Royalty

Party in the Great Room

...and More partying.   

My Man! Getting down with the grill.

Thursday evening we boarded the bus for the short but bumpy ride to "Hialeah," the enclave of mansions in which dwell the king pins of the Esteli cigar society.

We were being feted at the AJ Fernandez factory mansion and guesthouse complex. The gate guard, whose not much taller than his scatter gun, granted us access.

Passing from the dusty rutted backstreets of Managua into the perfectly manicured grounds was like transcending a magic barrier. We were inside! It was as if we really had set foot in Miami.

The mansion, the pool, the grounds, everything seemed brand new. There were a few hints of the unfinished, a stray bit of wiring protruding from the wall without a light fixture, but just hints. The place was surreal, with huge spaces, tiled floors, stone walls and glass. Sound moved of its own accord in this space, flying away to bounce into someone else's conversation.

We were treated like royalty from start to finish. Our guide, Ricky (Enrique) hosted us, as well as Christo, AJ's business partner. Other AJ folks and friends joined the groups that formed and parted in the great room. It was fantastic!

Dinner was a complete Nicaraguan feast, with our jolly BBQ maestro ignoring the vege. Do NOT come to Nico expecting to be a vegetarian.

The evening went late, the cigars burned down, the the bar grew less weighted. Finally, after long goodbyes, we brought our royal selves out to the bus and bounced home through the darkness.

It's good to be King.