The "Parting With A Memory" Story

The Bayard House along the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. 

It was an ordinary day.  Spent the day in Chesapeake City, MD with longtime friends Barb and Wayne.  Wayne and I coached little league baseball together for eight years and had some of the best summers of our lives together.  

My stained glass creating based on the restaurant.

Decided to take in lunch today at the Bayard House which sits along the C&D Canal in the historic city of Chesapeake City.  This restaurant has been a favorite of my wife and mine for years and we always enjoy sharing it with others when we can.  My mission today, besides visiting with our friends and having a great meal, was to take a stained glass window panel I had made years ago and see if the owner of the restaurant was interested in buying it for display in his restaurant or perhaps in his home.  

This is another view of the Bayard House.  I made this
altered Polaroid print years ago.

The stained glass has graced one of my windows for years and was replaced recently with a few of my stained glass Hawaiian shirts which I make.  So, rather than have the Bayard House panel sit in my basement, I thought I might exchange it for a gift certificate to eat in one of our favorite restaurants.  Earlier this morning I called to make noon reservations for lunch and talked with Wernie Wiesnegger, the owner of the restaurant.  He is a high energy guy and I enjoyed talking with him about the distance we travel to his restaurant and about the choice of seating that the restaurant has to offer.  

Wernie with his new stained glass piece I made.

I told him about my proposal for an exchange and he seemed willing to look at my stained glass panel.  So, after a great meal, our waitress found him in the kitchen and we were introduced.  Wernie is a very charismatic young guy who told me he was from Austria.  He asked how our meal was today and then I told him I would retrieve my panel from my car.  Upon looking at it he wasn't quite sure where he could display it, but offered to buy it from me.  We agreed on an amount for a gift certificate for his restaurant and we parted with a handshake, photo and a promise from me for a quick return to use the newly acquired gift certificate.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.