What a day, it started out normal enough but my right shin had been killing me since we arrived. Anyhow, around 11am we headed into town to start seeing people. Our first stop was a famous restaurant in the St Regis Hotel owned by Food and Wine magazine to see a friend who is the wine director. They were just sticking a whole pig that was filleted in a metal rack into a stainless steel box that they put coals on to roast it. We set an appointment for today at 11 to see him. Next up was our 1:30 lunch. We walked to the restaurant, me still with what I thought was a shin splint, to meet our group arriving from all over the country. Turns out traffic from Denver was so bad it took them over 5 hours to get here. So we waited and waited until finally at 3:15 they all showed up. They didn’t even check into their condos but just came straight to us. Turns out it was a great meeting. I had known and worked with one of the top guys years ago when he was in a different position and he and I hit it off.
So after that we headed back to the house to get ready for our dinner. First though, Peggy said the Rolls was still in the shop but instead insisted I take the Ferrari. Now I don’t care about driving it but Aleks and Jure were all in. So she told me where she parked it on the street and where the key was (she was getting her hair done) and I stuck them in it and off we went to home.
Lori and I rushed to get ready for dinner and an hour later we were off. It was ok and nice to see some old friends (literally and figuratively) but we were dying to get out of there. Aleks and Jure were at one table and Lori and I at another. I wish I had a camera as Jure was sandwiched between two ladies in their 60’s at least, trying to dress and act like they were in their 20’s! I joked with him later that having not much to say, he should have turned to the right, or left, and said, “you remind me of my grandma”! Anyhow they were great, everyone loved them and they sold a lot of wine. Miss Sweden (from whatever year, maybe the 70’s) bought a bunch!
At 8:45 my driver who was driving Alberto (Bocelli) and Kristin up from the airport in Denver called saying they were 5 minutes away. I thought this was my “out” or excuse to leave and was gathering us all up but as we were walking out Lori said, “we have to go back”. Our hosts were understanding but Lori said she could tell they were disappointed. She was right so I said hi to Alberto and Kristin and sent the driver on another 10 minutes to take them to the Ranch and back in we went. About an hour later, we were done and could leave which we did.
We made it home 15 minutes later, my shin still killing me, sort of red and a bit swollen. They had just cooked some dinner so we ate as we didn’t really eat at the party as the food was banquet food. No matter how hard you try, you just can’t serve 250 people all at once without something being dry. We hung out with everyone and Alberto but soon were the first to retire. Upstairs Lori said “let me look at your leg”. Turns out she saw a bite mark right in the middle of the swollen red part and said “you were bit by a spider or ant or something”. Upon closer inspection, she was right. So I whipped out my medical bag, pulled out some Cipro (a heavy antibiotic) and started taking it. This morning it’s still sore  but looks better. I was going to call Kim (my ER doctor friend) as she was getting off her 3 to 11pm shift at the hospital but didn’t. Earlier in the day I had her come into town as one of Jody’s kids was sick with what we thought was strep. Jody was amazed saying “who gets a doctor to come to come to you in 30 minutes in Aspen?” It’s good to have good friends which Kim turned into after we met her when Jagger went to the ER a year ago jumping off a bridge here one weekend.
So today we have the champagne party from 1 to 3 and then I need to drop Josh at the Aspen airport before we all go to dinner at 6. It’s beautiful here and the sound of the rushing water from the river behind the house is priceless. Just the sound of water is so soothing.
That’s it from Aspen, lots of networking today as it’s the first official day of Food and Wine, even though I’ve already accomplished a lot. God Bless.