Naked Lust

This week, My Beloved's sales manager called him and "asked" him to deliver some samples the manager would need next week to a location about an hour's drive one way from our house. This request came on a Friday afternoon (and, by the way, MB had asked this knucklehead weeks ago if he would need these samples so MB could have taken them there in his normal work travels) and the samples are needed on Monday morning. The implication was clear; you must give up half a weekend day to do this "favor" for the boss. Grrrr!

In order to turn this task into a fun outing, My Beloved invited me to ride along. We left the samples at the Millbrae Railroad Museum (never mind why) and got a tour of their Pullman car while we were there. When I was about six years old, my mother, sister and I crossed the country on a train and we had our own Pullman compartment. It was fun to explore again the ingeniously designed folding sink, toilet, beds, etc. and to recall the adventure of crossing from car to swaying car and eating in the dining car. Each evening, the Pullman steward would come in and, using his big key, lower our freshly made bunks for us. As we neared Utah, which was a "dry state" in those days, my mother was warned by our porter that, if she wanted a drink before dinner that evening, she'd have to order it before we crossed the Utah border. All this was high adventure for us and I've never forgotten falling asleep between crisp white sheets to the clickety-clack of the wheels on the rails with the whistle blowing in the night.

Since we were down that way, we also made a return visit to the Old Port Lobster Shack in Redwood City. If you've never been, you really must go. I've heard that they now have a location in North Beach, too, but I haven't visited that one. The original has a huge tank of live lobsters and a fun-funky maritime theme - for example, the restrooms are labeled "Buoys" and "Gulls." They do a land office business in there, being open from 11am to "when we stop making money." I've been tempted by lots of items on their menu but I always order the same thing, the Naked Lobster Roll.

Overflowing with large chunks of fresh lobster, the bun is authentic (I've heard they actually fly them in from Maine) and lightly grilled on the outside as a crispy counterpoint to all that luscious, seductive lobster. You can get a lobster roll with lobster salad made with mayo if you prefer, but the plain lobster always gets my vote. There are cole slaw and French fries in the basket and a little cup of rich, clarified butter to pour over your naked roll if you wish but, let's face it, it's really all about the shellfish. Man, is that ever good!

Good enough, in fact, to smooth over my ruffled feathers and make me think that MB's boss isn't such a bad guy after all, if his requests mean a trip the the Lobster Shack.