Rembrandt and Soby's

After work today, Vicky, Ogz & I went to Petsmart to pick Rembrandt (Vicky calls him Remy) up. He's a two-year old Lab/Chow mix. She got him from a dog shelter when he was just a cute puppy. And he stole her heart right there and then. He celebrated his birthday last December 31st and Vicky threw him a birthday party, complete with hats for the guests and ice cream for the birthday boy... er, doggie.

Remy spent the whole day at the store and he misses his Vicky. Even though he barks at us, it didn't take him long to warm up to us. Well, I gave him some doggie affection on the way to Vicky's house.
We reached Vicky's house shortly after. Inside, after getting some treats from Vicky, he kinda showed us his kingdom. First he showed us the backyard where he loves to run/jump in circles. Then he went upstairs and showed his bed. Found his toys too.While waiting for Sandy, Vicky's friend & co-worker, we watched Kimpossible. Remy got some lovin' from his new friends too.Remy could sense that his "mommy" is going away for the night. He threw some guilty looks at Vicky. He laid down in one corner and took some nap. Awwww! Time for dinner. We went to Soby's, a very nice resto in downtown, Greenville. Outside it doesn't look like a resto mainly because the building is covered in bricks and you can't see the peeps from the inside. The bar is loaded with different drinks. We brought with us a French wine called Chateau Damase (courtesy of Vicky). Can't wait to taste it. They also got a fireplace going on. A lotta peeps were eating here (so it's a good sign). Felt like it's a Friday night. Okay, it's time to eat. For appetizers, Vicky ordered some hushpuppies. Soby's version has cheese and pimiento in it. Yum-O! I got some She Crab soup (delish!), Ogz got some squash soup. It's a little spicy and I like that. Vicky asked for their biscuits and it's quite good with my soup.
For entrees, Vicky got the New Orleans BBQ shrimp, Sandy got crab cakes, Ogz ordered some pan-fried duck with duck liver, and I got their signature pork tenderloin wrapped in Applewood smoked bacon. Got a taste of 'em all. It's so fun to share food ;oPNow comes the best part of the evening... desserts. Vicky recommended the White Chocolate Banana Cream Pie. It's their signature dessert so we tried it. Ogz got some Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee. And Sandy got the Vanilla Bean pound cake with lemon curd & vanilla ice cream.Vicky recognized the owner of the place. We asked our waiter, Jake, to introduce him to us. His name is Carl Sobocinski. When there are food events in the downtown area, you'd normally see him there. We told him how wonderful the food was. I really enjoyed it a lot. Ogz said that it's his best dinner to date (for this year). It's kinda pricey but it's really worth it.Before we left the place, I took a photo of Sandy & Vicky with Jake (someone thinks he's cute, not saying who). We also asked Jake to take our customary group shot.Our night didn't end there. We walked around downtown and checked out some of the famous places. We went inside a very charming hotel called Westin Poinsett. It was built in 1925 and they just renovated it. According to Sandy, she tried one of their beds and she didn't wanna get off of it. She's willing to trade her condo for it too ;oP Outside, there's a statue of Joel Poinsett.While walking along Main st., we chanced upon two drunk American guys. One guy was shouting "I love yous" to peeps passing by. When we passed him, he shouted, "I like the Asian!". That got me and Ogz laughing.

Then we found a mouse. Not a real one but a sculpture. We learned that they scattered 9 of these guys all over downtown. If you wanna search for each one of them (sounds like a good way to explore the area), here's a link that gives clues to their locations. Am tempted to do this in one Sunday afternoon ;oPLast place we checked out was the Falls Park where the Liberty bridge can be found. Unforch, it's hard to appreciate the suspension bridge when I couldn't quite see it.I truly enjoyed this night. Fun afternoon with Rembrandt. A very nice dinner. And a quick tour of downtown with a very fun company. Super thanks, Vicky & Sandy!