DAY 15: Fine Dining With a 4-Year-Old
We were pretty hungry after a long day of tire trouble, repairs and driving and we could not WAIT to eat some really good food. The Turning Stone Casino in Verona, New York had quite an impressive list of restaurants to choose from.
When we walked into the casino, Max and Mason were in awe of the lights and the slot machines (which they were only permitted to ogle from a distance). Max was looking in wonder at the actual casino and said, “I wish I was 18!” Richard and I don’t gamble so we dragged the boys upstairs for some food.
Our first choice was Rodizio, a Brazilian steakhouse. We love those. They bring around huge skewers of meat to your table, over and over again. We don’t eat much meat but we do indulge when we go to a Brazilian steakhouse! Unfortunately, the hostess said they couldn’t seat us for another 45 minutes. She said she could call any of their other restaurants to try to get us in more quickly. I chose Wildflowers, their fine dining restaurant, which is “AAA Four-Diamond-rated” (that means expensive).
Sure enough, the hostess looked up, and said, “It’s, um, very expensive.”
Okay, maybe we looked like weary travelers because WE WERE. But I also looked around me and saw lots of retired folks dressed in shorts and the like. Maybe she suspected we couldn’t afford a fine dining restaurant because we have small children? (A waiter I once knew – not a friend – said he hated serving families with kids because the tips were always smaller. We ALWAYS tip very well.) I replied, “I don’t care about the cost. Can we eat there with children?”
She replied, “Oh, sure! Kids eat there all the time.” She then called them and they said they had an immediate table for us.
We took quite a stroll to get there (that casino is HUGE!!!) and were given a nice table with two chairs and a booth. Max and Mason took the booth. I reminded Mason (age 4) to be on his best behavior. Max (age 9) is always on his best behavior but Mason is still in SST (Social Situation Training).
Here are some examples of the entertainment Mason provided to our fellow diners that evening (ahem):
Yes, he’s pretending to smoke a wine cork…
Mason’s Menu Telescope
Mason didn’t like the appetizer…and he obviously forgot to wash his hands!
I took Mason to the bathroom to wash his hands and he got fingerprints all over the mirror trying to make a stationary stool spin.
He wanted to know if he was supposed to eat the warm washcloth the waiter brought him.
He convinced the kind waiter to bring him a whole bowl of cherries.
Mason convinced Max to give up his own cherry but then Max then go into trouble for almost getting his hand stuck in the glass. He blamed Mason, of course.
There was a lively table of three men sitting behind Max and Mason. One of them had on a light blue leisure suit (no kidding) and reminded me Steve McQueen (a loooooong time ago). While we were doing our best to constantly remind Mason to sit still and be quiet, we were shocked when a wine cork flew over the booth between Max and Mason, soaring under our table. We burst into laughter, breaking the hushed atmosphere of the restaurant. The rowdy boys at that table also started laughing, and apologizing profusely. Seems one of them tried to flick it toward his buddy…but missed by about 12 feet. I assured them it was just fine and told them how happy we were that missiles were incoming instead of being launched by our youngest boy.
After dinner, the waiter told us the rowdy boys had picked up the tab for our dessert. As they were leaving, Blue Leisure Suit passed by and thanked us for being good sports. We thanked them for livening up our evening! You can kind of see them in the background here:
(And, don’t miss Mason forgetting his table manners above…)
Dinner was absolutely amazing – truly the best food we’ve had in all our travels over the years – and we highly, HIGHLY recommend Wildflowers at Turning Stone Casino.
The following day, we head further southeast as a hurricane is barrelling northwest! Will we have a collision? But of course!
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I’ve posted many, many more pictures of our trips HERE.
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