The Beach Boys And I

We were looking for a bathroom. We had slowly worked our way through the packed crowd to where we thought there might be one. Instead, our route dead-ended at yet another bar offering all of the free fine spirits we could drink. Our glasses were already full of bourbon. We didn't need booze, we needed a bathroom.

Not wanting to walk all of the way back through the crowd, we decided to walk up a grand staircase to see if we might have any luck up there. Walking down a wide, ornate hallway, we came across a table set for dinner. It was just like the tables downstairs in the ballroom, only this one was all by itself. In a hallway.

The caramelized pear, bitter greens and goat cheese on a cracker salad were set out. We hoped this wasn't our table. Whoever sat here would miss the Beach Boys performing in the ballroom.

At the end of the hallway was a door. That would have stopped me, but Lindsay opened the door and spoke to someone inside. He motioned for me to come in. Inside were a bunch of guys hanging out. One of the guys said in a pleasant voice, "Oh, a girl. That's okay." Someone else said to keep this route to the bathroom a secret. We agreed, but it all seemed odd.

We followed the directions, found the bathroom and then our table. We got lucky. We were less than 20 feet from the stage. Dinner was served. In addition to the salad, we got fillet Mignon and salmon, followed by chocolate creme brulee topped with fresh berries for dessert. The food and wine were more than acceptable.

Next came the after-dinner speeches. In case you didn't know, trial lawyers are heroes who keep Americans safe from corrupt corporations, or at least, that was the gist of of the speeches. Not surprisingly when you're dealing with lawyers, the speeches ran long which was beginning to cause me distress. The Beach Boys were going to perform between 9 and 11 p.m. Every few minutes of speeches, meant fewer songs performed. By nine thirty, I was spitting mad. Really, what would you rather listen to, I love me speeches by lawyers or the Beach Boys?

Finally, the concert started. Of course it was great. At some point it hit us, though. Those guys hanging out upstairs who helped us find the bathroom were the Beach Boys. The dinner table in the hallway was for them. They are legends, but they need to eat too. We breathed the same air, ate the same food and used the same bathroom. (Sorry, that is how nurses think.)

I have photos and will post them as soon as I can get past the computer glitch that is keeping me from downloading my photos.