The finish of the Winefest went very well. I think we tore down in record time, around 35 minutes. I have to credit that to the help everyone gave in the tear down work. Teamwork pays off big time.
Dudette and I retired in our room and took a short nap. We had been invited out to dinner at a restaurant owned and run by a former employee of the main sponsor. We were warned that it could be a long dinner, but worth it, hence the nap.
When the time came, we followed the others to the restaurant. Tucked away, in the back of a strip mall, far from the beaten path, was "4 Olives Wine Bar".
(If you are ever in Manhattan, Kansas, you have to try "4 Olives Wine Bar". Bring an appetite, the food is fantastic and the wine selection will make you dizzy before you even open a bottle. And the prices aren't what you would expect to pay for the meal you get. And the choice of food? Unreal. ALL of it great.)
This is a well kept secret in Manhattan. When our party showed, there were eight of us total. Two of the people that joined our group were friends of the lady that used to run the Winefests. I mention that now, because later I will talk about one of them again (that would be "L"), for a reason. So, in all, there was Dudette, myself, Dudette's boss ("E") and her husband ("B"), the current Director for the Fests ("M"), the past Director of the Fests ("b") and her two friends ("L" and "C"). (got all that?)
FOOTNOTE: remember, I stink at names. People, as well as other stuff. So, don't get too confused reading from here on.
The wine list showed up first. A L-O-N-G list of fine wines, two columns, top to bottom, both sides. I'm not much of a wine-geek so I let others make the selections. We started out with a bottle of red, and one of white. Both very good. (When you go to the link for "4 Olives", look at the background. In the middle of the restaurant stands a floor to ceiling wine "room". There has to be 200 bottles of wine in that case. That is only a fraction of what's available.)
From there, we moved on to an (pre?) appetizer. We enjoyed a selection of three imported cheeses. When we were told about the cheese by our hostess, each came with a description that sounds like we were being told about one of the wines, "This one has been aged 3 months. It is made from goat milk and has a flaky texture. The aroma is subtle and earthy but carries a tinge of mountainside with it...", "The next cheese had been aged for at least 18 months...."
Anyone who says cheese can't be exciting, needs to think again. It was wonderful.
I won't bore you with details. Summing it up, we moved on to appetizers, salads, two more bottles of wine, to the main course (three of the group made a meal from choosing different appetizers for the entree), desserts (we all ordered something different and shared), and finished off with coffee. (Man, were we stuffed by the time we were done.)
During the whole meal, conversation ran all over the place. And as awkward as this might have been, since there were two newcomers in the group, there was no problem at all. L and C fit right in, no one excluded them by talking shop and they were every engaging in their own right.
Probably the more amusing topics of conversation stemmed from the fact that the table was occupied by a more mature crowd. And a lot of those topics revolved around the idea that thermostats don't do a good job of controlling the temperature. (For more mature readers, no real explanation is required. For the less mature, trust me, you wouldn't get it. 'Nuff said.)
Some of the best lines from the conversations came from two people no one would have ever expected to speak them. The bad thing is, to be fair to the speakers, I can't give the full details of the stories. But they were hilarious. As in, fall off your chair in shock and full blown guffaws. But I will give you hints.
One ran the topic of an amorous interlude. The shocker line to the story was, "We didn't. But I did." And another, dealing with those pesky thermostats was, "That's why I wear long now. To keep from sticking." (No, you didn't have to be there to get it. I could tell you in person, but I won't put it down here. Sorry.)
Anyway. The food was killer and the company was fantastic. Dudette and I hadn't laughed so hard in a long time. We hurt. And the meal DID take a long time. We got there for a 7o'clock reservation, and didn't leave until after 10.
The next post will cover the friends of "b", "L" and "C". They are worthy of a separate post.
Till then.
Good times happen.
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