Birch Ridge Snow Stake, January 22, 2006, 2:30 PM

Birch Ridge Snow Stake, January 22, 2006, 2:30 PM

Even though our chefs cook for us all the time, I don't often get a chance to dine in our restaurant. Last night was a little different. My son and his girlfriend, with his girlfriend's parents, came to visit for the weekend. We had not seen each other over Christmas. So it was a celebration of sorts to have everyone at the inn.

We started with a few cocktails at happy hour, sitting for dinner around 6:15 PM. I would usually prefer to dine a little later when I do a formal dinner, but the restaurant book was pretty busy last night. I wanted to make sure that we had enough time to enjoy our meal, yet be able to get another party down on the table later in the evening. I had never met my son's girlfriends parents, so we had a number of pleasantries and polite moments to get through, before everyone could relax. Of course, a cosmo for mom, and 3 nice bottles of wine from the cellar helped everyone become friends in quick fashion. By 12:30 AM, we were all over at the Wobbly Barn. My favorite Wobbly bartender, Bobby, had a pint of Guinness waiting for me, and the rest took care of itself. 4 Guinaye (or is it Guinness's') later, with a little dancing thrown in for exercise, and we walk back the the inn at 2:00 AM. I had not seen my son in a while so we stayed up talking, getting to bed around 4:45 AM, with another ski day shot before it got started.

It turned out to be a great weekend. I got a chance to see my son and his girlfriend again. The girlfriends parents were really nice and fun to be around. (You guys can come back anytime!) I had an excuse, like I need one, to crack open some nice bottles of wines for personal consumption. And don't forget the Guinness....

It turned much colder last night. Today's temperatures at the inn are in the low 20's with a raw damp feeling to the air. As you can see from the snow stake picture, we got a little dusting of snow on the ground. More is due in tomorrow, so we can go outside and play.