Dining Divas Meet at 370 Lakeside Park
For 2nd Outdoor Dining with Take-out

By Lisa Kampeter

Strange times we’re living in these days. And like everyone else, the Dining Divas are learning to adjust with our monthly dinner gatherings. What I’ve found is that, yes, we definitely miss dining inside a restaurant. But we mostly miss the comforts of an air conditioned, accommodating location that can protect us from the outside elements (heat and rain) and provide us with what we consider the basics (bathrooms!). We aren’t missing the laughter and comradery we have every month, and this month was no exception. We enjoyed another outdoor event we called “Dining Divas In the Park” and this time it was at 370 Lakeside Park in St. Charles County.
If you’ve never been, 370 Lakeside Park is a wonderful place for hiking, bike riding, fishing, and more. The park has beautiful sunsets, great pavilions, and a member’s only dog park. If I’d have been a better planner, I’d have arranged for an RV there too so as to be accommodating to the High-Maintenance Divas in need of “indoor” plumbing. (The big pavilion has nice restrooms. Ours, not to the liking of a few.)
In an attempt to dine together, it was recommended that if anyone was going to order takeout to order from Growler USA on Elm Street. This is just down Hwy. 370 from the park. Unfortunately, if you waited to place your order until right before you showed up, you would have waited for your food to be ready long after the Divas meet-up time. It must have been a busy night for them, which was encouraging in this time of Covid. To go orders must have been the reason because the restaurant wasn’t crowded.
We started the evening off with a game of “poker”. The card you drew determined who you sat by. It was nice catching up with people you may not talk to much each month. It was exciting to see the Absent Diva join us as this was her first time out since the pandemic. She’s been extremely careful due to her compromised immune system. What laughs we had with her that night.
With all the bad in the world, we focused on the good and went around the table to share something positive. Like news of the new puppy the Mama Diva had just adopted. Or the trip to Tahiti the Young Diva and her husband planned for 2021. Or the delight from the new grandbaby or the first time seeing the grandkids after being quarantined away from them. Although protests were happening on our streets, and our country was divided, this night there were no politics or agendas. Just friendly conversation and banter. It was a welcome break from all the ugliness. The food from Growler USA was okay and probably would have been better if we’d eaten there. For the two Latecomer Divas who argued that they’d arrived an hour before the rest of the group, they waited for us to eat their food, which was cold by the time they dug in. They were at the wrong pavilion. As usual, the dessert was one of the favorite parts of our meals.
It had been the Newbie Diva’s birthday so we shared a treat from Helfer’s. And the Baker Diva brought probably the best brownies I’d ever had before…and sent leftovers home with me! That’ll make anyone’s night. As the sunset and security started circling the area, we all moved the tables and chairs back to their proper locations and headed out. We knew it was time to go.
We enjoyed Dining Divas in the Park so much that we planned to continue this way, regardless if the rules are lightened even more. But in the heat of the summer, I’m sure we’ll be ready for these strange times to be not so strange anymore.

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