Well. We knew it was supposed to rain on Friday, but seriously, people? One of those crazy mornings. As soon as Cal was supposed to leave the house to head over to his carpool, the skies opened (fortunately, his ride drove to our driveway to pick him up!), and then it didn't stop. Neel was staying home a bit to meet with a guy for our bathroom, and we knew pretty sharpish that he was going to be stuck there for awhile. (Mini Cooper + Flooded Street = No Good.)

We alternated between canceling meetings (Neel), making a salad for a lunch I hoped to get to later (me), watching all of the flooding in town on the news (both of us), and watching all the bozos go plowing through our street, thinking their cars could beat the water (both of us). As a weather watcher I follow on Twitter said, "Pro tip: your car is not a boat."

I've talked about our street flooding before. We're lucky. Our home does not require flood insurance, and we sit on a bit of a rise, so that the street floods rather than the houses or even the yards. What we've noticed in the decade+ that we've lived here is that these flood-producing storms happen more regularly (generally the street floods the worst when coupled with a high tide), and that the water is rising higher and lingering longer. We have little ways to monitor the water, and last week's flood was higher than any we've had other than a hurricane. It's no wonder. Six inches of rain fell in three hours. Once we managed to get out of our driveway (when the water north of us had receded a bit), it was still a struggle to get through downtown.

I have to say, it's fun to watch these floods (especially the idiots stalling their cars), but it's not very encouraging. A sinking city and worsening storms don't make a good combination.

By the time I got home that evening, the sun was out and the street was dry.

And you know what? Norfolk is still pretty freaking cool. I slid down to Ghent on Saturday to take some photos for a friend of mine who was catering a wedding, and right out front, in our Hague, looms our giant visitor. I'll admit, I was skeptical, but you know what? That duck is flipping awesome. He's here to celebrate the grand re-opening of our local art museum (closed for over a year for renovations), and droves of people were coming into town to see him. The Norfolk Police were happy and helpful as we located parking, and I anticipate that this won't be the only time we head down for some fun shots.

Sunday, Funday, baseball at the beach. We're almost ready to start the week.

I had a post about my camera changes planned for today, but we lost a legend in our community yesterday. Abe Doumar, of Doumar's Ice Cream and BBQ died at the tremendous age of 92. He'd recently cut back from 60-70 hour weeks to 30-40 hour weeks and could be seen at the shop making his famous cones nearly every time we went in. I'm re-posting a post I wrote for Annie at Insideology to tell you a little about this amazing man and the legend his eatery has become in our town.

Doumar’s has a wonderful history. Abe Doumar, one of four brothers from Damascus, Syria, is credited with the invention of the ice cream cone. We love Abe Doumar! At the St. Louis Exposition in 1904, Abe Doumar purchased a waffle that he then rolled into a cone and topped with some ice cream to sell at the fair. Impressed with his brilliance (And who wouldn’t be?) and success, Abe brought his brothers to America where they sold ice cream cones at the Jamestown Exposition in 1907. For the Exposition Abe had a four-waffle machine made, and the brothers sold more than 23,000 cones.

After the Exposition, the brothers set up shop at the Ocean View Amusement Park, once considered the finest resort area south of Atlantic City, New Jersey. A 1933 hurricane devastated the Ocean View area, and afterwards, in 1934, George (brother to Abe, who had died in 1920) opened the drive-in soda fountain in its current location. George’s son Albert can still be found making cones on the original four-cone machine nearly everyday. As a side note, because I’m a bit of a hurricane buff, the Hurricane of 1933 made landfall on the Virginia/North Carolina border as a Category 1 hurricane. In Norfolk, a tidal surge of 7-9 feet flooded much of downtown and sank 10 ships. It was the strongest hurricane to hit the area until Hurricane Isabel in 2003, which struck four days after we moved here.

Today, Doumar’s looks much the same as it did when it opened in the 1930s. While I’m sure the orange vinyl seats on the booths and the stools at the counter have been replaced over the years, the sense you get is that they’ve been there since the beginning. The same goes for the faux wood laminate table tops. The bathrooms are outside. If you need to go, you grab the key on the hook to unlock the door. But really, I recommend waiting until you get home.

The drive-in is still operational, and this is a popular Norfolk eatery. When we were house hunting in Norfolk 12 years ago, this was one of our realtor’s first stops with us! People come for the ice cream and the food. The limeade is the most popular beverage, unless you opt for a milkshake. Those can be served regular or, for 10 cents more, “drugstore” thin. If you’re looking for a healthy meal, don’t come to Doumar’s! Folks, the bacon for the BLT is fried in the deep fryer. It’s awesome. The cheeseburger, one of my favorites, has cheese on both sides, but they’re best known for their pork BBQ. It’s served Southern style, with slaw, and you add your own hot sauce at the table.

No plates or utensils, just plastic-wrapped sandwiches and paper napkins. The food comes fast and is simple and delicious. You tend to eat it fast too, because generally there’s a standing-room-only line waiting for a table. And you usually see someone you know there too. Grandparents take their grandkids, families come for lunch or dinner, teens stop in for ice cream. We ran into our neighbors at lunch this day.

Doumar’s has been featured on Food Channel shows and has won James Beard awards. It’s not fancy, but it is special. And I love what they say on their web site, “Our favorite awards over the years have been the many smiles!”

I can't tell you how Abe Doumar's loss has left such a void in our community. It seriously was the talk of the town yesterday, and even the bright spring sunshine felt somber. Here's a news story about Abe showing just how beloved he was... it wasn't just the place; it was the man himself. He'll be missed, but the smiles he created will linger on. What a wonderful business to be in? Making people smile with ice cream!

This post was originally published on August 20, 2012 by Annie of Insideology.

weekend recap, may 19

legend lost {still + life}