30   Lubauch’s   At 7:00pm19:00 I was standing on the corner of C Street and 8th Avenue waiting for Judy and Daniel.    Ten minutes later a car stopped in front of me, the window of the car door was rolled down and Judy asked me to go sit in the back seat of the car.    Daniel was sitting behind the wheel and told me they were kidnapping me.    They were excited because they had a big surprise for me.    He drove us all the way to the Interstate.     On the interstate, we exited at the next exit and he drove in the direction of the harbor.    I didn’t watch the street names, but what I knew was that we drove under one of those enormous high bridges like the bridge in New Orleans probably about 98ft30m above us.    Daniel told me it was the Coronado Bridge.    A few minutes later he parked in front of a restaurant with the name Lubach’s Restaurant.      In front of the restaurant, I saw a small fishing boat as decoration.    I was not sure, but I think I recognized the name Voyager on the bow of the ship.    While we got out of the car, Daniel’s remark was,    “Do not judge the restaurant by the outside or by the district, because there is no finer restaurant than Lubach's.”    On our way to the entrance Judy explained further,    “As you probably found-out already at the bank this afternoon Daniel and I have a relationship.    We both still live with our parents and did not yet tell them about our relationship, we even keep it a secret from our colleagues at the bank.    We both have had a bad experience with previous relationships and we first wanted to know for sure if we wanted to commit to each other.     This restaurant is our secret rendezvous spot!    That’s not the reason that we are bringing you to this place though.    But you will find out within seconds.”    While Judy was talking, we walked to the entrance.    Halfway the front door, I suddenly stopped.    In front of me, next to the door, I saw a big shield.    I was bewildered and they were looking at my face as they expected it.      The text on the shield read ‘Vice-Consulate of the Kingdom of the Netherlands’       When we entered I saw a sign telling me that one floor higher was ‘The Netherlands’    Judy smiled, when she saw the unbelief in my eyes.     “Ryan Lubach, the owner of this restaurant is a Dutchman and he is also vice-consul. I am sure he will tell you his story.”      The interior had a small-town seaport’s outlook with an impressive fireplace.   When we entered someone from the restaurant came to meet us halfway and shook the hands of Judy and Daniel and welcomed them by mentioning their names.   The next moment he focused his attention on me and offered me his hand.    He introduced himself as Fox, supervisor and host of Lubach’s.    “I’m Peter, and I am already impressed by the ambiance of the restaurant.”     He thanked me for the compliment and asked us to follow him.    We passed comfortable red leather booths which were formed in a U shape and stopped at a booth near and right in front of the fireplace.       The booth could easily accommodate eight eaters but was set for three.    Between our position and the fireplace there were three four-person dinner tables all occupied with guests.    They had to sit down on simple, somewhat shaky wooden chairs, but their tables were opposite to the fireplace.    At our left there was a big window.    Judy asked Fox whether Ryan or Willard were present.    In the same line, she told Fox,    “Peter cycled coast to coast, he is from the Netherlands and it would be nice if he would meet Ryan and Willard.”    She told me that they were both Dutch.    “They will be here around nine, but I will call Ryan’s son Bob, who more and more runs the restaurant.”   While talking, he gave me the menu and explained they were famous for their turtle soup and lobster.    When he left for the drinks and to notify Bob, I looked around and explored the interior.    On the wall I saw listed pictures of a few famous Americans whom I recognized by face but not by name.    One of those guys was sitting at the exact same spot as we did so I asked Judy and Daniel the name of this guy.   “Bob Hope, and the other is Cary Grant.”      Judy told me they already knew what they were going to eat and she offered me to explain the items on the menu.    The turtle soup was amazingly cheap, a mug for $1.50    As main dish I was struggling between Duck Montmorency, Lobster Newburg and Lobster Thermidor. The prices of the three were the same $ 9,75.   I told them I would follow the advice of Fox and would go for the lobster.   “What’s the differences between the Lobster Newburg and Lobster Thermidor?”   “Let’s wait for Fox, he will explain,” was Daniel’s reaction.   A neatly dressed middle aged man came towards us accommodated by Fox with the drinks.    When the man arrived at our table, he greeted me very warmly and introduced himself as Bob, Ryan’s son.   “Fox told me you’re from Holland.    That is awesome, because over the years we have not been able to welcome many fellow countrymen in our restaurant and certainly not someone who has crossed the US by bike.    Was it really, all the way, from east to west coast?”    I confirmed it by saying,    “Every mile!”    “That’s amazing, we are honored.    My dad and Willard will love it. I have to go back to my office, but when my father and his friend and colleague Willard arrive, I want to introduce them to you”      Before we placed our order I asked Fox to help me choose between the Newberg and Thermidor.     “Lobster Newberg is an American dish and lobster Thermidor a French dish.    Newberg was created by sea captains in the fruit trade around 1876 who took a lobster and added butter, cherry, cognac, cream, eggs, and cayenne pepper.    This dish got famous in New York City around 1876.    While the Thermidor was created around 1880 by a chef in a Parisian restaurant. This chef took the lobster shell and put the lobster meat mixed with egg yolks, and brandy into the shell.”      While I was busy writing the information from Fox in my notepad I told him I would go for the Lobster Newberg.    Because I saw three asking eyes I explained to them why I was writing in my notebook.    After Fox was gone, Judy took a sip of her wine and asked me if I could tell them some sultry stories about my bike adventure.      “If you’d like I will go through the highlights until you’re both bored or until the dish arrives. But I don’t know if they are sultry enough for you!    My notepad was an essential reference to tell the stories with detail, like names, cities and dates.    I started to tell them about my arrival and about the amazing people I had met during my trip.    The next half hour, glancing at my notes, I was able to entertain them, also because they loved my funny grammar which was pampered with Dutch expressions and too literally translated Dutch words.       Half way my story Fox personally brought us the turtle soup with some pieces of baguette.      While enjoying the soup I asked Daniel whether I was right that during our first encounter he was very reluctant towards me.    “You’re right, I was.    You asked about Judy and she had told me about you.    So, let’s say I was worried.    However, Judy told me in clear language that if I would be rude against every stranger she talks with or talks about, our relationship would not stand for long.    She demanded that I’d trust her.”     Judy smiled and asked me    “Did you not meet somebody special during your cycling trip?”    I hesitated to answer her question because the subject was too painful. I noticed I already became emotional only by the thought, but they did not notice.    For this moment I was saved by Fox who came to serve Lobsters and at the same time collected the soup plates.    Judy forgot her question and we put our full attention to her lobster while we exchanged experiences about our culinary events from the past.   Around 9:15pm21:15 a delegation of seemingly important people walked towards our table.    One of them was without a doubt Bob’s father so the other had to be Willard.    As Bob, they also greeted me very warmly and introduced themselves as Ryan and Willard. Judy invited them to join us in the booth.    Only Fox went back to continue working.    I asked Ryan and Willard to tell me the success story of their emigration and asked for their permission to make some notes.    Willard invited Ryan to start with his life story.    Ryan told me he loved to tell people his success story.    “I was born and raised in Amsterdam and in 1937 at an age of 26, I decided to emigrate to America. A month after my decision I arrived in Los Angeles.        In L.A. I started out digging ditches and meanwhile learning English.    Soon I worked in the hospitality industry till I moved to San Diego in 1940.    In San Diego I started to work for civic affairs.    I worked there for years until I got the opportunity to work as consul of the Netherlands, but it was not a full-time job.    In 1956 I was able to make my dream come true; I opened ‘Lubach’s Restaurant’.    It immediately became a great success.    The nice thing is that I can still keep my role as consul.    Over the years the business has been taken care of by my son Bob, who is my only child.    For now, that’s my story, your turn Willard!”      “My parents lived in Jakarta when I was born. My father was a Dutchman my mother was a native Indonesian woman. I was number eleven out of twelve children    My father had to travel a lot for his work, but life was comfortable in those days.    In 1940 Indonesia became occupied by the Japanese and my father was deported to a concentration camp during WWII.    Because I quickly got to know the secrets of cooking I became a well-known cook and it kept me from being deported.    My father survived the camps and after the war he decided to go back with us to Holland.    When I was old enough, I joined the Merchant Navy.    One of our voyages brought me to America and I learned that it was a good country to get a fresh start.    I emigrated to the United States in 1956.    A little later, my wife joined me.    We settled in San Diego and I was searching for a job when I met Ryan    Ryan just opened Lubach’s Restaurant and when I showed him my cookery he offered me a job as chef in his restaurant.    I am very proud to say I cooked for many celebrities.      Your turn Peter we are very curious.”      Judy told Ryan that I was half way telling my story so the best thing to do was to let me start where I had stopped at Jennings.    “Peter is halfway, so you still will get a good picture of his adventures.”    I went through the rest of the trip but avoided mentioning my rendezvous with Flo in San Diego.    Just after I had finished my story Ryan was called by a waitress that there was a call for him and this was a good moment to say goodbye to Ryan, Willard and Bob.       When Fox had served homemade cheesecake, Judy remembered her unanswered question from before dinner.    “As you described to us, you met people who became very special to you, but did you meet somebody who became more than a close friend?”       Around ten we left Lubach’s but not before saying goodbye to my fellow countrymen. Daniel and Judy dropped me off at the hotel around 10:30pm22:30.