November 16,

Awoke today and decided to have an easy day, let my back rest some and deal with my congestion that has continued to linger from that little sore throat I had had two or three days ago. We had our Javas – this is the last of my coffee, and went to breakfast. I had ordered an omelet but had scrambled eggs on bread which was fine. Jeff had banana pancake. The staff was busy! There were three of them working back in the kitchen, because there were three tables of people wanting food. It was us, another couple – who were asking for seconds, and a family of four – parents and their twenty something kids. But they kept up and served us all in a timely manner. We had our watermelon juice and watermelon plate of fruit. Whew! I bet that's what they did after the breakfast rush.

We went back to our room. Jeff had found a couple of coffee roasters here, so we set out. It was just far enough that we got on the scooter, but not too much that my back should be fine. The first place was Fefe Coffee. I tried an Arabica coffee that I don't want to have again. Also found out they did not actually list flavor profiles. So moving on… we actually detoured briefly. There was a temple gate, that was highly decorated and caught our eye. It was called Ba Mu temple gate; was created by local artisans; and serves as a linking gate for two architectural religious structures. It was in a great setting with a pond full of water lilies as it's foreground. Would have been a nice place to sit and drink coffee… if I could find some. We walked a bit to a second cafe and they did not roast their own beans… so moved on, not even trying anything. Third times a charm – we went to Tri Long Coffee. They did their own roasting and were actually having a class to teach how to make the three specialty coffees in Vietnam – salt coffee, coconut coffee and egg coffee. This looked promising. I perused what was available and we looked at the menu. I ordered, tried and found the next bag of coffee I wanted. Jeff had a coconut iced coffee.

Now we went back our place and just took it easy, having PB and crackers with an apple for lunch. Afternoon was very warm to hot, humid. We stayed in. Jeff had found a highly recommended steak place and booked us reservations for later – a date night. Watched some You tube.

Around 1815, we met a taxi Jeff had procured. We got in and had the most surgy vehicle ride I have ever had (we think he had a foot on the brake and the other on the gas)! We arrived in Da Nang at Bo Steak House around seven. The lady asked if we had a reservation. Then seemed to not care and sat us toward the back. She seemed put out in some way – not good service. Anyway, we looked at the menu and decided on the Beef Wellington Plate for two people. She said it would take 45 minutes, but we were okay with that. We also ordered a bottle of Cab Sav from Chile, which was mediocre. But when our food came it was spot on. Excellent! Our whole order was served on a large board. The beef tenderloin was cooked light medium and came sliced into four pieces which was wrapped with bacon and fine chopped mushroom then in a flaky bread dough. There were three dipping sauces: a black pepper cream; a rosemary cream; and a BBQ (There was also a cheese sauce that we tried but found it to be lacking in flavor.) Also the platter had french fries, a lettuce salad and a small couple pieces of cheese, garlic bread. We finished and ordered a chocolate brownie with scoop of ice cream and strawberries & strawberry sauce. Overall, the whole meal was a success and good! We finished and left happy, with a slight disappointment for service.

We now walked over to a “show”. We found some chairs to sit in on the bank of a river – as long as you order a drink – I had a lemon iced tea and Jeff a salted lemonade. In Da Nang there is a dragon bridge, but in Vietnamese style, it is not just any dragon bridge. The bridge has a dragon the whole length of the bridge; it lights up at night with a rotation of four or five colors; and it spews out fire and water every Saturday and Sunday night at 2100!!! The show was slightly underwhelming, but I can say I enjoyed more because a couple of kids nearby were “Oohing and Aahing”! 😮😄😂  After the show, Jeff booked us a Grab back to our place. It was fun to get out and see the night all lit up and the moon was full. All in all a good date night.