Hyman's was an easy choice because they are wise enough to send a birthday greeting - along with a free meal coupon.
Owner Eli Hyman told me years ago that he targets locals.
Oh, the tourists have found the place, hence the crowds out front, but residents go there as well and take their visiting friends.
Many places sell crabcakes but those at Hyman's draw me back, again and again. And the shrimp and grits is done perfectly.
Coffee, boiled peanuts and hush puppies make a fine Southern appetizer.
Denny's also offers a free birthday meal but a Grand Slam would have meant an earlier start of the day.
So after a fine meal, and a little walkabout, we went to the Dock Street Theatre to watch the final dress rehearsal of a "new" opera that Spoleto unveils tonight.
New because although it was written 350 years ago, it was performed only twice. Yikes.
This is the third time for the 1652 opera and before a highly different audience than the first time.
One thing was the same - you had to understand Italian.
There was no English translation so we had to guess what was going on.
This scene featured one of the comical characters who was showing his appreciation of the Amazonian soldiers.
Or, it could have been something entirely different.
Oh, the
birthday boy had obtained free tickets for the preview show. I have no idea where??
Seated in a balcony box, we could hear thunder booming that grew louder and louder.
Hmm, it didn't match the action on the stage so we realized there was quite a rain happening outside.
We stayed dry getting back to the car but soon pulled into the MUSC parkade for shelter.
My phone had buzzed an alert that heavy hail and 60 mph winds were about to hit.
I watched people with umbrellas - and many without - as they scampered through streets starting to flood.
If puddle-jumping ever becomes an Olympic event, Charleston would win medals.
We have lots of practice, especially on particular streets around the market and the Crosstown.
The hail did not appear so we eased out and slowly wound our way to Highway 17 South.
Ruby Tuesday has an offer of a free hamburger and piles of fries on your birthday.
We have gone there on birthdays before.
It was Happy Hour so the giant beer on tap was our choice.
This is one of the few places that still has an elaborate salad bar. Buy just the salad or - for a much lower price - add it to you entree.
While we were eating the freebie, I looked over the bar and saw a family seated by the window.
But this was the only one with the man hoisting his baby up in the air. Several times. The baby loved it.
So we finished eating and there was a free movie we wanted to see at the IMAX.
We had about an hour to kill so we stopped at
Craft Conundrum, a neat beer place next to Bi-Lo that used to be a Piggly-Wiggly in West Ashley.
I decided to suggest to the bartender that they start a tradition of giving a free beer to someone celebrating a birthday.
They agreed!
Said they already had such a free beer deal.
Wear the Viking helmet while drinking the beer and there is no charge.
I felt very Opera-like with the horned helmet on my head.
The blonde pigtails came with the hat.
Others in the room had seen all this before but I felt it was worth a picture.
From there, it was only a short drive to the IMAX for a 3-D showing of
The Avengers.
Oh no, I forgot my ear plugs!
The good news is the 3-D glasses work much better now that cataract surgery eliminated my need to wearing regular glasses.
And, of course, my buddy had earned a free admission.
I pay the Senior rate but for 3-D, there's an additional $2 fee added on. His free admission saved him about $15.
The day was carefully planned to make sure we were back at my house in time to watch the final David Letterman Late Show.
In 2013, we were in New York and secured two tickets so I can proudly say
"Been there, done that and have the T-shirt."
And, of course, those two tickets were free.
You had to apply months in advance and didn't really know if you were going to get them until the day before you flew up to NYC.
A bonus that day in 2013, we stopped in the
Hello Deli and got a picture of Rupert Jee. And bought my dark blue t-shirt with yellow lettering.
I wore it while we watched Dave say goodbye.
Labels: Amazonian soldiers, boiled peanuts, Craft Conundrum, Eli Hyman, Hello Deli, Ruby Tuesday, Rupert Jee, The Avengers in 3-D IMAX, The Late Show with David Letterman, Viking helmet
A Wednesday Trifecta...meat, monsters and music!
It was my buddy's birthday dinner on Wednesday at Ruby Tuesday.
Well, actually, his birthday was about a week ago, but RT sent him a birthday coupon for a free burger.
It was good till the end of May.
I had celebrated MY birthday last month for at least a week so this makes sense.
He had a burger and I went for a sirloin steak with low carb interesting trimmings. Well, maybe the onion rings could be challenged as "healthy."
This monster meal was followed by a 3-D viewing of
Godzilla at the IMAX at nearby Citadel Mall.
I had forgotten (spoiler alert!) that Big G was actually trying to protect us from two (or more?) other monsters.
I Googled and saw possible sightings in the early trailer that included the always-popular Mothra, and maybe Rodan.
Also speculated were Kaiji and Gigan.
Had just had dinner so was not tempted by the Godzilla-size really big barrel of popcorn.
Everything is bigger in IMAX.
The third part of the trilogy that night was at the Pour House in West Ashley.
The headliner act was
The Lee Boys but we were taken with the 4-time Grammy Award winner "opener" Trae Pierce and his funky T-Stone band.
They wore caps and tees with
TPTS on the front and had the weekday crowd up and dancing.
The leader Trae had on a sporty top hat that captured your attention as well as his music.
The Florida high energy variety dance band put on quite a show and - close to midnight - the main act took over the stage.
I am a big fan of Robert Randolph and the Family Band so know and enjoy the sound of the steel pedal guitar.
Roosevelt Collier was in fine form and drummer Earl Walker set a torrid pace.
At one point this large family band invited the openers up on the stage with them.
We were able to see 6 stringed instruments playing at once.
Backed by two keyboards , drums, a singer and a few others. Yikes. You got your cover charge worth that night.
Oh, I forgot to include a picture of the free hamburger from Ruby Tuesday. Meh.
Suffice to say, the free meal coupon had a value of $9 and the one that he had made cost $11.
We skipped dessert because we were heading to the 3-D movie.
All in all, it was a great night.
A good mixture of taste and talent.
In the midst of Spoleto and Piccolo-Spoleto.
(Click on the photos for more detail.)
So far none of my Spoleto events had featured even one cold beer.
This evening made up for that.
Celebrate an Arts Festival in moderation.
Labels: Earl Walker, free birthday hamburger, Gigan, Godzilla, Kaiju, Lee Boys Sacred Steel, Mothra, onion rings, Roosevelt Collier, Ruby Tuesday, Rudan, sirloin steak and broccoli, TPTS, Trae Pierce
