Mexico 2026 - San Miguel de Allende - I Have Been to a Marvelous Party (A Noel Coward Reference, Look it Up)

 We heard the music from our room and shortly headed up to the roof in carefully chosen outfits for the monthly party. We talk with the hosts and the other couple we met at the impromptu pool party on Friday. We are introduced to other guests. A man is dancing with flags as he has for probably over 40 years. A woman, near 70, by the looks of her, begins to dance with him. I'm confronted with a guest wearing the exact same neck chain as I . A man with long, straight black hair wearing a flowing robe carries a fan, which he flutters and snaps, weaves in and out of a conversation with us. 

The music is fun, old school dance tunes. I and my Travel Buddy join the now ample dancing crowd. I dance as I haven't in years. A smile stays plastered on my face under my straw, go to, trilby hat. 

I ask an attractive man in a snug black tee shirt to take a photo of me and my Travel Buddy with the city perched on the hill behind us as the sun begins to set. Everyone is open, approachable, friendly. The silly grin doesn't leave my face. We met another man with whom we discussed his recent retirement as the lights begin to come on in the city illuminating the spires and domes of the cathedrals. 

The owner told me that he was trying to get the local youth to join in. They play with the older 60 and 70 somethings with no signs of the ageism we sometimes see in the gay community. A young man walks by wearing bright red, thigh high, vinyl boots with a tall platform and death defying high heels. Another young man, almost painfully thin, dances the evening away wearing baggy camouflage pants and a leather  harness on his bare chest. 

As night fell we moved down to a lower portion of the deck where we encountered the other gentleman we met at the Friday pool party. He introduces us to his wife and their 80 plus year old landlady who is turned out in a lovely outfit with a necklace that verges on a work of art. The landlady is ensconced on a couch visiting with other guests. The wife and I commander two comfortable chairs and talk and talk. She is Asian, lovely, wearing a flowing gauze vest and fabulous black shoes. Her husband, with his eternal smile, brings us drinks. The guesthouse manager, who is a delight, asks if he can sit with us. He tells me how much he likes my energy and that he hopes we become return guests. Numbers are exchanged all around. 

The night air cools, the cathedrals clinging to the hillside glow, it is one of those perfect evenings you cherish that life occasionally provides. 


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