i went to the cafe this morning to help my father repaint the beverage refrigerator. this was my first time seeing the newly sanded cafe floor in person (i've seen photos before). although i don't like the dark stain, the workers did a really good job, better than the sanding at my own home. in fact, they were returning today, to sand/polyurethane the back rooms, but also to do one more layer of sanding/finishing out in front, where it already looked finished. there was a strong smell of polyurethane, which will take some time to get rid of, which can be a problem for a food establishment.

i also took the opportunity to see where things need to be patched and how to tape and prep for the painting that would happen come sunday and monday.

we didn't paint until 11am. the pair of hispanic workers arrived early (they weren't supposed to be here until the early afternoon), and then it took a while to prep the fridge outdoors, making sure we don't paint the door by accident, and moving it out so we don't accidentally paint anything else. when we finally did spray with the epoxy paint, it wasn't adhering well, and the paint would come out of the can in splatters instead of a fine mist. finally after several failed attempts, we decided we'd paint the fridge instead, which can be done indoors once the fridge is moved back inside.

around noontime i went home to wait for my parents to finish up. the workers told them they'd be done in another hour. my parents showed up at my place around 1pm. my mother originally wanted to drive down to plymouth for seafood, but i told her there was a better option nearby, in winthrop, with a nice view of boston from across the harbor. it'd also give her a chance to visit deer island, a place my father had already been, and a place i've been multiple times.

it took us 40 minutes to drive to belle isle seafood, via route 16 then route 1A south. it probably wasn't the best way (longer distance, more traffic), but it took us on familiar roads (a stretch of route 16) and we avoided any tolls. as it was the middle of the afternoon, the place wasn't too crowded, but still a good number of good considering the time of day. most were elderly, although i did see a pair of housewives kicking off the weekend with drinks and seafood at the minibar. there was also still a lot of parking spaces outside, although parking doesn't seem to be a problem with a lot of street parking as well along the bridge connecting winthrop to revere.

i'd seen belle isle seafood before every time i visited deer island. it never really caught my attention until i saw a chronicle piece on the restaurant with a great view of boston. although in close proximity to the city, the place is actually sort of a hidden gem because it's not that easy to get to. which makes it a great spot, because i hate eating at crowded places. we ordered the lobster roll (lobster meat, not lobster tail, which was more expensive), the grilled swordfish, fried clams, and clam chowder - for a grand total of around $75.

a good day for new pokemons. the only one wild caught was a jigglypuff, and that was right from my house. i hatched a duduo from a 5k egg. then in the evening i used a 2x lucky egg to juice up my experience points while i evolved a cache of pokemons (57 to be exact). that's when i added 4 new pokemons: vaporeon, flareon, poliwhirl, and fearow. the best part was i managed to jump from level 15 all the way to level 18 all within a span of 30 minutes. the vaporeon was my pokemon with 1000+ CP. it seems a little futile with pokemons in nearby gyms with CP's approaching 3000 and pokemasters with 30+ levels.