Saturday evening, Justin and I joined our friends Grant and Caroline for a performance by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. They performed Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, "Pathetique" and Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3.
Garrick Ohlsson was the piano soloist for the Rachmaninov portion and he was spectacular (supposedly one of the world's best pianists). After the performance was over, the audience continued clapping until Mr. Ohlsson returned and played some more. He played Debussy's "Clair de lune." It was phenomenal! He made it seem so effortless. What a wonderful and soothing end to a fabulous performance.
Before the performance, we ate supper at Tap, which was very near the Woodruff Arts Center (where the ASO performs during the regular season). This is probably not where any of us would have chosen to eat normally, but because traffic in Atlanta can be so unpredictable, we decided to eat near Woodruff. Tap also offers free valet parking (the sign said tips were given to charity, which is nice) and because we ate there, we were able to leave the car with them for the performance.
The food wasn't horrible, but it wasn't the best food I've ever eaten. I started with fried pickles and a glass of white Benziger (Sauvignon Blanc). I think the pickles might have been sweet pickles instead of dill. I've had fried pickles before and these were good. One person hates pickles and neither of the other two really wanted any, so I pretty much ate them on my own, which wasn't a problem.
For my entree, I had three of the shrimp a la diabla tacos. They were ok, but not wonderful. I think they would have been better with a different shell. They came with a soft corn tortilla shell, which hardly had any flavor, which is probably typical. The taco "guts" were good, but not quite what I was expecting. Justin had the nicoise salad and said he enjoyed it. Grant and Caroline shared the grilled Mediterranean flatbread and a taco trio (curry red fish, buttermilk fried chicken, and shrimp a la diabla - I think). They seemed to enjoy their food, too. I would probably return to Tap, but would definitely try a different entree.
I'm sure you've heard about the flooding in Atlanta. Justin and I were very fortunate and didn't have any damage (that we've seen). Our yard is slightly messy (obvious that it held some water), but we can deal with that. Our yard is separated from one of our neighbors by a line of grassy-like plants (similar to liriope, but not exactly) and a 6-8 inch section was flattend by rushing water. That is so very minor compared to people losing their vehicles, homes, and even lives. We live near North Peachtree Creek and voluntary evacuation orders were issued for neighborhoods around this creek (ours included). Justin and I talked about him evacuating, but we both decided that our house was far enough away from the creek and up high enough that it would be fine. I don't think any houses in our neighborhood were affected, but some apartments a little further up creek were underwater and some houses down creek were also underwater.
Unfortunately, Atlanta got very wet again Saturday afternoon. It rained on and off (sometimes very hard) all afternoon and into the evening. Luckily, we didn't have to walk in the rain from the restaurant to the performance or to the car after the performance.
Overall, it was a very nice evening.
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