Sunset Gondola Celebrates Three Years - part 1

On Wednesday night, July 15th, Sunset Gondola invited some friends over to help them celebrate three years of operation in Huntington Harbour.

Gondoliers from around the region were on hand, and we all enjoyed some great food and drink.

Tim's wife Dawn invited some of her best friends.

Typically, these get-togethers begin with a meal and wine, as guests trickle in. Folks swap stories and talk until everyone invited has arrived and is ready to row.
Next, the group climbs aboard all the gondolas and other boats. Some row, some ride, a few bring guitars, most bring refreshments.

For a while now, I've been jokingly calling this journey "the pilgrimage to Captain Jack's", because once on the water, we all row to a restaurant/bar which bears that name.

Two thirds of the way to Captain Jack's, all the boats stop under a certain bridge and people take turns singing songs. This is a lot of fun because not only is it a rare opportunity for a bunch of gondoliers to hear what other gondoliers have been singing, but also because you never know what the next song will be, or who will sing it.
Once at Captain Jack's, the boats are tied up and everyone goes inside to toast to whatever they feel deserves toasting.
Some toast much more than others.

After that, they row back to the home dock and eventually sleep off all the fun.

I must say that these get-togethers at Sunset are among my favorite things to do.

Where else can I hang out with a bunch of people who understand and/or also suffer from the same gondola addiction as I do?
Most of them were also willing to put up with me snapping all over the place with my camera.

It's nice to be tolerated. Here are some of the photos of the evening:

Chris, Kaitlyn, and Eric Sjoberg enjoying libations..

Eric Johnson makes an appearance.