Ribbit

Laborie, South Africa

When we weren’t looking for lost keys at vineyards in South Africa, we were enjoying some very nice wine and the beautiful landscape.  Our last vineyard stop before we would have to return to reality was Laborie.

Sitting out on the balcony, overlooking the mountains and vineyards, my husband had a spiritual moment and decided we should pray.  I can assure you this is incredibly rare.   We are incredibly grateful and humbled by many things in this life, but we are not ones to pray over vineyards. 

My husband said a few truthful words about how fortunate we are to have the opportunity and ability to travel, one of the things we love, and so frequently.  And to now take our son with us and watch him embrace the big, colorful world is even more amazing.

After thanking God for this life and opportunity, there were a few seconds of silence.  Just before we were about to raise our glasses, our son looked over at him, and with the straightest face ever closes the prayer with Ribbit.  Yes, Ribbit.  As in the sound a frog makes.

Ribbit is our new toast.  It pretty much says it all.

Laborie, South Africa 

Stranded at Uitsig!

Scenes from Constantia Uitsig Restaurant, Cape Town, South Africa

Well, its not as bad as the title sounds...

One cloudy afternoon we took our rental car and headed to Constantia. It is beautiful and everything that you would expect it to be. 

As it began to rain, it was the perfect time to stop and have lunch.  On our quest for the perfect vineyard restaurant, we decided to try our luck at the Constantia Uitsig Restaurant.  It was a busy weekend, so my son and I went in to see if there was a table available while my husband got our stuff out of the car. 

When we arrived back to the car, my husband asked me for the car key.  I did not take it.  He was driving, so he kept it with him.  It couldn't have gone far because he never left the car.

We looked, and searched, and searched and looked.  It began to rain harder.  We kept looking. We borrowed the security guard's flashlight and looked all around the car and in every hole in the car.  We even searched the impossible where you know there could be no key, but you keep searching anyway kind of places.  

I could not get angry really.  It was annoying, but my husband was already upset enough with the situation, so why torture him.  Or maybe I stayed calm to protect my own legacy.  The fear of future stories like "Remember the time that mom lost her mind when you lost that rental car key in Cape Town?" were in the back of my mind.  Our son was amazingly helpful and patient throughout the entire ordeal.  He searched the inside of the car thoroughly where he could be sheltered from the rain. This was family teamwork at its best.

After more than an hour and a half later, we had enough.  We called the rental car company, defeated by the key.  It was going to take two hours for them to bring another car.

Even though the restaurant had no space, we went back inside to their bar.  When I saw the waiter that turned me down for the table, I asked him if he remembered me.  He did.  I explained how my husband lost our car key and that I really needed some wine.  Looking, and possibly smelling like the dog that was left out in the rain, he directed us to a couch in the bar.  

We enjoyed a bottle of wine as we waited, and they even threw in some freshly baked bread.  It wasn't the lunch we planned, but we did get to spend the afternoon in a beautiful vineyard restaurant sheltered from the rain.  

A friend of ours has a theory that a baboon could have picked it up.  I saw many baboons along the coast, but none in this region.  It is (kind of) nice in theory to think that a monkey was sitting in a tree laughing away as we scrambled in the rain, but I think this will remain one of those unsolved holiday mysteries.