Meet the Senior Bachelor - Manhattan Beach

The first “Meet the Senior Bachelor Tour” event took place on September 1 and 2 in Manhattan Beach, located 10 miles southeast of Los Angeles, and only 10 minutes from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). This two day meeting was open to EVERYONE, whether you sent in the application materials requested or not. Priority meetings were given to the wonderful Ladies who sent in videotapes and biographies and applied for the Journey.

The event was hosted by the fantastic Ayres Hotel - click here for all information for the hotel. The owners and management of this superior Italian-style Hotel were gracious enough to make us all feel at home and give us great rates for their terrific rooms- $109 for a double. This is about $20 off their regular weekend rates and included a full American breakfast. If you are visiting the Manhattan Beach or Los Angeles area, call the Ayres Hotel. For reservations please call their toll-free number 1-800-675-3550 (or 310-536-0400) and tell them the Senior Bachelor sent you.

I must admit to some anxiety about what turned into a four-day event in Manhattan Beach last week. After all, there wasn't a "baseline," and I was not sure what to expect. What I never dreamed might happen was the INCREDIBLE BONDING, which occurred with most of the women. True kindred spirits. And that was THE STORY, and it was just so delightful to watch it unfold.

The event was not supposed to start until Thursday afternoon at 2:00, however about twenty women checked into the magnificent Ayres Hotel Wednesday night, September 30th. I did not feel it was right that we had to wait until the next afternoon to meet, and so upon check-in the ladies were invited to come to the Manhattan Beach pier at sunset where I would meet everybody. Joe Franklin (for the benefit of new readers Joe is my right hand man. I had the concept of Meet The Senior Bachelor and Joe did the rest of the work!!!) shepherded thirteen lovely ladies to the pier, we sipped champagne, watched the sunset, and then went to a local restaurant, RockNFish, for a superior dinner. It quickly became apparent that these lovely Ladies were a very intellectual, attractive, self-confident and fun group!!!! We had a blast and this set the pace for the following three days.

By Thursday morning, about 40 women had checked in, and after a delicious all you can eat breakfast we had an impromptu two hour meeting. And it was HILARIOUS. Women are so lucky that they can bond so quickly-something us guys really struggle with. Approximately 200 women were active participants. A large local newspaper "The Daily Breeze" ran a front story article, which you can read by clicking here. We officially kicked off at 2:00 with a general meeting and then broke into small groups of about four, where we would meet for some twenty minutes. We had a fabulous "Under The Tuscan Sun" buffet and cocktails in the atrium from 6-8 o'clock. Then a large group of us sat around for hours in the lobby simply talking. Wow, that was so much fun. Friday we started at 9:00 and the schedule was the same all day, ending at 6:00 for cocktails and dinner. At the cocktail party on Friday there were lots of fun things happening. Mary from Houston presented me with a Peacock Award. Lois serenaded me with a great rendition of "Misty". Connie "found" my long lost pink pants and returned them to me. Joe's wife, Nancy, gave me a "Roe-st" and I took "travel vows" with Nancy from Dubai. Lots of laughter and good times all around.

Special thanks go to several supporters without whose help the Meet the Senior Bachelor Tour Event would not have taken place. The Ayres Hotel provided a great venue for all the action to take place with spectacular meeting rooms, fabulous rooms at a special discounted rate, attentive staff, available free shuttle service, a full breakfast and hosted the buffet dinner and cocktail party. I only had to place one phone call to See's Candies and tell them of the incredible event that was about to happen and they came through with a mountain of chocolates for the special Ladies. All-City Computers provided the deluxe "CompuBus" which allowed the Ladies free highspeed access to the internet in air-conditioned comfort just steps from the meeting. And Murad Spa gave the Ladies some sample beauty products and preferred prices for treatments at their El Segundo Spa a mere mile from the Ayres Hotel. Thanks to all of you great supporters from the Senior Bachelor and the Ladies who attended the Event!

About twenty Ladies stayed for the weekend and two of my sons, Richard and Chris, happened to be playing in a volleyball tournament and many of the ladies spoke with them. Back to RockNFish for dinner that night, and we wrapped up about 11:00 pm. Whew! What fun! What a terrific group of wonderful women. Umberto arrived Wednesday evening and took many pictures, which you can see on Richard's Blog by clicking here. All in all, a fabulous event and a precursor for yet another event in Chicago. The dates are still undetermined but the best guess is September 15, 16, and 17, or September 22, 23, and 24. As soon as I know I will post it on the blog and then send out a Newsletter.

I want to extend a special Thank You to all the lovely Ladies who attended the first "Meet the Senior Bachelor Event." I know it took a lot of courage to do so because of the unknown. It showed me you are all enthusiastic for Adventure. "Brava" to all you wonderful women! And, please, click here to go to the Blog and write your impressions, comments and suggestions. Thanks, again. Richard.

Here are some of your comments about the “Meet the Senior Bachelor Event” in Manhattan Beach—in your own words:

"Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful time and I feel the time I spent with Richard was quality time. He's everything I thought he would be and so much compassion. The Group pic with all the ladies should be called "Sea of beautiful Women."

"Manhattan Beach was better than an "E" ticket ride at Disneyland. I loved every minute of it, including finding the local Chico's and swimming in the flat ocean at the crack of dawn. It was great to meet so many incredible ladies, many of which I felt I knew from this blog. We all had something in common besides meeting "the man". We are seniors, love to travel, have a heart full of dreams, are bright, intelligent, adventurous, passionate and make life happen (as opposed to just letting it pass us by)."

"I was so happy with the outcome of the “Quest for Adventure and Romance!” May I please make my strong recommendation that you ALL GO TO CHICAGO. This has become NOT all about Richard. In addition to Richard, there are other WONDERFUL amenitie- like SO MUCH FUN! Not only the camaraderie of other adventuresome, independent, beautiful women, but also, people watching, hen clucking and ribbing- each other AND Richard! Keep a positive attitude and GOFORIT!!"

"I met women who would be good mentors for me- I felt very blessed to be in the company of such accomplished women and giving women. Richard, the couple of minutes I spent with you privately were very special. You said something to me that I will always keep in my heart, it was empowering and I am very grateful."

"I am definitely enjoying the new friendships and camaraderie that have been developing on the blog and furthered by the meeting of everyone at MB."

"The most amazing thing happened at the event that was beyond even Richards dream for us and that was the bonding that we women experienced while at the event. IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!!!! I made new friends that I intend to cherish forever. There was talk of getting together in the Bahamas, Mexico, East Coast and West Coast. Traveling together, traveling to see one another. I can't tell you how great it felt to know that we all came away winners in our hearts. The picture of all of us on the stairs was not about Richard but about all of us willing to step out of the box and smile because we were having a great time. Go to Chicago, you will come back a happier person for all the wonderful people you will meet and like the rest of us a hope that you will be seeing more of Richard."

Meet the Senior Bachelor Supporters

We wish to sincerely thank the following supporters of the Senior Bachelor without whose help the "Meet the Senior Bachelor Event" would have never taken place. Please help support them as they are supporting you.