For the second year in a row, Christi humored the little kid in me as we went to a hibachi restaurant for my birthday. We tried a new place that I see on a billboard every time I travel on I-91 S and decided to give it a shot. It's a half-sushi half-hibachi restaurant and the sushi part is packed while the hibachi section is absolutely dead.

We sit down at a table for eight with only one other person. He apologizes right away saying that he asked to sit on the other end and didn't want to disturb our dinner. We tell him it's no big deal and strike up a quick conversation. After giving him our story of why we're living in Connecticut, he lets us know that he's a huge sports fan and that he's originally from San Diego. So to test the waters, I ask him if he knows of Stephen Strasburg, and the smile on his face grew with the knowledge that I have a background in baseball. The reason he was happy, is because he knew a lot more than me.

We find out that he went to school, and played, with Tony Gwinn. He said he was just recently at a Padres game and sat in front of the announcers, and Tony sat there and spoke to him for a while. Between the clanking of the utensils and setting volcanoes of onions on fire, Christi was pretty sure she heard that he used to date Gwinn's sister. Throughout the night we find out that he's met people like Joe Torre and Pete Rose (letting us know the latter is "dumber than a sack of rocks").

Before the night's over, we find out that he's from Cape Cod, a place we've been meaning to go, and that he told us the best time to visit is right after Labor Day weekend since everyone is back in school and the place is pretty much empty. However, being a huge baseball fan, he said there is nothing like catching the Cape Code league in the summer.

We have his number and his address, so we'll probably take advantage of some insight that we received. The birthday wasn't as crazy as last year, but it was nice to not have to worry about Stan ingesting chocolate again.