"If another diner asks to sample a gentleman’s food and the gentleman is willing to oblige, he may respond by asking his fellow diner to lend the gentleman his or her fork and bread plate, so the gentleman can offer a couple of mouthfuls of the requested dish".
A Gentleman at the Table, Bridges/Curtis
This is Frederick blogging:
Today we woke up in the morning to see that the time had not yet been changed.
This was very confusing for my father who went down to breakfast early and found that
almost no one was there even though he thought it was 9:30. As it turned out it was
only 8:30. At the zone Charlie was signaling to me that he wanted to get out of there.
Day 2…first must discuss Day one
Woke to sun and excitement and flat seas. I am happy to report that as I write this on Sunday morning there are much bigger whitecaps, and we are rolling nicely.
Yesterday was a lot of ping pong. The wind came from the bow, so they closed the top portion where the paddle tennis courts are.
I rushed from a jog to a pedicure to lunch to a facial to tea ..so busy. No time for the lecture.
Charlie is not that sure about the kids zone. I keep telling him, it gets really fun and that is where the girls are. But he is skeptical. He cleared the hot tub, when (even though we got him new swim trunks in New York) he sat with legs spread on the edge of the tub with a hole in the crotch of his old trunks. “I think they saw my hole Uncle Thomas!!! Thomas: I think they saw more than that. Ellie: What did they do then Charlie? Charlie: They just left! Like-, hey! Where are you going? I was in the middle of a story!
When we got back last night, buzzed from Shirley Temples and vodka (one for him, one for me) he wanted to write his friend Theo. Great thing about CMB is he will take my comic advice, whereas my kid won’t. This is what we wrote together:
Dearest Theodore:
I just had caviar. It was the best on the Queen Mary. Me and Frederick are entering a paddle tennis tournament and we have matching uniforms...(I heart new york t shirts).
I might enter a table tennis tournament. I am getting really good at spiking now. I am also very modest.
Right now it is the first day on the Queen Mary. We play a bit of X box.
I seem to talk in my sleep a lot. There are five pools on the Queen Mary 2.
I get free cokes and fro yo. also beef tenderloin.
this is totally awesome. there are lots of pretty girls that i ignore because i am always playing bloody ping pong (the British swear word is bloody)
Sincerely Yours
Master Charles McCune Brigham
next time you see me, please call me master Charles as the captain does.
Tally Ho.
How funny is that??!! Kills me that kid.
The night had been formal, so the kids went to town: ties, socks, the works. Charlie has got it down: semi formal vs formal, ask the sommelier (“that wine guy” ) for your Shirley temple, but not for bread, Check check. Check.
He is a great orderer. Every single morning he has eggs benedict. I mean; if you only had one breakfast left to eat in your life, would you really order pancakes? For dinner he ordered something with caviar on it (all food is included fear not!) and steak. Frederick: tuna tartae, steak. We have had to put the five servings of fruit and veggies rule into effect. So Charlie has orange juice and carrots with his eggs.
At dinner we had pre ordered crepe suzette. I told them it was their mutual grandfather’s favorite, and it offered the huge advantage of having flames at your table. Real crowd pleaser. Earlier in the evening, we had been giving toasts: to the sea, to ships, to steak at sea …we were toasting everything. And then Frederick raises his Shirley Temple ("If a gentleman chooses to offer a toast, he keeps it brief, tasteful and to the point") and says:
To Charlie: a great cousin who is not seasick or homesick. And it really kind of choked me up…it reminded me of Ute Bowes when she toasts. Big ol loyal German hearts: when they love you, they love you.
Then come the crepes. Such a Charlie (Adams) Brigham dessert- all those dangerous flames and alcohol…and I tell you, then I got really choked up, looking at these two children eating crepe suzette in honor of a man they never knew, but who binds them. I told them forever more this would be their dessert; they could meet all over the world, if this was on the menu, they would have it.
They would always have crepe suzette. Ok boys?
Ok Aunt Ellie! I want to be bonded every day!! And then Charlie Brigham the second drops his head and licks his plate-every last bit.
So think good thoughts at 1 30 –middle of Atlantic time…it is the paddle tennis tournament. The boys are beyond excited. They actually laid out their uniforms last night. But we are a little worried they will not be allowed to be a team. Charlie said they should tell people they are brothers but he, Charlie, is at boarding school in Russia and so they do not see each other very often.
Frederick put his head in his hands, nearly overcome with how many problems there are with this plan. (How the hell are we going to learn Russian before 1 30 Charlie??!!) I think they compromised on an English school that is very obscure…for geniuses. Top secret.
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