The Polar Vortex Takes Over

Remember how a few weeks ago it was in the mid-60s and I didn't have to wear a jacket.  Well that all went South when the big, bad Polar Vortex took over.  The PV settled over New England this past weekend and sent temps plunging to -30 with the wind chill.  It was dangerously cold...but that didn't stop us.

This is what I looked like when I went to get coffee in the morning:

On Saturday, after being particularly lazy since I was on vacation, I was feeling a little stir crazy.  I hate it being vacation and us not taking advantage but it was so cold!  We thought about going to Hops N Scotch because it was so close but then we found out about it's awful new menu and we decided to pass.  JO suggested we go back to The Rising Bar and I agreed.  It wasn't too far and was worth a second chance.

We bundled up in all our winter gear and walked as fast as we could.  We decided to sit in the bar area this time.  They seated us by the window, which seemed odd on such a cold night, but they have great windows and we weren't cold at all.  The atmosphere in the bar is so much better than in the dining room.  Our table also gave us a view of lots of crazy driving.  The hostess was right when she seated us and told us we would probably see an accident.  During dinner I asked for the Husky game to be put on the tv and they mentioned that I could call ahead and have the games put on for me.  That's pretty awesome in my book considering we will probably need a back up for Parlor Sports during March Madness, what with our no cable lifestyle and Parlor Sports' popularity.

We sampled a variety of dishes:  the wedge salad with shrimp, hummas plate, and the night's special duck croque madame (which JO loved.)  The hummus was delicious and the bacon on the wedge salad was excellent.

This place is a great addition to the Square and it was so fun to get out and about in our neighborhood despite the frigid temps.  I don't think we could have traveled much further, but luckily we didn't have too :-)