I've always wondered what it would be like to live in a town like Mayberry, where everyone knows everyone. Well....we do. And it's great.
Remember a post I made a couple weeks ago about Claudia and I meeting Suzy, the owner of a local winery? At that meeting, she casually mentioned that she was hosting a party/open house at her tasting room for members of her wine club. Never turning down the chance to drink wine, we said that of course, we'd try to attend. That was it, and we never thought much about it until yesterday. We remembered that the 18th was the day of the party, so we stopped unpacking for a while and decided to go. We figured it would be crowded and that maybe, just maybe, we would see Suzy and say hello, drink some wine and meet some new people (people who love wine are usually pretty fun).
We drove into town and walked up a side street to the tasting room. Yep...it was crowded all right. Lots of people at the tasting bar and milling around a side room munching on pork sliders. Up to the bar we went and waited until one of the staff noticed us standing there. We said..."Hi, is Suzy here"?...to which she immediately replied..."Oh, you must be the couple with Tucker...we've been expecting you". Really? Are you kidding me? A casual conversation in a parking lot two weeks ago while walking Tuck and they were expecting us? You could have knocked us over with a feather. Two things hit us at once....first, we couldn't believe she remembered us and second...it's a damn good thing we went! Just goes to show you that in a small town, people not only know who you are, but when you say you're going to do something, you'd better do it. We wouldn't have gotten that kind of greeting back in Punta Gorda if one of us had been the mayor.
Anyway, we had a great time. A local chef had prepared pulled pork that he had smoked for two days and was serving it on homemade buns with amazing cole slaw. We met some really interesting people...including one guy who we noticed seemed to know everyone. Turned out, he did. We sat and talked to him for about a half hour. He had grown up in the area, knew Gov. Jerry Brown and knew his father Pat Brown (also the governor back in the 60's). We mentioned that Katie had just gotten back from a vacation to the Philippine's, to which he casually says with no intent on bragging...."Oh yes, I go there every now and then. My daughter's husband is the second richest person in the Phillippine's and I have to have a body guard the whole time I'm there". We find out her husband is a Chinese investor. All righty then....it's hard to top that. He was a fun guy and we hope to see him again.
Today was a great day. We had our new leather sofa and loveseat delivered, along with a super-comfortable Stressless recliner (Macy's brand). Normally, this wouldn't be that big of a deal...but to us, it was huge. We have been sitting on our folding beach chairs since our giant yard sale way back in January. We still don't know how we did it...perhaps years of going to the beach with these things had hardened out butts? At any rate, we were amazed at the service from Macy's (they have great gallery stores out here, way different from Florida). The delivery driver calls us this morning and tells us he'll be here around 2:00. He's coming from....are you ready for this...Los Angeles! Macy's warehouse is in LA and he's delivering our furniture and a bedroom suite for another home nearby all the way from LA. A six hour trip one way! Amazing. He arrives right on time in a....drum roll please....28' truck just like the one we rented to move here (and just like the one our recent moving crew said would not be able to make the turn). I meet him at the top of the steep drive and he surveys the tight turn at the bottom, then back at the truck, then talks to his partner...and they both decide that yes, they can get the truck down the drive by backing down the drive. Folks...this drive is a hoot to maneuver in our RAM truck. Driving down it in a 28' truck would be hair-raising. Backing down it required balls of steel. And down he came. We recorded it just in case something really bad happened that would make the evening news. I'll post the pictures later tonight. He made it and we still don't know how, even while watching him do it. These trucks have a turning radius of about a football field. What a guy...we gave him and his partner a big tip and off they headed back to LA.
I folded up the beach chairs and sat down on a real cushion to watch UK defeat Wichita State. A good day....time for some of Suzy's wine.
Cheers,
Wayne, Claudia & Tuck