Birthday outing

This weekend I turned 28. It was a beautiful, sunny first day of March. I spent the day having brunch with friends and then going out for dinner with James. As you can see on the pictures below we were very excited because we went somewhere new and fancy. We drove out to Two River Lodge which is a fancy restaurant based on Fairbanks standards. That doesn't mean it's not a log-cabin style place with no dress-code, plastic flowers on the table and a bar called the Trapper's Lounge with a one-man band playing loudly in the next room. That is exactly what it is. You can also still smell the cigarettes in the carpet from before they turned smoke-free and I had to really squint at the menu to see it as it was 11 degrees too dark to see anything in the dining room. It's all part of the Fairbanks lifestyle and charm. The food was excellent. Do not expect to have original choices on the menu. People want what they like, which is a choice of steak, halibut or salmon in most places - including this one. I, in my new role as reborn carnivore, ordered the steak. I did not, however order it raw as the lady at the table next to us. She ate a RAW piece of steak. I also did not have three Long island ice teas and had to be carried up the stairs as she did much to our entertainment. The food was delicious and a rare luxury for us.