I was fortunate to be invited to the Shoreby Club, just a 1/2 mile from my house, for a Cigar and Scotch tasting. I had no idea how beautiful this place was. Hard up against the lake and comprised of several old stone mansions that are now converted to a little family boat and lunch club. I met Arlene and Tim there to talk about how I might be able to help out with some community work they do through the Bratenhal Foundation. The club is lovely. There is a small marina, a nice little pool with outside bar area, a small restaurant and a couple of reception areas. The restaurant and pool area is casual beach style decor, but the rest of the place is old school; dark woods and heavy rugs and drapes.
The weather was so nice I was able to ride the motorcycle. First day out this year. I could have walked of course, but I wanted to ride. When I got there, I went to the restaurant, not knowing exactly where the event was being held. Katie, the receptionist, led me through a few long back hallways, through a part of the kitchen and up some steps. As soon as we hit the top of of the steps, the smell of scotch filled the air. Sure enough, adjacent to a little sun room was the dining room with 5 scotches poured and ready.
But we started with cigars. I met some nice folks–all men for this event. We stood on the back porch and smoked and had a rusty nail, my first ever, and chatted. Then we moved in for the tasting and a dinner of tuna with rice and dessert.
Our emcee was Joseph, a sophisticated and intelligent whisper of a man–he was small, but elegant in presence and speech. He was knowledgeable about scotch and cigars and he mixed in stories of growing up in Beirut and Senegal and I had the idea he might be a good subject for me to interview for the Bratenhal Community magazine.
All in, a terrific night in a great little club just near my house. After dinner we had another cigar and looked out over the water. Me dreaming of sailing of course.
I suspect this club is out of reach for me financially (I was only able to attend as a guest), but they invited me back for the tour and the pitch.
The Martini Tales 