Memoir

Old Money

Last night we went to the Hotel Del Coronado to attend the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation annual gala. As I have mentioned before, we were the guests of my sister Kathy and her Husband, Bennett, who are involved with the Foundation in support of their two grandchildren (Milla and Rhys, a.k.a Tiny & Mighty), both of whom have CF. We have been to several CF events at their behest and they have always been fun. This one, despite my attempt to skate on it earlier in the week, was especially fun for us. It was set up at this most iconic of destinations for San Diego, as a Chef Throw-Down. What that entailed was 18 famous or near famous San Diego chefs gathering and preparing a specialty dish for the crowd of 250. The Throw-Down took place on the lower lawn of the hotel, directly adjacent to one of the prettiest beaches in San Diego. The chef stations were spread around in a large circle with various beverage stations and tables set in the middle. This preliminary portion of the event was scheduled for about 90 minutes and provided enough food and drink to constitute dinner and more for anyone with any range of palate preferences. There were spicy duck tacos, risotto with lobster, swordfish wraps and beef and lamb sliders with balsamic reduction on them. There were oysters for the very brave and lots of other surf and turf offerings. There were also a wide variety of desserts ranging from mini ice cream cones to large tiramisu petit fours. My favorites were the spicy duck tacos and a little fruit-topped panna cotta cups. Those people with wider ranges of acceptable foods had a ball trying little bits of this and that. If you liked it, you went back for more. If you didn’t, no harm no foul, you just tossed it and went on to the next table and gastronomic delight. I know this is not the first such event ever held, but as they say, I don’t get out much anymore, and I found it interesting and unique.

What was even more fun about the event for me was that I got to see two tables full of friends and family, some of whom I rarely see and some who I hadn’t seen in…wait for it…fifty years. Bennett’s younger brother, Mark, who lives in Monterey and sells high end real estate, attended with his wife. I had never met his wife of many years because I had not seen Mark since he was twelve (and he wasn’t married then yet). Back in 1973, while I was in college, my mother came home from Rome to the States for home leave. Since Kathy and Bennett had just gotten married, this was a “come visit the family”, holiday gathering in Carmel/Monterey. Bennett’s family was from Pittsburgh (U.S. Steel family) and they had moved to the 17-Mile Drive on Monterey Peninsula. This is one of the most notable “Rich & Famous” spots in the world with Bing Crosby holding his Pebble Beach Clambake golf tournament and the upper echelon of Old Money San Francisco society (this was pre-Silicon Valley days) golfing at the highly exclusive Cyprus Point Golf Course. I was 19 at the time and The 17-Mile Drive was my first introduction to the world of the Uber-wealthy. It was a large gated community that happened to allow people to drive through for a fee since there were so many resort hotels in the area that to be too restrictive made no sense. Nevertheless, the houses on the Drive were both elegantly modest in look (not unusual for the old money very wealthy to try to be understated), and yet they had unbelievable views of the coast and were very similar in design with their cedar shake roofs. This is one of the most stringent and oldest HOA’s around and one could only build what the community style police allowed you to build. Bennett’s family owned two adjacent homes with fantastic views of the ocean and a nearby locals golf course called Pacific Grove Golf Links. I remember the whale and sea lion watching and the crashing surf. It was quite memorable.

My mother, being of more modest means as a UN employee, did not put us up at one of the swanky hotels around Pebble beach, but found a more modest accommodation in the work-a-day part of Carmel, but we would trek daily into the 17-Mile Drive to join Bennett and his family at their home or for some outing or another. I recall going to a movie theater in Monterey and taking my mother. This place was a small theater that had a floor built over a very large water bed and you lounged on pillows while the movie Yellow Submarine played. My mother was less impressed by the seating arrangements than the younger of us were, but it was certainly memorable. Bennett’s two brothers, Jacques and Mark, joined us for all of these outings. You see, it was the holiday season so we did things like exchange gifts in their living room and take our toys (someone had given someone a small hot air balloon) out for a test run. For one reason or another, I had pictures of these events in my memory box that I had digitized a few years ago.

When I met Mark for the first time in 51 years, I searched up my Dropbox files and found the pictures of him at age 12. He looked a bit different today with his big mustache and mostly bald head. That was fun.

I also was surprised to see Bennett’s old college friend Allen and his wife Jane. Allen went to architecture school with Kathy and Bennett and they have remained steadfast friends over the years. Allen and Jane came west for a visit, specially to support the CFF cause and attend the event, which they apparently did last year as well. Having known Allen for over fifty years and episodically seeing him at one Kathy & Bennett event or another, it was great to see him and catch up on things. Allen visited my first home in Rockville Centre, New York in 1977on one of those visits and he has been to my last home on the hilltop out here as well. He may have missed a few in between, but he and I are no strangers to one another at this point. I’ve seen him through two wives and he has seen me through three. I like Jane and it’s hard to imagine that he doesn’t like Kim.

After the Chef Throw-Down, we shifted as a group into the main ballroom where an oldies revival band was playing with ten male and female singers in an array of sequined outfits. The usual fundraiser agenda ensued with heartfelt videos about combating CF and finding a cure (something considered quite achievable given the single gene nature of the malady). that was followed by the usual silent and then live auction. I learned a long time ago after bidding on and winning many things I didn’t need and didn’t want, not to go that route. I would rather just let those who value those things do the bidding. I’m not sure a three-day stay at the Austin Four Seasons is something I can’t live without. Then the fundraiser kicked into high gear asking who would donate what, starting with $15,000 and working their way down from there to $100. I chose to say my goodbyes when they got to $1,000 since that was the level I had donated before the event and I felt that was my signal that a very pleasant night with lots of fun and all for a good cause had come to its logical end. I got reminded of how old money rolls in more than one way last evening.

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