When Wendy offered me a free trip to a resort in Texas completely out of the blue, it didn't require a lot of thought before I accepted! We arrived last night with the rest of her office admin staff and their guests for their annual work retreat. Working for the big man in town (Bill Gates) has its perks and this is one of them. Having friends in high places has its perks and this is one of them! Unfortunately, there's a hurricane off the west coast of Mexico and that storm is causing rain and rain and a bit more rain in these parts, so the bad weather continues to follow us, but as the saying goes,
the worst weather at a resort in Texas still beats staying home on the couch. I may have just made that saying up, but it's not untrue.
We got in last night and had time to relax a bit before meeting the whole gang for dinner. There are 20 of us in the group, and while "corporate retreat" implies that work or at least some meetings might be required of the 10 staff members, that's not the case - this is a mini-vacation for everyone.
Dinner was a fun and lively meal which started with a delicious sparkling wine and ended with premium tequila. In between, I had a lovely fresh salad with roasted beets (there is a garden on the premises which provides much of the produce for the restaurant), beef short ribs, and chocolate-pecan pie.
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| beef short ribs, roasted corn, polenta, and okra... |
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| ...followed by chocolate pecan pie |
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| an empty pool in the pouring rain - sad! |
Saturday morning Wendy and I got up a little on the late side (we finished dinner around 11pm) and I went to the gym then took a walk around the grounds (umbrella in hand) before meeting Wendy for lunch, which we managed to squeeze in just before our massage appointments at the spa. After the spa, we had a bit of time relaxing in our room before heading to a tequila tasting event.
There have been incidences in my life when I got up close and personal with tequila, but those days are long gone and I'm comfortable with that. This event seemed interesting though so I sat in and took a few sips of some very complex tequilas, most costing several hundred dollars a bottle. Tasting the best of anything is always fun and interesting, but truth be told, a chocolate tasting would have been more up my alley.
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| Jose Cuervo on the far left - purely for contrast |
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| This was my favorite, clear, smooth, distilled by a woman in Mexico, $200+ a bottle. |
