{"id":90209,"date":"2025-07-27T08:45:30","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T15:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/?p=90209"},"modified":"2025-07-29T12:03:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T19:03:08","slug":"we-came-we-visited-we-went-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/?p=90209","title":{"rendered":"We Came, We Visited, We Went Home!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mary was first up, again!<\/p><\/div>\n

We had a busy day planned, so we got ready and headed to Mary’s physical therapist at 9:30 am.\u00a0 While Mary was inside, I got the fateful call.\u00a0 While I was attempting to read my book, Mary asked if I could go home and get a package for the doctor.\u00a0 Fory-five minutes later, I returned to the parking lot and carried in the package.\u00a0 Traffic was terrible!<\/p>\n

After she returned from the doctor’s office, we decided we wanted to visit our dear friend Irene, who had not been feeling well lately.\u00a0 To brighten her day, we called Irene and she placed her lunch order with us.\u00a0 We headed (we thought) to George’s Greek Cafe on 2nd Street in Belmont Shores, but the GPS was taking us to Pine Street in Long Beach!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Thank goodness we didn’t order it to go, because the usual 40-minute trip ended up taking hours and some change.<\/p>\n

Mary dialed in George’s on her Batphone, and off we went happily, when about 40 minutes later, I knew something was wrong.<\/p>\n

I forgot to tell Mary that Georges was in Belmont Shores, NOT Long Beach.\u00a0 We spent 25 minutes navigating Long Beach, which has tiny streets.<\/p>\n

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I first went there in the mid-1990s.<\/p><\/div>\n

We asked for Nicky, but she was home for the weekend.\u00a0 She now owned the only George’s Greek Cafe remaining.\u00a0 She is a lovely lady!<\/p>\n

\"\"

She is charming, funny, and a shrewd businesswoman!<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

George and Rodoula Loizides came to the United States almost penniless more than 40 years ago \u2014 bringing with them nothing but dreams and three young children.<\/p>\n

They built George’s Greek Cafe from scratch, which soon became a legend on Pine Avenue in Long Beach.\u00a0 They and their children \u2014 Jimmy, Euripides (known by all as Rip), and Nicky \u2014 added two more restaurants in Belmont Shore and Lakewood.\u00a0 As the years advanced, they built an extended family of customers, employees, and friends.<\/p>\n

But the longtime marriage of George and Mama Rodou, as she was known, ended in 2019 when the couple died within six days of each other.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n 
\nMary and I needed a drink after the harrowing experience navigating the backwaters of Long Beach.\u00a0 We celebrated with a saganaki!<\/p>\n

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Look out, here comes the alcohol!!!<\/p><\/div>\n

OPA!!!<\/p>\n

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We heard the fire department coming this way!!<\/p><\/div>\n

Saganaki is a Greek appetizer made with fried kasseri cheese.\u00a0 The ritual of adding brandy and flamb\u00e9ing the cheese was started by restaurateurs in Chicago, who encouraged customers to yell “Opa!” as the plate was being ignited.\u00a0 You can recreate the tradition at home in minutes, whether you’d like to spark up a little romance for your bride on date night or just try a fast and fun cheese dish on a chilly weeknight.\u00a0 Serve with sliced fresh or grilled bread.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

We finished off our wine before heading to Irene’s home over on Atlantic.<\/p>\n

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Saganaki and Chardonnay, what a way to live!<\/p><\/div>\n

We picked up our order, and it was in two bags; we overachieved.<\/p>\n

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Slurp, gurgle, belch… we are on our way!<\/p><\/div>\n

We got to Irene’s around 1:30 pm and had a nice lunch with her.\u00a0 She was not doing well, and her daughter is coming down tomorrow to be with her for a few days, hopefully taking her to the doctor.<\/p>\n

Irene’s apartment is on the 11th floor overlooking Long Beach and the surrounding areas.\u00a0 \u00a0Palos Verdes is quite visible in the background.<\/p>\n

The Palos Verdes Peninsula, situated south of Los Angeles, is renowned for its breathtaking coastal scenery, affluent communities, and rich history.\u00a0 Trivia about the area includes the fact that it was once home to a Nike Missile base, an honor farm (prison), and is known for its wild peafowl population.\u00a0 The peninsula is also home to the Palos Verdes blue butterfly, a critically endangered species.<\/p>\n

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We saw a glimpse of Catalina Island, which is 26 miles away!<\/p><\/div>\n

We didn’t stay too long, as Irene needed to rest.<\/p>\n

On the way home, we got the bright idea to call Charlotte and perhaps stop by the club.\u00a0 Charlotte was on the course, and the timing was perfect.<\/p>\n

We stopped, and within a few minutes, Charlotte turned the corner onto the 18th hole.<\/p>\n

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We sat by the window so we could see the golfers at work!<\/p><\/div>\n

Charlotte joined us soon after we arrived and had pre-ordered her drink of choice, champagne with grapefruit juice.<\/p>\n

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Always a smile!<\/p><\/div>\n

We shared medical conditions.\u00a0 Wayne and I are having very similar cardiac issues, and we agreed to continue sharing in the future to see how the men are doing.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Good friends enjoy visiting.<\/p><\/div>\n

We finally arrived home around 5:00 pm, at which time I decided to take a well-deserved nap.\u00a0 I didn’t wake up until after 10:00 pm.\u00a0 I joined Mary in the kitchen where she was needlepointing.\u00a0 We finally crashed at 12:30 pm.\u00a0 We had a full day!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We had a busy day planned, so we got ready and headed to Mary’s physical therapist at 9:30 am.\u00a0 While Mary was inside, I got the fateful call.\u00a0 While I was attempting to read my book, Mary asked if I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=90209"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90321,"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90209\/revisions\/90321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=90209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=90209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=90209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}