PLANTATION SENSATION WEEKEND

Maybe Esther *was* right? And why the hell do I keep saying this? Being the gamester that I am, I'm not gonna spell it out for ya. Put the clues together, read on, you'll figure it out...



So I've had this big weekend planned for sometime now. We've been talking about it forever. And I've been so looking forward to it as you could have probably guessed. We finally agreed that she would fly down from the Northeast to meet me. She flew in Friday evening. Friends of mine were throwing me a belated birthday dinner party and they were nice enough to invite her, too.


Oh my god, we had such a great time. Great food, great wine, birthday cake, singing, laughing? Are you kidding? Plus, my friends loved her. We all got along so well. Wasn't that comforting! Saturday, we spent nearly the entire day at one of the biggest art shows in the country. Miles of fabulous artists from all over the world! I've been going to this art show as a kid and have always loved it. I thought it would be a great day for us which is why we planned this particular weekend. And it truly was. She was so into the art, the people watching, the food, the whole scene. I showed her my favorite Italian photographer. She loved him. I introduced her to him. We both bought some prints. Expensive but well worth it. Wow, was I having fun with her. I'd waited so long to have a weekend such as this. Fun, fun, fun.


Saturday night, I took her to one of the finest restaurants in Ft. Lauderdale. It's in what we SoFla people call the Las Olas district. Tons of great restaurants and neat little shops. We walked around for a little while and finally walked into the restaurant around 8. The place was packed. She looked at the outside menu and gasped at the prices. I told her not to worry about it and that the food was well worth it. Oh my was it worth it! I ordered my favorite Pine Ridge Merlot which is so smooth and velvety. She loved it. We decided to each order an appetizer and entree and share everything. I ordered the Crispy potato, goat cheese and portobello terrine with organic greens and tinto vinaigrette. She ordered a seasonal stuffed date in phyllo dough concoction. For dinner she ordered the Crab-crusted black grouper with wild mushroom-salsify ragout, roasted potatoes and horseradish butter I opted for a seasonal swordfish special. We snacked on some homemade Italian bread and EVOO {foodie way of saying extra virgin olive oil}. The 'apps' {foodie term} came out and what a presentation. Almost too pretty to eat it. We split up the plates and I watched for her reaction as she took her first bite. I laughed. Her expression was priceless. That look of , "oh this is to die for!" Then she started in with the, "mmmmmmmms." Wow, she was passionate about food. Bonus points! My expressions were the same. Both appetizers were indeed out of this world. She was digging the place big time. That made me really happy.


The entrees came and it was more of the same. Truly outstanding food. She loved everything. The meal was well paced. Two-hours flew buy. We decided to order dessert and cappuccino. She ordered some homemade toasted almond ice cream, and I went all out with the Three layer chocolate hazelnut 'Kit-Kat' with vanilla fudge ice cream. Oh my lord. Nuff said. A great finish to a great meal and a great time. She thanked me over and over. I liked that. We strolled in and out of the Las Olas before rain cut short the evening. I was really having the time of my life. It had been so long since I've had this much fun.


Sunday we hung out at the beach, saw a smarmy first date kinda movie (The Wedding Date), and bought stuff for an Academy Awards Dinner that I was going to make her. Boy did time fly, I tell ya. My dinner came out wonderful. She loved my cooking and appreciated my effort to cook and clean. More bonus points. We watched the Oscars together and had a fabulous time commenting on the fashion, winners, and losers. It was my lucky night because I kept calling out the winners before they were announced. She was quite impressed. I gave her my Rain Man impression. She laughed.


Hard to believe that happened only last weekend. I miss her already. Will we see each other again? Oh, I have a feeling we certainly will! Yes everyone, Plantation's in love! It was a weekend I'll never forget. And yes, this post is dedicated to you. Thanks mom, for all you do.