Monday 11th June – The Staff Party

So this was it, the most eagerly anticipated date in the whole calendar (well, for the PRC staff anyway). We’d been promised a four course meal, a free bar, a stunning location and the next day off work. And we were ready to receive!
During the day, Leah drove a few of us into Glen Cove, a nearby village (with far more to offer than Locust Valley!). There Kirsty and Leah got their hair cut, and Dave, Ben and I went to pick up alcohol from the liquor store and sandwiches from the Mexican take-away. We arrived back at Piping Rock and hour before the buses were scheduled to leave for the aquarium that had been booked for the evening’s entertainment. An hour turned out to be exactly long enough to shower, shave, cut my own hair (well, a combined effort between me and Dave), have a few drinks, get dressed and cover myself in Hugo Boss (the aftershave, not Mr Boss himself!). So at 4.30 we all piled outside to get into the buses that had been booked for us (which turned out to be school buses!).

Obviously, it was then a good 45 minutes before the buses actually left to take us to wherever it was we ended up, and this meant that the bus had to stop at a gas station on the way so that we could all visit the bathroom.
Piping Rock had gone all out this year, booking us in at a ‘Top 10 aquarium for kids’, and the inside of the aquarium had been really nicely done up for us all. It was quite strange being on the receiving end of the passed hors d'oeuvres and free drinks, but obviously we all did our best not to let that bother us as we partied away all night.
When we all got called into the dining area for the meal, everyone sat down and waited to be served the first course (of four). Strangely though, once everyone had finished eating the first course of pasta, the general consensus was that it was time to get up and dance again. This meant that everyone missed the salad that was coming for the second course, and then turned up late to the entrée. We spent the rest of the night wandering through shark tanks and smoking cigars (has to be done, sorry dad!), before being rounded up to leave at about 11pm.