Saturday

This was a big day for Martha.  In her relatively short lead-up to the half marathon in two weeks, she has increased the distance of her long run from six miles to eight miles to, today, ten miles.  I have to admit that I had some reservations back in January about her ability to ramp up her mileage so quickly; I had reminded her that she could always run the 10-K instead.  But her running has gone well, she is light and strong, and today she had no problem with the distance.  I met her on Fort Macon Road on this cloudy, windy morning  somewhere near mile eight and she said, "I feel great!" as she passed by in perfect form.  I have no doubt now that she will be able to complete 13.1 miles, and will likely have a faster time than I will.

We had a quick lunch here in the condo and then drove down to Atlantic Beach Station to watch a matinee of the Clint Eastwood-directed movie The 15:17 to Paris, about three American men who became heroes during a high-speed railway ride in 2015 when they thwarted a terrorist attack.  It was a very moving story, made more realistic because the three young men played themselves in the movie; some reviewers had not liked this, but The New Yorker's reliable Richard Brody had given it high praise and we agree.

How to celebrate after Martha's ten-mile run and my nine-mile run was not difficult to decide  The Friendly Market, which I have written about in this blog from time to time, remains a source for tried and true recipes, but is also interested in expanding its horizons.  This year they started something called the World Food Tour 2018.

Beginning in mid-January they have featured complete dinners, at a very reasonable price and more than enough for us to enjoy for two nights, from countries around the world; thus far we have sampled dishes from Thailand, Mexico, "Down Under" (Australia and New Zealand), Italy, Germany (which we missed), Italy, and France.  Travelers through these countries have their "passport" stamped each week.  (We liked the brown rice salad with kiwi fruit that came with the Down Under dinner so much, and told them so, that they made some extra to sell separately from the dinners.)  So we have been dining frugally but sumptuously here in Atlantic Beach!

For our celebratory dinner we dined on coq au vin with a creme fraiche appetizer, sides of rice and a provencal vegetable casserole, and crepes suzette for dessert.  After dinner, and just before we were ready to go to bed (I have nearly finished with great delight Pride and Prejudice, and Martha is reading The Blue Zones), I stepped outside and the wind, which had kept up all day, had miraculously stopped completely, a rare occasion here alongside the Atlantic Ocean.  So we walked out on the dune-top deck and sat and looked at one or two stars overhead, listening to the gentle crash of surf in the darkness, and the breathless night all around us.