Introducing RQS to another friend

 

I've known DPV since the early days of the post-Covid reopening of society.  We dated once, realized that we'd make better friends than lovers - and stayed friends.  I have driven her to a hotel prior to her going into a hospital for an operation.  (I won't say much about this, save that she has recovered acceptably well.)  And I wanted to make sure that DPV knew that RQS and I are an item, and that RQS knew about our friendship.  So, we finally scheduled a dinner at DPV's place for RQS and DPV to get to know each other.

DPV knows that I am TG, so wearing a dress (with tights to keep my legs warm) wouldn't be an issue.  So, the one question I had to ask was: What should we bring up for dinner?  DPV said we could bring up whatever wine we wanted, but I'm glad we didn't do so for reasons we found out later.  In the end, we decided on bringing up a cheesecake - a perfect choice.  Google Maps gave us a route that got us to DPV's place in under 90 minutes.  But it was through roads we'd never take again at night - there were way too many curves and blind spots to risk driving home on those rural roads.  As a result, we were near her house 30 minutes early, and stopped at a Mickey D's for a snack and to kill time.  

This dinner almost didn't come off.  DPV's house had no heat because there was no oil in the tank.  Why she didn't get her delivery a month ago, no one knows.  But she needed an emergency delivery today, and it hadn't come by the time we were there.  So, we had to dress warmly and deal with the chill inside the house.  When we arrived, DPV wanted us to hear this Kazakh singer which captivated DPV, but had no effect on us.  It took a while for dinner to be ready, so we were very glad that we had our snack before arriving. 

When dinner was served, DPV told us a little about her life story.  We found out that DPV had been in recovery for a long time (albeit with a rare lapse or two).  We talked about how a GLP-1 drug helped her lose weight, although she has another 100-150 pounds to go.  (This was my reason for not having a romance with her.  Me being a TG was hers.)  And, we eventually talked about cruising, specifically the cruise she is taking next year.  So, I made sure to give her the link to my cruise web page.  

All too soon, it was time to leave.  We wanted to get home in time for SNL's cold open.  And we were home with 15 minutes to spare.  It was a long day, but a good one. 

Cruising to New England and the Maritimes

 

RQS and I were looking at this itinerary, and we decided to take a Summer/Autumn cruise. We normally would follow the advice of Gary Bembridge and use a travel agent to book our cruise.  However, we encountered a situation where the travel agent we selected couldn't provide us the option we could get by booking directly with the cruise line.  

But first....

Last night, we planned to book this cruise when I got home from dinner with DPV .  However, Vacations to Go (VTG) closes its lines at 10 pm, so we figured we'd book the cruise tonight. Well, things didn't work out as planned.

RQS was visiting her cousin in Philadelphia, and brought her new Chromebook along for the ride.  Around 9 pm, RQS called me and tried to connect me in for a 3 way call with VTG. We couldn't get that working.  Unfortunately, VTG couldn't give us the booking we wanted - they could only do an all or nothing regarding the "Free at Sea" offering.  We wanted everything but the "Free" booze package (we don't drink enough to make the $200/pp gratuity charge worth the price), and VTG couldn't or wouldn't do what was needed to uncheck this option.  So RQS and I decided to contact the cruise line directly and see what we could do.  And we had more success here, as the cruise line's agent had no problem making this happen.  Sadly, we couldn't get the room I found online, but we got a good room for the same price.  (The agent made a mistake at first, not realizing what we would accept a cabin in the aft part of the ship, and thinking we wanted an aft balcony.  He corrected this quickly, when I told RQS what I think happened.)  

Would I do the booking this way again?  Maybe/Maybe Not.  I have found a local travel agent specializing in cruises that I may try out for our next cruise together.  Hopefully, I can get better results from someone local than from an organization which may be experiencing Covid-19 related personnel churn.

So, now we are committed - we will be spending time with each other where we have to see each other for 10 straight days.  This will tell us a lot about how we get along together.  Keep your fingers crossed.

 

PS: This is a cruise I'll be doing as Mario.  It won't be as much fun, but.....

Seeing a friend from the "North Country"

 

I haven't seen DPV in ages.  We dated once, but found that each other's baggage was too much to carry, so we decided to be friends. With Covid-19, work, and what's been going on in our lives, neither of us has had enough free time to get together.  So I jumped at the opportunity to have a French dinner with her when the opportunity presented itself.

Cafe Les Baux is an intimate restaurant in Millbrook, NY. It's about a 1 hour drive from both where I work and from my home with free flowing traffic. I decided to stop home after work, so that I could check my mail before going to meet DPV.  As expected, the drive took 60 minutes, even with me ignoring Google's directions.  (They recommended taking the Taconic State Parkway through Putnam county - one of the roads I hate driving on due to the characteristics of the road.)  Once I reached Dutchess county, it was smooth sailing to the restaurant.

We agreed to meet at 7:15.  I arrived 15 minutes before DPV, and we had to wait a few minutes until a table freed up.  Both of us ordered the Roast 1/2 duck special, and it was better than anything I could have cooked when I was regularly roasting ducks.  From the appetizers to dessert, everything was top notch, and I highly recommend this restaurant when you have a few extra dollars to spend.  (Both of us went over budget dining here, but it was worth every cent.  I plan to take RQS here when it's time for a special dinner.)

Exiting the restaurant at 10 pm, I realized that I was doing to drive more carefully than usual.  The roads were slick from rain when I got on the road, and I drove much slower than usual on the short section of the Taconic I used before driving through Putnam County on Route 9.  

Although I called RQS when I got home, it was a relatively short chat - we agreed that we'd book our Autumn cruise the following day....