Afternoon Picnic

A red and white checkered blanket is laid out on the ground under the 10-foot tall oak tree. On one corner is a wooden picnic basket that is light tan and rectangular with the lid up and the handles down. Inside of it is lined with red and white check. There is a set of silver plasticware with purple square plastic plates and cups sitting on the left side inside the basket. On the right are the takeout containers of food: rotisserie chicken, corn, baby carrots, and seasoned potato wedges. Next to the basket is a royal blue cooler with bottles of hard cider, water and black cherry cream soda inside.

Kat has on a black and purple checkered blindfold over her eyes. Eddie is holding her left hand with his right and guiding her through the park’s plush grass to the blanket.

Arriving at the edge of the blanket, he stops her from stepping on it by raising his right hand up. Eddie lets go of her fingers, gently unties her blindfold and slowly lowers and takes it away.

“This is awesome!” she says while giving him a big hug. “I can’t believe you did all this!”

“Well, I did have some help. I put it together and Vicki brought it out here for me. Come on, let’s sit down and enjoy this,” he says pointing to the blanket.

Eddie opens the cooler, “which would you like, cider, water or black cherry cream soda?”

“Definitely the black cherry cream soda.”

He opens it, “in a glass or the bottle?”

“I’ll take it in the bottle.”

Eddie hands her the opened bottle and reaches down taking the food out of the basket, one piece at a time. Kat removes the lids which brings about the combining of the smell of all the food as he places the containers on the blanket. She fills the plates with the chicken, corn, baby carrots and seasoned wedge potatoes.

“This is great!” Kat compliments the meal after taking her first bites of everything.

“I am so glad that you like it. Trying to put this together without you knowing was not easy.”

“Yeah, I am sure that Vicki was a great help.”

“Yes, she was. It’s great to have such an awesome friend.”

“After this nice spread, what are we going to do? Anything special?”

“I was thinking that we’d go for a nice walk that takes us to the waterfall and then for dessert we can stop for some sorbet or cookies.”

“Yum, that sounds like a great treat for our walk. I like it!”

They finish up the meal, place all everything in the basket and cooler, and return to their vehicle to put it all in the back end. After locking it they turn and start walking toward the falls. They follow the asphalt path to the first section that has mini rapids in the river to the right of it. Moving along they come to a small island.

“I’m sure that island disappears after a heavy rain. It’s probably just a couple of trees in the middle of the river,” Kat says.

“I think you are right. The river is quite low right now even with the small amount of rain that we have had. Let’s keep moving along.”

Looking around Kat notices the pavilion on the top of the hill with the rock wall encircling it. There’s smoke coming up from the barbecue grill, and she can smell the ribs cooking.

“Smell that? Someone is going to be enjoying some ribs soon,” Eddie nudges her.

There’s a rock wall that has started on their right that goes along the river and winds its way to what looks like a foundation of an old building. There are three stacks of blocks with spacing in between them. This enables Kat to get up close to a waterfall. This one has two levels that are about two feet in height each. The water running over it looks almost like root beer in the one section where it makes a corner.

Rounding the bend there are a dozen brown ducks swimming in the whirlpool plus a couple of white ones. A short curvy distance down the river there are lots of rocks lining the edges that lead to a multi-level uneven waterfall. It’s about 20 feet tall overall. Above is a hanging medal and glass pedestrian bridge.

“Hey, let’s go up on the bridge!” Kat excitedly says to Eddie.

“Sounds good to me, over there are the stairs leading to it,” he replies pointing to the left up ahead of them.

Picking up the pace, they get to the stairs and take them at a more rapid tempo. Swinging around the end they step onto the bridge. Moving along they get to the center of the curve. Kat takes out her phone, puts her arm Eddie and they snap a selfie with the falls behind them.

Standing in the middle of the curved bridge, he asks her, “Do you want sorbet or cookies?”

“I want cookies, I think they also have ice cream there.”

Continuing over the bridge, they follow the sidewalks to the Wide Eyes Cookies. Eddie opens the door and the smell of freshly baked cookies comes wafting out.

“Oh wow, I love that smell!” Kat says as she closes her eyes and takes a deep sniff.

“Yes, it is one that you can never get tired of.”

“Welcome to Wide Eyes Cookies!” Teddy greets them, “I’ll be right with you.”

“Thanks,” they replied simultaneously.

They browse along the glass cabinets of cookies. There are dozens of flavors with everything from a basic sugar cookie to a peanut butter cookie filled with peanut butter chips, bright multi-colored chocolate candies, chocolate chips, and mini peanut butter cups on top.

“Ok, what can I get you?” Teddy asks.

“I want a sugar cookie shaped like a cat with the frosting and licorice whiskers,” Kat tells him.

Eddie pipes in, “I’ll take a snickerdoodle.”

“Two cookies coming right up, do you want anything to drink with that?”

“Yeah, we’ll take a couple of chocolate milks,” she replies.

“Great choice! Have a seat and I’ll bring them over to you.”

They walk over to the far corner round table with the red and white checkered design on it. Eddie pulls out her chair, which has cushions matches the table, and then he sits across from her with his back against the wall.

“Hey, what do you think about doing a next half marathon on Kiawah Island, South Carolina?” Eddie asks Kat.

“Oh, that would be fun! Probably a bit warm, but definitely fun!”

“We’ll get the team together and get it on the calendar. I can’t wait for this next road trip. It’s right on the Atlantic Ocean.”

Teddy comes to the table, “Here we are, two cookies and two chocolate milks. Let me know if you need anything else.”

“Thanks,” they both reply simultaneously.

Taking bites out of their cookies, “I love these here, it’s a great treat,” Kat comments.

“I completely agree. We’ll have to make sure that the group comes here after some walks.”

They finish up their cookies and milk, throw away the wrappers and cups and walk out the door.

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