Saturday night we went to Minerals Tiki Moonshine Bar. We had a great time with besties Jasen, Roy, and Marky. It was wonderful hoody sweatshirt weather. Bartender Kevin then invited us to a cookout he and his girlfriend Liz were hosting. I'm trying to get better at not overscheduling my parents and running them ragged like I used to here, promise!

Sunday I grilled for them these Spicy Italian Chicken Sausages that were on sale at ShopRite. I had fun grilling poultry for my first time on the new electric grill. Even though I prefer my beef to be rare-medium rare, we do know that chicken might not be as good medium rare, lol. I had my meat thermometer handy and used it on my Spicy Italian Chicken Sausages. My friends have all been busting on me for this. I didn't make them eggs like a normal person probably would. No, I didn't have any eggs at my place. I didn't care! I joked that we didn't need eggs to have a great party! You might remember my struggles / challenges with scrambling eggs on those Facebook live videos from a few years ago. That wasn't even part of the reason at all!

We then went to Crystal Springs Vista 180 Pool to enjoy the weather and shade near their tiki bar. I took my parents for a walk showing them off the beautiful Biosphere and Chef's Garden, they were really impressed with the wonderful ambiance and garden.

We then ventured off to Alias Brew Works in Vernon getting to hang with besties Jasen, Brendan, and Marky. Even though they were a little low on their beer selection, the Snowblind beer I had was pretty good. My main motivation was getting my parents to see Bearded Baby BBQ. They just missed them last time, leading my uncle Jeff / JDawg to bust on me for not getting my parents great barbecue. I definitely helped them get great barbecue this time around! Not like a cookout that's burgers and hot dogs, no this was real barbecue food! I had a terrific brisket sandwich, and Padre also got Smoked Shrooms. I had never tried smoked mushrooms before, but these were tremendous! I can't wait for them to open their location in Sussex this fall. I'll definitely be keeping an eye open for that.

Sunday afternoon we went over to bartender friend Kevin & Liz's for a fantastic cookout. They really know how to host and throw a party, that's for sure! We could've eaten and drank like kings & queens, but were still very full after the grilled spicy italian chicken sausages, and then barbecue food on top of that.

We then ventured back to our home base of Minerals Tiki Moonshine bar. We had a great time seeing besties JG, Brad, Steve, Jasen, Brendan, Sally and Douglioso. It was the perfect way to wrap up our weekend.

Monday we did our traditional farewell lunch as I call it at The Irish Cottage Inn. We were happy to see bartender B-Rad, besties Christine and Chris, Carrie, Roy, and Jasen and Brendan. I will say it was nice to get a bunch of hugs right after my usual teary goodbye with my family. We then ventured back to enjoy live music at Minerals Tiki Moonshine bar and it was great! They played tons of 90s songs that I was singing along too. One Night Only is a terrific duo! They included me in trivia and singing which led to many laughs. Great time. Just what the doctor ordered.

To be candid these weekends aren't as fun as they used to be when we still had my sister Zannie with us. My parents saw several friends who haven't seen them since she tragically passed away in January. It was good for my parents and friends see each other, even though seeing friends for the first time after everything happened results in a ton of tears and hugs for several minutes. All we can do is keep trying to push ourselves surviving every single day.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my Epic Weekend In Pictures. Time to start planning next weekend and here we go. My first time golfing all year will be Friday with Tee It Up For The Troops, one of my favorite days all year long. Saturday the 10th annual New Jersey Taco Festival, and of course then the first football Sunday of the year! In between my weekends, Wednesday and Thursday night I had my fantasy football drafts. I had the 1st pick in both drafts, so I just took the same players first couple of picks. CBS Sports rated my draft as an A+! This is usually a major jinx for me, so we will see how this goes! I hope your fantasy football drafts went great if you play. If you don't play, congratulations you're probably much happier and saner. LOL.

Steve Allan