A Benefit Dinner At A Mexican Restaurant

It was a lovely, sunny Sunday afternoon in upstate New York. A private dog rescue organization, Peppertree, was having their annual benefit dinner down in Hudson, New York at the Mexican Radio Restaurant. I'm told the restaurant was named after a song and this is one of two Mexican Radio Restaurants, the first one located in New York City:

The small city of Hudson, New York was bustling on a Sunday afternoon. The parking places were full, the sidewalks crowded and the stores open:

I was familiar with the restaurant from last year's benefit dinner and I loved the look of it. It would have been right at home in Oaxaca, Mexico where I visited some years ago. The look was quite authentic:

I'd driven down from Albany with four women I'd known from my days of volunteering at the Animal Shelter. These women are all true heroes, and so are the volunteers of Peppertree. I became familiar with the organization by way of a couple who used to volunteer at the Shelter but now devote their energies to Peppertree. There was an information table and donation jar just inside the door:

Lots of Mexican artwork on the walls and lots of hot sauces for sale:

We climbed the stairs to the balcony where a welded steel mariachi band held an honored position on its own little balcony. Other welded steel mariachi musicians stood on the roof just outside the windows:

I walked over to the railing to snap a photo of the diners on the first floor below us:

The balcony was bustling and the waiters had to carry everything up and down those stairs. I'm sure they're tired at the end of a work shift:

My four traveling companions and fellow dog lovers, from left to right, are Eileen, Linda, Peg and Dell:

I posed with Eileen and Linda. There were at least 12 varieties of hot sauce on the table before us:

It was also Dell's birthday, so Peg brought her a cake. We all shared it (and did not use any hot sauce on it):

A good dinner, a few laughs, a good cause, a lovely sunny day and time with friends. We walked back to our car and headed for home. The topic of traveling conversation? Why, dogs of course!: