Scooter Daze

The past week I was the stunned and (emotionally) touched recipient of a scooter! And not some slim, small, Vespa. No, yours truly received a giganticBaccio runner!

Pretty sweet, huh? Well, the first lesson was almost my last. I got so nervous before I even rode on it (I mean, there's no doors! And cars are everywhere! Waiting to run over me!!) that I almost threw up. In the almost-empty parking lot we were practicing on. Yeah. Luckily, Juliet was there to guide me through it, and understood my need to not jump on and start zooming around. Then, ABZ came and guided me through more. Then I just let him ride it.

The next lesson was a scant ten minutes before work; I just spun around our parking lot a few times.But now, I am proud to say I have ridden the scooter to work TWICE; and ridden it a whole THREE BLOCKS to and from Jules’ house. That’s right; yours truly can actually MAKE TURNS, go OVER ten miles an hour, and ride up hills without panicking, slowing down, and then riding comically backwards until crushed by a semi.

And Sunday, when ABZ got off of work, we took this great ride down to Oakhurst, only a few minutes from EAV, and had the BEST wings ever at Steinbeck’s; at least, the best in Atlanta. I highly recommend these.Smoked for three to four hours, then basted with some butter sauce thing, and served with sides of hot sauce and blue cheese, these were devoured within minutes and made us wish we had multiple stomachs-or the stomachs of marathon eaters-so we could have had more.

After a walk around the area, we went to the Universal Joint, just catty-cornered from Steinbeck’s, and treated ourselves to Guinness and Strongbow while eating hummus. Sure, they might sound like odd pairings, but like I say “Any time is a good time for Guinness.”I also took my first night ride on the scooter. No, I didn’t drive, but riding on the back was exhilarating. I love being able to look around at all the houses. Oakhurst is a beautiful neighborhood, like many Atlanta neighborhoods outside the downtown area, and the houses all have a distinct identity.

With the warm weather coming out, I am looking forward to many more rides. However, I may still make ABZ do all the grocery runs. Moreland is a very scary road, car, scooter, or bus, and I’m not quite ready to hit it without a full suit of armor.