A couple who has been staying with us for years and have become great friends of ours decided to include us in a very special moment. we aer planning a trip together this summer, and while going over some details, The gentleman came to us with an idea he had. His wife was retiring and he had told her he was going to take her away for a relaxing weekend with us the weekend of her retirement. He decided to throw a surprise retirement party for her and enlisted our help.
The plan was to pick her up and take her to the inn, where she was expecting to spend the weekend reading by the pool. In reality, He had taken over the whole property and filled it with her friends and their children!
The day of the party, we had everyone come to the house early and had hidden them all up in the library of our personal suite in the manor. The cars she would recognize we stuck in the barn or somewhere out of sight. As they were driving in, they were planning on stopping at a winery in St. Jo to give us time to get everything ready, but they had gotten a late start.
We got a text from her husband that they were running late, so we made an excuse for her to need to skip the winery. Then we got a call from her daughter that they were running late, too, so we called them back and asked them to stop at the grocery store on the way because I was stuck in the middle of cooking and couldn't leave, and my husband was out and his phone had died. I was really worried because she knew we would never ask a guest to do that, but we were desperate for an excuse to buy time, so as they say in football, I called an audible!
Fortunately, it worked. She came in and they came up to the house for social hour, and was blown away by the surprise! All of those people that meant so much to her were there to help her celebrate such a big milestone, and we too got to be a special part of that. The look on her face was worth all the planning and sidesteps along the way to make this happen right.
That night we all went into town and had a private party at Doc's in Muenster, where the revelry went on into the night. The next day they men all went golfing so the ladies could relax in the sun and enjoy poolside service and all the onsite amenities and spa services.
Saturday night, after the day of outdoor fun for everyone, they all met back up for dinner in the dining room as we do it here at the manor. With many toasts and cheer all around, the evening went great and was a perfect crescendo to the congratulatory event for her long career. It was such an honor to get to be a part of this weekend for people who have come to mean so much to us over the years!