a peek inside the fishbowl

I can’t even remember when we bought Mark his portable charcoal grill. It may have been Father’s Day last year. Or maybe his birthday? Regardless of when, I do know that it’s been gathering dust in the basement, despite repeated declarations that it was going to be used. Soon.

Well, SOON finally happened this week. (Someone had to take matters into her own hands!) I picked up some seasoned kebabs at Farm Boy (spoiler alert: they were AMAZING), a few other things, and packed our bags.

The original plan was to find a picnic table and some shade at Britannia Beach but it quickly became clear that we were not going to find a parking spot, anywhere. Plan B, was a little further west: Andrew Hayden Park. I held my breath as we pulled into the lot because there was no Plan C! Phew. I needn’t have worried because there was plenty of parking to be found here. It’s not as popular a spot – maybe because there’s no beach here – but it’s just as pretty.

We parked the car and set up at a picnic table overlooking the water. This was our view:

Boats dotted the sparkling water, ducks landed and took off, and we got some serious side eye from the resident gulls. And of course, there were the geese. The goslings are probably due to leave the nest very soon:

Mark assembled the grill and lit the coals while got everything ready. (Note to self: always travel with a Swiss Army Knife):

Here’s a tip: grilling over coal can take a while, so bring something to eat while you’re waiting. (We had Farm Boy chips and fresh salsa. Next time I will buy more than I think I need because the family will devour it.) Also, pick something that doesn’t take too long to cook. The skewers were a perfect choice:

While dinner was grilling, the four of us simply enjoyed our surroundings: the people, the wildlife, and the view. There was a church group at the amphitheater, so we even had some distant musical entertainment!

Finallyyyyy, dinner was ready:

It was easy peasy. DIY souvlaki was what I was going for here. Pita, plus meat of choice (beef or chicken), topped with a drizzle of simple yogurt sauce (plain yogurt, garlic, seasonings), pickled red onion slices (vinegar and sugar I mixed up at home), and romaine lettuce. Grape tomatoes rounded out our meal. I can’t describe how delicious it was. There is something about eating food prepared on a charcoal grill, that makes it extra smokey and delicious isn’t there? Every bite was like, OMG!

After dinner we had dessert. Nothing fancy here:

… and then watched the sunset.

My only disappointment was (a) the days are shorter from here on in and (b) the fact that we’d never done this before. I guess we’ve just never made the time, which is just plain sad. I will say this, it was The Best Way to spend the longest day of the year. I definitely think we should grill our dinner at the park more often.