Dinner last night turned out great, although a bit odd. Ellen had made reservations for 6:00 by phone at the Pierpoint (or Pierpont) Inn and Raquet Club, a historic site established in 1903. The Arts and Crafts building was opened in 1928, had a view of the ocean, and was properly what might be called "rustic elegant."
The odd part was that they called this a "Mother's Day Champagne Brunch," although the serving hours were 2 to 6 pm. (Ellen said they should have called it "linner.") Mike and Paula didn't leave Ellen's until after 4:00 and they had to go back to Santa Barbara, shower and change, and meet us at the place at 6:00. When he asked Ellen to change our arrival time to 6:30, she was told they close at 6:00 and orders had to be placed no later than 6:15!
Well, we hustled over there and placed M. and P.'s orders, too, worried that they wouldn't appear until late. No problem, though, as they somehow got there 20 minutes or so after we did.
The food was great: M. and P. got prime rib, Ellen chicken Saltibocca (or something), and I had my good old salmon with a luscious sauce. Champagne was complimentary (at those prices, you would hope so), and I had two glasses, Ellen one. M. and P. had sparkling apple juice (ugh!) because M. doesn't like alcohol and P. avoids it during her pregnancy.
Got lovely cards and gifts: a robe, plus the dinner, from M. and P., "dinner and a movie" (a favorite gift of mine) from Alison, and the promise of kitchen knives from Ellen. Of course, we toasted Paula and me and had a wonderful, convivial time. With the beautiful, handmade card from the Tokyo Two, it was a wonderful Mother's Day--the best part, it goes without saying, my incredible good fortune in having four such treasures in my life.