Sunday Ends With A Big Win

The Winning Serve

Halle's American Team

Well, it's 7:30 and I have just stood in line at Starbucks, in the hotel lobby, for 20 minutes and they are out of most food, even large coffee cups.  In other words, they were not prepared for the onslaught of hundreds of volleyball girls and their parents.  It's cloudy outside, in the 30's as the weather has changed some since yesterday morning's clear skies.

Yesterday, after our coffee and showers, we walked over to the Convocation Center, displayed our passes on our iPhones and walked upstairs to another venue, the ballroom, where they had 30 or 40 games going on at once.  Halle's team was playing at 9:00, so we made it on time.

Halle And Her Teammates

Unfortunately, the team they played was too good and they lost easily in two games  They did not play again until 12:00 and 1:00 so we walked around and watched some of the older girls play.  There were teams from all over as I mentioned, and we stayed to watch a team from Canada play with a girl 6'7".  When she received the ball, it went straight down.  It was fun to walk around and see all the spectators, the teams, the spectacle of a thousand girls or more playing or watching volleyball.

Halle's second match did not go well either although made more of a game of it but losing two straight.  They played their third match right after their second, won the first game, were behind in the second game 24=20 when Halle stepped up to serve.  Six serves later they won the second game, and won the match, grabbing Halle, celebrating their win.  It was fun to see them so happy, so excited to have played well.

Celebrate, Celebrate, Dance To The Music

Drew had picked up his Mom earlier in the day so she was able to be at the match along with Hayden.  After the game, we went out for a beer and appetizers at the Tap Room House, a restaurant right around the corner from the hotel.  We just had appetizers at 3:00 because Jill had made reservations for the four of us at a Turkish restaurant, the Ottoman Taverna, a half mile from our hotel.

Appetizers And Beer With Drew's Mom

We were able to relax in our hotel rooms then until 7:00 but Drew had to drive Hayden and his Mom home the return to the hotel in time for dinner. We decided to walk to the restaurant, a bad idea because it started to rain just as we started.  The restaurant was fairly modern, not too busy so we had a nice table by the window.  We checked out the menu, knew what we wanted, ordered it but five minutes later, the waiter returned to tell us it was no longer available, not fun.

A Turkish Kitchen And Its Chef

So we went back over the menu, ordered our second choices along with boreks and grape leaves for appetizers.  Our dinners were fine, just not what we wanted.  And they forgot to bring Drew's dinner, an Adana kebab, so they brought it to him late but comped it which was nice.  Dessert, baklava and rice pudding were on the house.  It was an interesting room of diners, a table full of Turkish women straight out of the Wives of Istanbul, dressed to the nines, lots of gold bracelets, jewelry,  and tight jeans.  Next to them sat a family that looked like they were from Anatoli, the man in an open neck shirt, the women wearing veils and dowdy dresses.

Waiting For an Uber Next To A Wall Of Evil Eyes

The restaurant was a good choice despite the screw ups with the meals and we smartly took an Uber home.  Evie and I were in bed by 10:00, tired from our day but ready for at least one more match this morning.