It was clear from the second day at our hotel that there was something afoot.....a certain feeling in the air and a definite purple and red hue to the lobby.......it didn't take long to realise the Red Hat Ladies were in the house hotel!
We observed them at first and then one evening as we were sitting in the Lobby having a glass of wine the ladies started to arrive dressed to the nines.....I couldn't stand it anymore and I approached one of them and asked her to tell me about the whole thing.
She told me that the Red Hat Society is purely for women over 50 to have fun......she said "We have raised our kids, run the bake sales, managed the soccer teams, worked hard and now it's our time to play."
Their website puts it like this:
"The Red Hat Society began as a result of a few women deciding to greet middle age with verve, humor and elan. We believe silliness is the comedy relief of life, and since we are all in it together, we might as well join red-gloved hands and go for the gusto together. Underneath the frivolity, we share a bond of affection, forged by common life experiences and a genuine enthusiasm for wherever life takes us next."- Sue Ellen Cooper, Queen Mother
If you start a chapter you are the "Queen" and you can have a Vice-Queen and then you gather a group of friends and have fun.
That evening was the ball....It was "Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend" and they were to come as their favourite Diva.......and my.oh.my..... did they ever dress-up!! We watched such a parade of dazzling outfits it was incredible.
Even the ultimate Diva, Miss Piggy, showed up to the amusement of our teenage girls!
As we watched the passing parade we got chatting to a few of the Red Hats - they were the Ducky Dames from Elk Grove California and such lovely and interesting women! We had the best chat to them about their clothes and the things they did together (some had been to a New Years Day parade in London UK and some were off to New York and then to cruise the Panama Canal) and the obvious close friendships they enjoyed. Some were divorced, some widowed and some just had understanding husbands!
We so enjoyed out chat with the Ducky Dames that the girls suggested we write them notes and put them under their door for after the Ball. We knew which room was theirs because the Red Hatters had a hotel door decorating competition and the Ducky Dames were easy to spot on the 6th floor!
We missed them at their pyjama breakfast the next morning but we caught up with the Dames the next evening as they arrived for their dinner dressed magnificently in their red and purple and had another lovely chat.
It's encounters like these that make great vacation memories.
We were so glad to meet these Ducky Dames and I, for one, have my eye out for a fetching red hat to wear a few years from now and I wouldn't be the least surprised if Lindsay and Maxine start a chapter of their own one day!
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