I know I told a lot of folks that I was going away for the Holidays, so I thought it might be fun to tell you a little about where we went and what transpired.
So basically, Therese and I went to Naples, FL to spend Christmas with her parents, who live there, and then we spent a week vacationing in Miami, returning to New York City on January 1st.
We flew in Naples on Wednesday, December 22nd and Therese's parents, Sam and Eileen, picked us up at the airport and drove us to our hotel, which was very nice of them to do. But also, they were very eager to see us. Our hotel, the Naples Double Tree, turned out to be really nice. It didn't hurt that we had the nicest suite in the hotel. The back of the hotel faced onto a sort of game reserve, so there was a beautiful lake and a grove of trees. We had a balcony that wrapped around two sides of the suite, one of which faced the hotel's pool and the other the trees and wildlife. We were told when we checked in that there was a bald eagle sighted in the grove of trees, and sure enough the next morning we saw the eagle majestically flying in circles before landing on a tall dead paper tree.
So Therese and I settled in and then went out to dinner with Sam and Eileen at a local spot called EVOO. Nothing too extraordinary, but the fried calimari and red wine hit the spot. The next day, the 23rd, the four of us went to the Naples Museum of Art, a modest art museum by New York standards but filled with lots of wonderful art, especially some great glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly. One of the most extraordinary examples of Chihuly's art was next door in the lobby of the Naples Philharmonic Hall, where I also got to see a plaque acknowledging Sam and Eileen's contribution. They are justifiably proud of their community - they've lived in Naples for more than 10 years and love it.
Friday, Christmas Eve, Sam and I planned to visit one of Naples' cigar lounges. There are now two noteworthy ones that I know of: Vicente of London and the new Burn by Rocky Patel. Sam and I went to Vicente's - the ladies dropped us off so they could go do some shopping, and we set a time when they would pick us up. Vicente's is a very impressive place. All along the outer rim of the lounge are glass cases enclosing their vast and varied inventory. It took us a while to look at everything, but I settled on a Camacho Select robusto, and Sam decided he would smoke the same.
It seemed to be a quiet afternoon at Vicente's, but the host, Mark, was very friendly and took good care of us. We found a comfortable couch opposite a tv broadcasting ESPN, and Mark brought us Diet Cokes to go with our cigars. Sam and I then passed a very relaxing 2 hours smoking, talking and watching sports news.
Eileen and Therese picked us up at the appointed time and we drove to Sam and Eileen's house, where Therese and I made dinner for the four of us. After dinner Therese's daughter Valentina and Valentina's boyfriend Jake arrived and the 6 of us opened our stockings as is the custom in Therese's family.
On Christmas morning, we all gathered again at Sam and Eileen's house for breakfast and then present-opening. I had made cookies for Valentina and a batch for Sam as well - their own personal batches that they need not share with anyone. And for Sam's main present from me, I gave him a Fuente Humidipak with 4 CRC Cigars, a Camacho Liberty 2010 and a couple other cigars. Sam was pretty excited - he likes cigars, but doesn't get to smoke them that often.
The gift giving went on most of the rest of the afternoon, and then it was time for Therese and I to start making dinner. For starters, I was making a pumpkin pie for dessert, and Therese put together a baked brie tart and some baked twists with ham. Then came the dinner: a beef filet with green beans, potatoes homemade mushroom gravy (my specialty). It turned out to be enough food to feed twice the number of people present, but that was no problem for Sam and Eileen since that meant they would have leftovers for many days to come.
Dinner was finished and Sam, Jake and I were going to sit out on the porch, when Therese suggested we smoke some of Sam's Xmas cigars. So that's just what we did. We had no cutter, but I took a paring knife and a cutting board and did my best to cut 3 cigars, and then we lit them using Sam's old trusty Bic. The purist in me shuddered, but most of me just thought, hey go with the flow, and the three of us passed a good hour plus chatting and enjoying our cigars. Dessert was eventually served to us by Therese, and it was just glorious.
The next morning we got all packed and met back at Sam and Eileen's where a limo picked us up to drive the four of us, Therese, Valentina, Jake and I, to Miami - Therese and I to have a vacation in Miami, Valentina and Jake to board a cruise ship to take off for the Caribbean.
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