Jim Price spent the afternoon with us - a great lunch a couple of doors down the street, shopping for last minute items, then back to the apartment. Apartment owners/loaners Virginia and Jim, dropped by to meet us and to get ready for the ChicaGourmet event that Don had created in honor of Robin and her book, Sweet Swan of Avon: Did a woman writer Shakespeare? Happily, it turns out that Virginia and Jim are not only extremely nice and generous, they're also great fun to be with.
While Virginia and Jim got dressed for the event, Jim Price, Robin, and I walked the two blocks to the venue, The Casino. The Casino is a private club that's been here for about 90 years, and in its current location for about 80 years. Membership has always hovered around 400. It's a one-story, black building in the middle of skyscrapers. The survival of a one-story building in this zillion-dollar location basically means that some slightly influential/powerful people are probably members here.
The dinner event was fabulous, both in atmosphere and cuisine. Robin gave just a 5-10 minute talk, since ChicaGourmet events are, after all, really about the wine and eating experience. There were 47 people attending, counting us. Don created an incredible spectacle of swans and lilies for the table centerpieces. And the decor on the walls of the dining area just happened to be swans. A nice coincidence. A harpist provides background music.
Although we met lots of nice people, the only ones I really got to know were the ones sitting at my table. And they all ended up with invitations to Santa Fe. I hope they don't all come at one time.
Photos to come. The lighting in The Casino was too dim for my camera, so I shot video, which I'll grab some still captures from.
Jim Price relaxes in Virginia and Jim's beautiful apartment on Delaware.
