Heading Home, At Last

We're up early packing for the long drive home from Atlanta. It's been a fun weekend at BirdWatch America, but we're all anxious to get home.

Last night we had our annual dinner with our Atlanta cousins, the Bagheris. Carolyn Bagheri is my mom's second cousin--both their fathers were Ekenstiernas (Harvey and Axel) right off the boat from Sweden. Carolyn and her husband Teher, and their grandson, Michael, treated us to a wonderful meal at Fogo de Chao. Fogo is a Brazilian churrascaria where the meat is cooked over an open fire and served to you by gauchos (the Brazilian version of a cowboy), cutting the meat off giant spits right onto your plate. You have a little drink-coaster-like card, green on one side, red on the other, that you use to indicate your willingness to be visited by the meat-wielding gauchos. And the meat is fantastic--it makes you pity your vegetarian friends.

Michael gets a visit from the Meat Fairy.

One word of warning. If you go to Fogo de Chao, take it easy on the amazing salad bar lest you fill yourself up with greenery, leaving less room for the lamb, chicken, beef, and pork. And leaving almost no room for the incredible desserts. We had six different desserts and passed them in a circle around the table so everyone got a taste.

Key lime pie and flan. Neither one stood a chance against our forks.

It's always a great meal with the cousins, with lots of laughs and much jocularity.

Cousin Carolyn Bagheri and Elsa "Catbird" Thompson, smiling for the cute gauchos.

Now you must excuse me. The road home is calling.