Well, the last day of school has come and gone and I've begun my summer in a really nice way. My pal Laura Kim's birthday is Monday and she wanted to celebrate it and the end of a long school year with something special and so the two of us booked a room at the Grove Hotel in Cherry Grove for Friday night, followed by a massage on Saturday afternoon to top it off, and boy, was it a great way to kick things off!
The Island of Fire
The weather forecast for Friday evening wasn't good. Rainstorms were heading in and by the time we got to the ferry terminal it was downright rainy, with lightning striking here, there and everywhere. Though it would have been nice to have it be sunny, the overcast skies didn't dampen our spirits in the least, and upon entering the line for the ferry, we were immediately graced with a stroke of good luck.
As we stood on the line to get on to the ferry, Laura Kim recognized someone standing by the office. It was an adorable and really sweet guy named Colin who was the son of an old friend of hers. Colin was the captain of the ferry. Fourteen bucks saved!
By 4:00, Laura Kim and I were all checked in and sitting in Cherry's for a little "tea" before dinner. It felt so nice to be free from life and with the whole summer ahead to think about. Of course everyone in the place was friendly and the next couple of hours was only the beginning of what would turn out to be a marvelous evening.
Top of the Bay
There are several nice restaurants in Cherry Grove to choose from, and we had trouble at first deciding which one to try out for our dinner. There's one there that I hadn't tried before, but Laura Kim had had a bad experience there (a three-hour dinner), but after checking with a local, she was okay with trying it again.
Top of the Bay sits right at the foot of the pier where the ferry comes in. It's on the second floor of a building and it has a great atmosphere, elegant and with picturesque views of the Great South Bay. Both the dinner and the company were great, and we had some nice eye candy busing the tables all around us. Even Laura Kim marveled at the perfection of the guy we called "Federico" as he refilled our glasses of water and cleaned up our plates. Between her scrumptious bay scallops, my tender NY strip steak and Federico, the whole dinner was delish!
Fun with Friends
After dinner, the two of us went down to Cherry's to hang with my pal Manny and his friend Dineen. Lucky Manny's been over there for a little over a week, renting a house with one of his good friends Helen, and I'd already hung out with him on my last couple of trips over there. Manny is one genuinely great guy, and I am always glad to see him.
The two of them were already at Cherry's, having cocktails with some other friends before heading over to see Porsche's show at Ice Palace. All of their friends were nice, and Laura Kim fit right in, which was a bonus.
After a drink or two, Manny, Dineen, Laura Kim and I ventured on over to Ice Palace to catch Porsche. It didn't take too long for my pal to catch the attention of the star, as she yelled out "Barbra Streisand" when the queen asked for suggestions on who to do. Within seconds, Porsche had Laura Kim on the stage and my pal did her best to ham it up for the audience. The three of us cackled away as he called out the bartender to bring them shots.
You see, Laura Kim is one of those unfortunate (or maybe fortunate) people to be afflicted with an allergy to alcohol, and there she was with a shot of SoCo in her hands, toasting along with Porsche, who was shining the spotlight on my poor friend. Trying to be a good sport, LK downed the shot, but couldn't swallow, spitting it back into the shot glass as soon as Porsche took her eyes off her. The whole scene was absolutely hilarious, and my friend quickly became a mini-celebrity.
The rest of the night was spent drinking and dancing and have a great old time, and the four of us partied till the wee hours of the morning. Once Saturday morning came, the skies were beautiful and the temperature was perfect, as LK and I spent our last few hours hanging by the pool, having some Cherry Grove pizza (the best!), and spending a last few moments with Manny and Dineen. It was a fabulous ending to a fabulous time, and I think the start of what's going to be a great summer.
Massage Bliss on the Mainland
Laura Kim and I finished off our beginning of the summer celebration with massages at Spa Belleza out in Aquebogue. It had been years since I'd had a massage and it was pure bliss! For an hour, I was transported to another place, a blissful, peaceful state like no other, and afterwards I promised myself not to go this long without another massage again.
Oh yes, I think it's going to be a good summer!
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