David takes the Philistines to the Opera

Well, not quite. Although my dad has been a life long opera lover - I have many "fond" memories of arias blasting away in the early morning weekends when I was young - neither of my parents have actually been to a real opera performance. So the Thursday before the MS ride, I took Mom and Dad up to see Madame Butterfly at the amazing Santa Fe Opera. It was my 3rd time to the opera - 2 years ago we took Ali's parents and four summers ago when we went with good friends. Unfortunately, Ali stayed back in ABQ this time with the boy to head up on Friday for the ride (her school schedule prevented an easy way for her to do be with us).



So we rolled into the opera venue at 6 pm for an 8 pm performance. Why so early? Well the pre-opera tailgating of course! Honestly, my parents were skeptical about our stories of white linen, silver candelabras, wine glasses, and catered events. But now after seeing how everyone around us prepared, I think next summer they want to up their game a little bit. My mom made a lot of goodies for us to eat, and we had a veritable feast as we shared a bottle of wine. We made friends with several neighboring groups after we plied them with her home made biscotti.



As usual, the weather was beautiful and we were treated to a spectacular sunset just as the opera was starting. Everyone loved the opera (even me) so much so that they already want to come back next summer to see La Boheme . We want to see Faust but my Dad loves Puccini, so we may have to see both. Who knows, maybe we can get Ali's parents out again next summer. The combination of the MS ride and the opera seems to be a great combo!