There's nothing like a good Plan B

^%$# happens. We all know it, and a good Plan B is the best defense.

Say your child wants to have an outdoor swim birthday party – in July. You’d still better have a back up plan, because while it won’t snow in the Front Range, you must consider the chances of hail and lightning with the accompanying hurricane force winds and tornado warnings.

Planning a wedding and you think you have the vendors all lined up? You’d be advised to have a Plan B for that too, because you never know when the florist might wig out and end up living in a van, down by the river along with your $500 deposit.

As you can tell I’m a big fan of a good Plan B and for other things besides kid’s birthday parties and weddings. Back in the day, when the Courier had an annual duck race, if you read the fine print, after the standard “in case of inclement weather…” disclaimer, there was the “in the event there’s no water in Dry Creek” clause, which was my idea. Because even though there was much eye-rolling from my colleagues, hello…, it’s called Dry Creek. Doesn’t that mean anything to anyone?

But of all the things that might require a Plan B, nothing could be more surprising than picking a restaurant to celebrate friends’ birthdays. Take the conversation I had with my friend Linda concerning a celebratory birthday dinner for our mutual friends Pam and Marie.

Linda: How about going to Sugar Cane?

Me: Oh, I love Sugar Cane. (Beep) Wait a sec. My call waiting is beeping in. (A minute later.) That was Marie. She said she likes Sugar Cane too, but Pam had bad service there.

Linda: Was that before the renovation?

Me: I think it was right after it opened, but she won’t give it a second chance, even though it was eight years ago.

Linda: What about Terra Cotta?

Me: No, I won’t go there. He doesn’t advertise with us.

Linda: But the food is good. (Beep) Now that’s my call waiting. Hold on. (Several minutes later) That was Pam. What about Donovan’s?

Me: No, I heard that Marie said her sister said that their cousins got food poisoning there.

Linda: Really? When was that?

Me: About 12 years ago. But the health department never closed them down.

Linda: OK, what about All Martinis All The Time?

Me: Oh, that’s a good idea, but is it open on Mondays? I’m online, let me check Restaurants-O-Rama.org. They have prices, a rating system done with fork tines. There, the information is typed in, waiting, waiting. Ah, there it is. Nope, closed on Mondays.

Linda: Pam just called again and suggested some sort of ethnic place.

Me: That’s fine, but it has to be one that serves chocolate for dessert.

Linda: That knocks out the dim sum place in Denver I was going to suggest.

Me: We could go to Denver. You know there’s a great exhibit at the museum on Mongol invaders. We could go to a Mongolian BBQ place and have a theme going.

Linda: I already saw that. But what about a play?

Me: Now there’s an idea. Let me Google HighOnDenver.com. Yup, there’s a play at Theater Theater and seats are only $18. Oh, they have an interactive map. Damn, no seats left at that price.

Linda and Me: (Beep) That’s my call waiting. (A minute late) What about Soup To Nutz?

Me: Pam called and suggested it.

Linda: Marie did the same.

Me: It’s a deal. No one has been there so there’s no report of bad service or food poisoning and YES, they are open on Monday.

Linda: And we all like nuts.

I’m happy to report that the dinner went well, with the possible exception of Linda:, who won’t go back there, because they don’t serve chocolate desserts on Monday nights.

But that’s what a good Plan B is for. You can always plan the swim party at an indoor pool, there are other florists listed online, and so far Dry Creek hasn’t lived up to its name.

And if all else fails, there are 25 other letters in the alphabet.