Stayin' the Night

Cast your mind back to July. It's a warm summer night, around 10 pm. I'm down at what will become our new tasting room on Winslow Way (picture Main Street USA) doing some painting in preparation for our opening. All the lights are on and the door to the sidewalk is open, when in walks a nicely-dressed couple. The woman says "I'm really sorry to bother you, but would you mind if my friend sits down here for a few minutes? We just missed the ferry and he just had lung surgery and there doesn't seem to be anywhere else open. I'd be happy to help paint!" These folks seemed just a little too dressy for Bainbridge, so I wonder for a second if they are grifters, but her offer to help seems genuine. I say sure, you can stay. I've got some Ikea chairs still in boxes leaning against the wall, so I ask if she would help with assembling those, while her friend sits down on one of the beautiful stools we have from Laughing Moon Designs. We start chatting, and I ask what they do. "I'm in the music business," he says. "He's a drummer," she elaborates. I ask who he drums for. "The band Chicago. Have you heard of it?" I must look really young for that to be a reasonable question. Turns out he's Tris Imboden, drummer for Chicago since 1990, and the band is in town while on tour. One of the founders of the group, Walt Parazaider, lives on Bainbridge, and they and some other folks were over at his house for dinner. Tris called them in too (a couple of the tour managers) and we all hung out for a while, painting, assembling, and talking about the music business and the wine business, until it was time for them to head off for the ferry again (this time with plenty of time). As they were leaving, one of the tour managers, Bob, bought a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. We had been having such a good time that I didn't think to take any pictures or anything before they left (but here's what Tris and his friend Penny look like) - and then I realized that that was my first sale in the new tasting room! I took the $20 bill that Bob had given me and stuck it in a small frame. So now when you visit the tasting room you can see the bill and sit in the chairs that came from an evening with Chicago.