Yep, it's here...

Not talking about the Christmas season, although it is here.

This norther is unpleasant.  Oh, not Wyoming it's-so-cold-my-spit-freezes-before-it-hits-the-ground kinda cold... but, this is the Tropical Tip and the normal daytime high is 75º and it's 30º colder than that, and the local folks aren't happy about it.

Any place you go, this cold is all people are talking about.  We did the bank, lunch out, and some shopping... everywhere we heard, "It's really cold out there, huh?"

Yeah.

Speaking of lunch out... and I was... we had lunch at Marcello's today.  It's an Italian restaurant here in town.  Years ago, it was our favorite place to eat.  Over the years, the food got more institutional tasting while the price went up.  They made up for it with indifferent service.  We quit going there.  Recently, we heard that they have a new manager and things were better... we decided to give them a try.

We were greeted as soon as we came in the door.  The placed looked cleaner, with some new decorations.  It smelled good!  The waitstaff were friendly and attentive.  New menu with lots of interesting lunch options.  They're back, baby!  The food was good, the dining experience was pleasant... we won't have to drive to Brownsville just to have Italian out.

On the way out, I visited with the nice lady who greeted us on the way in.  She and her husband are the new managers.  She said they have been working hard to make it the kind of place people will want to return to.  We told her the difference was impressive, and we will be back.