Patti was one of Charles’s two best friends – they met each other working at restaurants together, and were roommates for years. He catered her first wedding – maybe even her second one – and in retaliation, we’d made her be major-domo and point person for our wedding. Anyway, she and her husband Peter are dear and close friends and I have a standing invitation to come up and stay with them in lovely up-the-Hudson Rhinebeck.
So, the last Monday of August, after my breakfast with Van in at the Roscoe Diner, I headed east-ish to Rhinebeck.
This proved to be another lovely and uneventful drive, although I was confused by driving south for the first leg until I looked at the route more closely.
I had afternoon meetings I needed to be in time for, and Patti was also serving lunch to friends of hers en route from NJ to Massachusetts. But I got there in plenty of time, got my stuff in, and the friends arrived and we had a great al fresco lunch. (I bugged out at 2:00 to do one of my meetings). I was staying in the mother-in-law wing that they’d built for Patti’s (now late) mom, and there was an adorable little desk in the far corner perfectly out of the way and a great place to set up my laptop.
After the meetings were done and the guests on their way, Patti and I got caught up. Peter, unfortunately, wasn’t there, off on a gig in Vegas (he produces and runs industrial shows at conventions and such). I wasn’t there to be catered to – Patti was meeting her son and his girlfriend in town for a weekly exercise class they go to, so I chilled and knitted and drank wine and hung out with Bella, a teeny white dog that the younger couple drop off with Patti fairly frequently. Bella’s a nice puppy, but I’m not much of a dog person, so I left her alone rather than giving her the cuddles she was clearly hoping for.
Patti, JJ and Alyssa brought Chinese food back and we had a really great time eating and getting caught up all around.
Tuesday, I worked, and then Patti and I went out for sushi and to go see Blink Twice. I really enjoyed it, although there are definitely flaws. It certainly resonates with all the other stories we’ve seen lately of the rot underneath the fun at a rich person’s house or resort. It even kind of felt like ‘Midsommar’ in its somewhat hallucinatory vibe. Anyway, it’s super entertaining – but it’s a horror movie, so know that going in.
Wednesday, Patti had a really full day schedule, so I took the time during the workday to grab the car and head into the center of Rhinebeck to have lunch and do some shopping. Bought a ton of fancy soaps (my weakness) at one of the shops, then went to Pete’s Famous for lunch. Lunch was Just Fine without being spectacular (I had a chicken caesar wrap), and it was the sort of place where the waitstaff is really friendly – to the point where I kinda wanted to snarl, “yes, everything’s OK, but I’m READING HERE”. OK, so clearly I needed a chill pill. Amusingly enough, when I headed out, who was there at another table but Patti, there with a friend for a business-y meeting. Small world!
Over to the candy store that’s owned by Paul Rudd and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, where I bought some chocolate-coated raisins and one rum truffle to eat right then and there. More walking around, went in some way too pricey home goods store, then around the corner. I checked my phone to see if anyone from work was trying to talk to me – shit, they were and wanted me in a ‘huddle’ right then! So I ducked off the street and holed up by someone’s garage and spent the next fifteen minutes in a work meeting, completely with visuals, on my phone. Eh, we made it work. My job doesn’t usually have crisis elements, but sometimes it does. If it had been undoable as is, I could have told them to give me 15 minutes and hustled back to the house, but that wasn’t necessary.
Once I wrapped that up, I went over to Oblong Books, where JJ works. I poked around a little, was delighted to discover that they had my neighbor-and-friend Mariah’s latest two books in the fiction section.
Then headed back ‘home’ for the afternoon. That night Patti made us lamb loin? some cut of lamb that wasn’t lamb chops. Very nice.
Although work had been kind of intense through Wednesday, we resolved our crisis and I was hopeful that Thursday would be light, as Patti was taking us to a friend’s lake house on Candlewood Lake, just across the border in Connecticut. I brought my laptop, as I had a standup meeting at noon, but let everyone know on the meeting that I was at this house party on a lake and my chances of actually doing anything productive for the rest of the day were slim. They were all cool with that.
Patti’s friend Mary was a neighbor of hers from Rhinebeck, but now had boyfriend Matthew and they were spending most of their time at this lake house. The house (which was gorgeous), was up the cliff from the lake, but after you descended a bazillion stairs, you found yourself on a lakeside deck with a dock, a utility house, tables, chairs, a grill and a boat!
There were eight of us (I was the only stranger). We had a terrific time, with a light lunch and drinks. We went out on the boat and went around the lake. (They were searching for a specific lakeside house that had been featured in a magazine, and we found it.) And then back to the deck for hamburgers. It was a completely wonderful pleasant day, and work never did rear its ugly head, thank goodness.
Patti and I headed back to Rhinebeck, but I don’t think we ate anything more or even did much of anything except crash. Peter was heading home from Vegas, but wouldn’t get there until after midnight.
Friday, I had to work a half-day, which I did, but I got to greet Peter and we had a nice morning. Then I took them to lunch at Pizzeria Posto in Rhinebeck before driving home. (I’d do another map, but it’s basically straight south down the Hudson to NYC.) It was an easy drive home, I found a decent parking space, and I was home at last, just in time for the anniversary weekend.
Next up: a subdued celebration.
The Toast Point Page 