I remember fondly these good old days and times spent with Lisa Drake & Chris from North Carolina in Cancun, Mexico and the three of us climbing over the Indian Mayan ruins of Chitchen Itza inland ( Mexico's Yucatan ) with other tourists just like us that we did not know. Funny, it was scary looking over the sides of the pyramid stone structure that was really shiny in parts where people had shimmied up and down on their butts clinging to the one thick piece of iron chord that was there for those afraid of being blown away to their deaths because of the strong gusts of winds there : just like the fear I am sure in those sacrificial young men and women and animals. Terrifying yet liberating and beautiful and magnificent, too.
We three were the only ones to brave the innards of Mexico and rent a car and drive into it all by ourselves while the others stayed back in the safety nets that were many and that came in all guises of resort and sport and recreational relaxation and entertainment that was the essence of that strip Cancun along the beautiful blue and green and clear waters on the sandy coast. What a draw : both this coast and the ruins, too. Glad to have shared them with everyone but especially glad to have shared the ruins with Lisa and Chris. Though the rest was memorable the ruins were the anchor that will forever ground me in Mexico.
Funny, I still have some excellent bonds that hold to this day from that one single " reward " vacation/trip from Stimson Lane to thanks us at then Forman Brothers for all our hard work back then in the nineties. Seems like so long ago now. My roommate Mike McNally and I still talk about it and every time that I see Wayne Courier I can still see his hair blowing in the breeze at the back of the speedboat next to Jeff Adamson and Emily ( Kristen ) Maische as we sped to and from our destination snorkeling area.
I also took at trip to Washington State for the very first and still last time with Lisa Drake and a smaller group of us from Forman Brothers that were again being thanked for our performances of the Stimson Lane wines and cigars that we all sold all the time from Columbia Crest and the Chateau Saint Michele wineries. We were flown to Seattle, Washington and I have to say that no expense was made to ensure our complete comfort, pleasure and satisfaction. It was simply grand. I loved it and I wrote about it and sketched, too. I should have also taken some pictures then but I do not think that I did for whatever reason.
I also remember clearly working in Washington D.C. with Lisa Drake and her sales presentations to us all at our Forman Brothers offices. I also remember once running into her at the then famous and popular Red Sage restaurant where my wife and I were going to celebrate our anniversary. Both Lisa and her husband had just finished dining there and were coming up the staircase as we were being escorted down it. We were thrilled to see one another, made introductions and smiled profusely and were filled with glee and good cheer, etcetera for a brief ten or so minutes before saying our " good-bye's ".
My wife and I went downstairs and ordered and enjoyed a lovely couple of hours with some of the SHRAMSBERG sparkling dry rose from California as well as some other wines which I cannot recollect just now. The meal was special and we really did enjoy ourselves.
When it got time to pay I reached into my wallet because I had two gift certificates from Jed Steele for a meal there. I had sold lots of his wine, too and so this was a reward for that. But before I could use them our waiter told me that Lisa Drake had compted our meal to thank me again for selling so much Chateau Saint Michele and Columbia Crest. Wow, we were both blown away by this kind and generous gesture of Lisa's and I will never forget it. Thanks Lisa, very much appreciated then and still now as I think back on all of this.
I have just finished doing my exercises here downstairs on my HealthRider 14001 tread mill. I wonder if they still make them? Anyway, just before that here at home in northern Virginia at 2:36 PM I had looked on my chatwine.blogspot to see what blogs that I still had in their " draft form " and I found the one of COLUMBIA CREST that my current Republic-National wine rep Jon did at our in-store Washington State " Big-Theme " monthly tastings that we do at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com on Facebook at : clevelandparkwines&spirits ). It was a grand success for us because of people like Jon pouring COLUMBIA CREST and like the other reps pouring their wines, too from Washington State. We could not do them without their hard work and efforts pouring and donating samples of wine to help better educate our customers.
I wanted to be sure and include the wines of CHATEAU SAINT MICHELE and COLUMBIA CREST because of the hard work and efforts of both Lisa Drake and Chris from North Carolina. Thank you both. That's why I included these famous wineries that everyone already knows pretty well and put them both front-and-center here on this Wednesday evening from 5:30-8:30 PM back in the beginning of 2010. I remember, I don't forget : that's me to a " T ".
And so bring this all into line while I was running in place on my treadmill Just a little while ago I began to reflect on what I would say when I finish my other blog here with Jon pouring the COLUMBIA CREST Washington State wines at our " Big-Theme " Washington State monthly wine-tasting? I think that I will link these two blogs of course and talk a little bit about the wines today which are sound and excellent from both wineries and have people read this current blog entry as well.
Lisa Drake left Stimson Lane several years ago and I hope that she is doing well. I have not heard where you are now Lisa. If you see this blog please contact me and let me know. It would be great to speak with/ see you once again. We still have the wines here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits : but I must admit that at the moment we are working a bit more with the CHATEAU SAINT MICHELE wines.
Lisa had come to see me at least once at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits when she was still with Stimson Lane and that was good. It encouraged me of course to work more / sell more of her wines. I've got pictures of those visits to the store and at some point I will have to scan them and include them here.
I will also have to include my comments from the visit to Seattle and to both vineyards, one on the outskirts of Seattle ( CH. STE. MICHELE ) and the one on the hillside overlooking the Columbia River there on the border of Washington State and Oregon ( COLUMBIA CREST ).
I also have pictures of Lisa, Chris and I walking over the Mayan ruins in Mexico's Yucatan of Chichen Itza and I will also have to scan those and include them here at some point later. I've got a whole lot to do but I will proof this for spelling and other errors and then post this later today and then add to it as I have the time and the energy and am in the right mood and frame of mind.
Thanks again Lisa for everything : and you , too Chris. WE should do it again. That would be fun and another entirely different experience now wouldn't it?!? Cheers, TONY
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