The Victory Cup’s pre-party was September 18, 2010 from 8 – 11 pm at 3 Cherry Blossom Lane in Greenwich, CT.  I must admit that I did not attend the 2009 Victory Cup Pre-Party, but I have heard that it was significantly better.  In theory, this year’s party sounded like it could be nice with “a band “Double Down”, open bar, cigar lounge, and lite fare from Morello.” Sounds like it should be a great party, right?

We left our home around 8:30, fully expecting to get there in about 15 minutes.  Wrong!  We entered 3 Cherry Blossom Lane into our GPS, and since it is a very new street apparently, it is not in anyone’s GPS yet.  It would have been nice if the party coordinator had at least sent directions since even Google maps cannot find this address!  Luckily, some of my friends were already at the party, so they were able to give us more appropriate directions.  Upon arriving, we saw cars parked up and down the main street, but we thought we should at least find the place before we park.  Once we pulled up in from of the house, there was a shuttle that followed us to a street parking spot and gave us a ride back to the house – not classy!  There should have at least been the option for valet.

We entered 3 Cherry Blossom Lane, and were shocked to see a completely empty and unfinished home.  Unfinished in the sense that there were no toilets, plumbing or furnishings.  It was basically like walking into an empty house with people standing all around.  The stairs were taped off to prevent people from going upstairs, though this did not deter people from sneaking upstairs for a quick look.  The majority of the party was taking place outside where the band “Double Down” was playing, along with a table for drinks and another table for cigars.  The music was fun and I heard the cigars were nice, though I personally am not a cigar smoker.  The mixed drinks were made with America’s Choice soda – tacky!  Come on, you are charging people to come to a party that is basically a promotion to get people to view (and hopefully buy) a multi-million dollar home that is still being built, and you are not even going to serve name brand sodas?  Morello’s has great food usually, so at least the “light fare” from Morello’s would be good – right?  Wrong again!  The little chocolate tarts and lemon tarts were bad – so bad that I saw a few people take a bite and spit it into a napkin!  There were some crunchy appetizers too that were ok, but not up to Morello’s standards.  So why was the food so bad?  Oh right, because there was no stove, oven or any other way for them to heat up any food since the kitchen in the house was incomplete.  Who came up with this venue for the Victory Cup Pre-Party???  Apparently other people thought the food was horrible too, as we saw a Domino’s pizza delivery guy pull up as we left the party.

Top top everything off, after having a few America’s Choice cola & rum drinks, I needed to find a restroom.  I looked everywhere on the first floor to no avail – I just found rooms that looked like they would be bathrooms someday, if a toilet and sink would be installed.  That is when I asked a Morello’s server if they had any idea about the bathroom situation here… and wouldn’t you know that the plan was for us to use a few port-a-potties around the side of the house.  Seriously?

If it was not for good company, this party would have been a total bust.   Would I go to the Victor Cup Pre-Party again?  Depends on the venue – if it is another event to promote a new spec house, probably not.