I keep forgetting we're at 7,000 feet. I couldn't figure out why I was drunk after one glass of wine with our late lunch (which, for me, included a beet and mango salad with field greens and two slices of homemade wheat bread at Cafe Pasqual's—thanks, Clem!) until I read the "High Altitude Tips" in the hotel's guest services directory, which mentioned using alcohol sparingly due to its intensified effects at altitude. Oh well. Hopefully I'll be a bit more sober by 5:45pm, which is when we're due to get in a hot tub (or, more accurately, a warm tub) at Ten Thousand Waves.
Our FedEx package never made it; the boxes on the form are confusing, and both Priority Overnight Next Business Day and Saturday Delivery were checked. That means that the package is here, but it won't be delivered until Monday morning... and we're leaving Sunday morning. Oh well; FedEx supposedly can route it to Dallas for us. As long as it makes it there by Wednesday, when I run out of medicine (and we leave for New Orleans), we're good.
After determining that the package wasn't going to make it, we headed first for Whole Foods (we got a mini Just Desserts carrot cake to relive the wedding reception, and scouted breakfast and lunch options for our long journey tomorrow) and then on to the Plaza. We walked around a little, admired the architecture around the Cathedral, bought some roasted corn from a cart, priced a cool pear painting (too expensive for us) and some metal sculptures (WAY too expensive for us), and then put Al's name on the list for a table at Pasqual's.
Since lunch is over at 3pm and we put our names on the list at 2:40pm, we were in the "one call only" timeframe. If you didn't answer the first call, your name was crossed off forever! When I saw the guy with the list come out about 5 minutes later, I ran over to stand within earshot. He read off three names with no response, and then said, "AL!" "Right here!" I said, motioned to Al to follow, and went to the table the host pointed at.
I ordered a glass of Merlot with the beet salad in mind, but our waiter thought that the vintage was a little weak for $10 a glass. He brought me two other wines to try instead, and I picked his second choice. It was good, which explains my current state. Al had Chargrilled Trout and a do-it-yourself lemonade; he wished someone better qualified had made it for him. The food was nice, the service even better, and I'd eat there again. In fact, if we're hungry after the Ten Thousand Waves, we might.
Posted by Lori at October 12, 2002 03:56 PM