Friday night we did the Gallery Hop in downtown Lexington. We had talked about it for over a year now, but this weekend the boys had something else to do and Mrs. Sweeper and I could go alone.
It was a hot late afternoon for a walk in the urban heat sink of downtown and the humidity did not make it any better. We started off in the air conditioning of the Government Center and particularly enjoyed the series of paintings of the Ashland Estate. We thought that we might be greeted by the Mayor until some woman began to relate what may have ended as her whole life story. There was much more to see, so we moved on.
Next was the Central Library gallery and its display of, what I thought were, extremely small (and very expensive for their size) prints. Mrs. Sweeper saw some that caught her eye, but then mentioned that each one had a small naked man somewhere in the print, and that was off-putting to her. The upstairs gallery had some nice watercolors and crayon drawings along with very nice woodworking examples.
Next it was across the street to the Tower gallery and our encounter with a large contingent of our "creative class" artists. I thought that some of the object on the wall were reminiscent of what our sons had brought home from elementary school and the Mrs. commented that from the prices, that we had nearly $30 thousand worth of artwork on display at home. While ther the Mrs. stopped at the refreshments for a cup of wine. The attendant for the red wine was busy changing the garbage but soon returned to the box of wine, without washing her hands or using sanitizer, which did not go unnoticed.
Leaving the children behind, we arrived at Gallery B which had some stunning pieces and beautiful equine art. All of the art was well above my price level but were beautiful none the less.
We had just enough time to hit the spots in Victorian Square before we had to leave downtown so off we went. Before stopping to see our friend Rachel Savane, we thought that we would pick up a menu from DeVassa, the Brazilian tapas bar on down the street. The Mrs. had been to a tapas bar when she was in Washington D.C. a while back and has been wanting such a place to open here. We approached the door, I pulled it open, and was told fairly rudely, that this was a private party. We pulled back and read the sign announcing a reherasal dinner.
Two of the servers had been smoking next door and were returning to work, so we asked them if we could get a menu for later. "We're having a private party. We'll be open at 8" she said.
We told her that all we wanted was a menu to take home. "It's a private party. We 'll be open later at 8" was the reply. "Do--you--have--a--menu--that--we--can--take--HOME?" I asked slowly. She stuck up her forefinger, indicating just one moment, and slipped inside.
We waited. And waited. And waited. She did not return. Then the apparent manager appeared and asked "Can I help you?" We restated our desire for a menu to take away with us and that we did not want to eat at that time. "It's a private rehersal dinner" he said, and pointed to the sign. We pointed out that nowhere on it did it say private, nor did it state an opening time. All that we wanted was a take away menu, so that we could come back later. He explained that the menu had been revised and was on the website, we could download it from there.
If this is the type of customer service that we can expect from them, then I don't want to go back. The service personell these days don't think the customer is right, or even the potential customer. We walked away declaring that we would not darken the door again. As Mrs Sweeper put it, they are children playing at being a restaurant, pretending to be grown ups.
We went back to Savane Silver, watched Rachel give a demonstration and hit the Main Cross Gallery(no website) before we noticed that it was time to leave. All in all it was an enjoyable evening, just a little warm, and that we will do it again. When we do, we will try to stay with a more sophisticated crowd and let the children be.
It was a hot late afternoon for a walk in the urban heat sink of downtown and the humidity did not make it any better. We started off in the air conditioning of the Government Center and particularly enjoyed the series of paintings of the Ashland Estate. We thought that we might be greeted by the Mayor until some woman began to relate what may have ended as her whole life story. There was much more to see, so we moved on.
Next was the Central Library gallery and its display of, what I thought were, extremely small (and very expensive for their size) prints. Mrs. Sweeper saw some that caught her eye, but then mentioned that each one had a small naked man somewhere in the print, and that was off-putting to her. The upstairs gallery had some nice watercolors and crayon drawings along with very nice woodworking examples.
Next it was across the street to the Tower gallery and our encounter with a large contingent of our "creative class" artists. I thought that some of the object on the wall were reminiscent of what our sons had brought home from elementary school and the Mrs. commented that from the prices, that we had nearly $30 thousand worth of artwork on display at home. While ther the Mrs. stopped at the refreshments for a cup of wine. The attendant for the red wine was busy changing the garbage but soon returned to the box of wine, without washing her hands or using sanitizer, which did not go unnoticed.
Leaving the children behind, we arrived at Gallery B which had some stunning pieces and beautiful equine art. All of the art was well above my price level but were beautiful none the less.
We had just enough time to hit the spots in Victorian Square before we had to leave downtown so off we went. Before stopping to see our friend Rachel Savane, we thought that we would pick up a menu from DeVassa, the Brazilian tapas bar on down the street. The Mrs. had been to a tapas bar when she was in Washington D.C. a while back and has been wanting such a place to open here. We approached the door, I pulled it open, and was told fairly rudely, that this was a private party. We pulled back and read the sign announcing a reherasal dinner.
Two of the servers had been smoking next door and were returning to work, so we asked them if we could get a menu for later. "We're having a private party. We'll be open at 8" she said.
We told her that all we wanted was a menu to take home. "It's a private party. We 'll be open later at 8" was the reply. "Do--you--have--a--menu--that--we--can--take--HOME?" I asked slowly. She stuck up her forefinger, indicating just one moment, and slipped inside.
We waited. And waited. And waited. She did not return. Then the apparent manager appeared and asked "Can I help you?" We restated our desire for a menu to take away with us and that we did not want to eat at that time. "It's a private rehersal dinner" he said, and pointed to the sign. We pointed out that nowhere on it did it say private, nor did it state an opening time. All that we wanted was a take away menu, so that we could come back later. He explained that the menu had been revised and was on the website, we could download it from there.
If this is the type of customer service that we can expect from them, then I don't want to go back. The service personell these days don't think the customer is right, or even the potential customer. We walked away declaring that we would not darken the door again. As Mrs Sweeper put it, they are children playing at being a restaurant, pretending to be grown ups.
We went back to Savane Silver, watched Rachel give a demonstration and hit the Main Cross Gallery(no website) before we noticed that it was time to leave. All in all it was an enjoyable evening, just a little warm, and that we will do it again. When we do, we will try to stay with a more sophisticated crowd and let the children be.
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