Wednesday evening we drove to the Lake of the Ozarks to celebrate Ted’s birthday with dinner at Bentley’s.  We wanted to avoid the Christmas rush, and Bentley’s is closed all of January, so we opted for an early celebration.

The day was dry, but cloudy.  Just like Monday, however, we experienced the “sunny by dark” effect and enjoyed a brief late fall sunset.  It was only a few minutes before sunset that the sun starting shining on the clouds and turning them red.

The dinner, as always, was wonderful.  Merrill, our favorite waiter, knows our order by heart:  grilled salmon for Ted (the best salmon he’s ever had, according to him) and pepper steak with red wine sauce for me (the only place I’ve ever had such good pepper steak).  Add a glass of wine for each of us and, for dessert, “The Thing” for Ted and a grasshopper for me.  “The Thing” is a generous serving of ice cream with hard shell chocolate, nuts, strawberries, and whipped cream.  Ted loves it.  The grasshopper is thick enough to eat with a spoon, but I use the straw.  It takes a long time with the straw, but gives us more time to enjoy the ambience and dining experience at Bentley’s.

Next visit to Bentley’s:  my birthday.