Golden Sunset on the Inland Sea

Sunday, after the Bike MS ride, we raced home in order to attend a dinner party. It was for the grand opening of a new restaurant, the Golden Seas Café, which was being held at our next door neighbor’s house. The idea behind this restaurant was all the brain child of Gracie, with the help of her older brother Ethan, the neighbor kids. Also invited were three of their elementary school teachers, making ours a dinner party of five. Gracie had prepared a menu with prices. The menu comprised choices of appetizers, entrees, desserts and drinks. We were all handed play money at the door to pay for our meals and there was even a cash register waiting near the table to ring us up afterwards. It was all so way cute. We had arrived late because of the ride. The three teachers had already ordered appetizers, nachos. Ethan took our drink orders. Everyone else ordered smoothies, but I ordered a glass of wine. I got some looks for this and somewhat defensively exclaimed, “It’s on the menu.” In between visits from the wait staff conversations fell into a rhythm that I imagined might be what is routinely heard in the teacher’s lounge. One of the teachers ordered Gracie’s burger and after some coaxing I had the Ethan burger, which was spicy, but good. Everyone else ordered from the selection of personal pizzas. For dessert, Anne and I had some of Gracie’s petit fours and marzipan and got extras to take home. After the meal Gracie gave us all a tour of her kitchen. Both the restaurant and the party were a rousing success. The teachers and we, all enjoyed the event and I think that it was a valuable experience for the kids too. Plus, it was a real treat for me not having to fix dinner after the MS ride.