My wife and I had dinner nearby and then spent a few hours at the Grand Opening celebration. It was pretty cool. Avo Uvezian (from Avo Cigars) was there. So was Guellermo Leon, president of La Aurora and Leon Jimenes Cigars and Presidente Beer. There were several La Aurora representatives there too. I spent some time talking with Mario from La Aurora cigars. My first cigar was the La Auroa 100 Anos...strong cigar, but tasty! My wife decided to smoke her first cigar. She picked out an Avo Classic corona. We had a few drinks and enjoyed our cigars. She talked to Avo a bit, told him about her first cigar being one of his...he said "I hope it's not your last!".
We got to see Jeff (the owner) and congratulate him on the birth of his son. We even got to meet Jeff's mom and dad. Jeff's wife was there too.
At one point during the evening, Merry (my wife) gets up and starts talking to Avo. Then I see them walk off together. I think, "Hey, where is my wife going with Avo?"...then I think, "Hey, where is Avo going with MY WIFE?". :laugh:
It turns out, she's buying me a gift...She gets me the Avo 5-cigar sampler with the ashtray and she even gets Avo to sign the ashtray for me. How cool is that?
Brad (devilsmilk) comes in around 10:00 and we talk for a bit. He's got a co-worker in tow who is also having his first cigar.
We finish our first cigars and I take a quick walk through the store to find another. I linger in front of the pre-embargo Cuban case for a bit, but just can't justify $275 for one cigar. Plus, what if it's really good? Then I'm hooked on $275 cigars...that would be bad!
I pick up one of the Padron '26 cigars (the small one). Merry tries it and announces that she likes it and she thinks it's better than the first one she had. I tell her that her first cigar was $5 and this one is $15! We both laugh over that (she's not a cheap date!). We have another drink and share the cigar. By the end of the night we are both staggering out of the place. In a moment of horror, I bobble the hand-off of the ashtray when we are fishing for the car keys and it falls about 3 feet and lands right on the road. It's still in the box and amazingly doesn't break.
Our payment for the good times comes due the next morning about 7:00am when our neighbors, who are having a pool put in, start their tree guys clear-cutting their backyard (about 20 feet from our bedroom window). They have couple of chainsaws, an industrial chipper, a bobcat and a cheery picker all going full blast by 7:15 and it lasts all day.
Still, I'd do it again!
edited:for readability, typos
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