River Diet.

It was made very clear to me before the trip that the boys follow a strict diet at the Rivah House… beer, meat, artisanal soup from a downtown Market (…!?), and the sauce of the Gods - Mae Ploy Sauce.  On Everything.

I'd never admit this to them, but they are GENIUSES.  This sauce has CHANGED MY LIFE.  And I realize how many times I overuse the expression, but this sauce is no joke.  It's sweet, it's a little spicy, it's tangy, it's amazing… We slathered it on brie, crab cake burgers, s'mores, the walls, the floor, ourselves… it's incredible stuff.

While at the market for soup - we decided on Potato Leek and Clam Chowder - we also picked up some delicious crab cakes and BACON.

You know how you put a few guys in a room and give them enough time, they always seem to come up with a ridiculous idea of some sort - usually involving bacon, explosives, or alcohol.

Well, we decided to cook up the bacon and then cook the crab cakes in the bacon grease.  Genius.  Pure genius.  A toasted bun, some thinly sliced onions, crab cake, bacon, and a healthy serving of mae ploy later… it is by far the greatest crab cake sandwich I've ever had.

We even put bacon in a s'more… man trips are awesome.

We spent the rest of the time laying out, relaxing, laying out some more, getting burnt, getting ice cream, going to walmart, getting thrown into the river, stung by jellyfish, and getting dragon tattoos.  Well, I got thrown into the river, stung by jellyfish and a dragon tattoo…

I don't know, I think it really suits my personality.

The tattoo has since rubbed off, but because I rocked the tattoo while sunbathing and am sunburnt all over, there's a nice mark left over from where the tattoo was… great.  Love a good awkward tan.

I couldn't tell you where we were exactly (how's that for trusting your friends), but it was beautiful there.  And 48 hours later, we were driving back through a giant rain storm and the reality of work and dirty laundry and email and alarm clocks is simply too much to bear…

I've got to find a way to retire soon!