The best laid plans of mice and men...

Mother got in on schedule, just as I finished the last-minute cleaning. After a glass of wine and a bit of talk, we boldly set forth to Sassafras.

Unfortunately, the dinner was not all for which I had hoped. They had put my reservation down for Thursday instead of Friday, and called me Thursday night to ask where I was. They told me it would be no problem to get me in on Friday, but I wonder if they were over-booked. We were stuck in the back room with a large and VERY loud office Christmas party that just seemed to go on and on. When they first took us back, I thought they would be leaving soon, but they finished the food, had drinks, opened presents, gave speeches, and generally annoyed the piss out of me the whole time we were there. And we were there for a while. We had decided what we were having long before the waiter took our order. I had some difficulty ordering there, because apparently the chef uses Tasso ham (whatever the hell that is) like salt. It was in the seafood dishes. It was in the special. It was in the pasta. And all the sauces were pre-prepped, so I couldn't get them made without the ham.

After ordering, we waited almost an hour for our food. That would have been OK if we could have talked. But we were basically having to scream at each other over the table because the endless Christmas party was so loud. I have to say that when we did get our food, it was both hot, and very good. Despite the big party, the waiter was reasonably attentive; but he brought me a side of grits that obviously had chicken broth in them, despite that during the ordering process I had told him I didn't eat meat. That kind of pissed me off. They did bring us a free dessert (unsolicited) for Mother's birthday, which was nice. But honestly at that point, for me it was a little too little, a little too late. The food was good, and if you eat meat, and went after the holidays, you would probably have a nicer experience than we did, but I really don't have any time set to go back. There are just too many other places to eat that aren't so noisy, and where I don't have such a hard time ordering.

As we left, the loud party continued.

After dinner we walked around downtown, looking at the lights, window shopping and talking. Despite all, it was a nice evening. Mom and I are close, and because we were estranged for a while when I was growing up, I think we appreciate our relationship more than some moms and sons do. Mom and I have a lot in common, and tend to look at things in similar ways. We really enjoy each others company. And of course, we gay boys, especially Southern ones, just love our mamas.