The Friendly Inn and friends

Yesterday Mom had a doctor's appointment in Medina, Ohio, 18 miles east of Wellington, so we all trundled off to Medina.  Afterwards we stopped for lunch at the "Friendly Inn," a restaurant on Route 18 that Mom said she's always wanted to visit but never had. It looked interesting, she said, but maybe it wasn't a place a lady should go to by herself. 

Friendly Inn had a bunch of guys at the bar, dart games, a karaoke set up, a place for a band,  and two efficient sisters serving a good lunch. Looked like the ladies of our group would be just fine.  Mom had a fish sandwich; Jim and I both had burgers. Then we took some photos and texted them to my niece and nephew so they could see what Grandma was up to.

When I got home a new purse I'd ordered from Amazon was here.  Yay!  It's olive green with  7 pockets I'm supplementing with snack-sized Ziplocs and a couple of zippered bags so the bottom of my purse is not a jumbled mess.

Best of all, in the evening Mom and I visited the mom and two sisters of my Wellington school friend, Bonnie.  As a kid I spent a lot of time at Bonnie's house (I saw my first color TV show at her home -- "The Wizard of Oz"), went to slumber parties with her (I was a farm girl, she was a town girl; she once old me my house was too dark and too quiet to sleep in -- but maybe it was too quiet because there were 9 kids in her family and 3 in mine), and we were active in Girl Scouts. We stayed friends after I went to college and later moved to Utah. I saw her every time I came back to Ohio. 

Bonnie died suddenly from a brain aneurysm 10 years ago. It was a shock and I miss her.  But I'm glad I can stay in touch with her family.

Mom and her lunch at the Friendly Inn.  The sweet potato fries were more than dusted with sugar and cinnamon. And there was enough for all three of us.

Mom and Jim in front of the Friendly Inn.  Mom said it "was clean enough," which works for us.

My Baggalini messenger sling bag and (for now) it's only contents.  It's big enough to also carry my full-sized camera and extra lens when I don't want to lug my camera bag.  Since the purse is a messenger bag and dark green, Jim will carry it in a pinch -- plus he won't complain like he does when I take my pink Fossil bag on impromptu hike.

Bonnie's sisters Angela (who was recovering from a Fourth of July tumble on the sidewalk that left her bruised) and Leslie, Bonnie's Mom, me, and my Mom.  Bonnie's mom has always been great to me as have the rest of the family.  Bonnie's mom wrote a great novelette about her marriage to her kids' dad (who died when Bonnie was 14) called "My First Love Affair." She's promised to write the sequel about her second marriage.  My mom and I want to read that one, too. (Thanks to Leslie's son, Theo, for being our photographer.)