This has been a week of family – introducing our US family to our Sicily family. One of the Sicilian families that has been very good to us has been Enza’s family. They have invited us to countless dinners, showered us with gifts, and even let us stay with them. We wanted to say thank you. So we asked if we could take them to dinner. With all the kids, it would be 17 people. We weren’t exactly sure how to pull this off, so asked Mirella (Enza’s daughter) to help us. She conferred with the siblings and they decided on a beach restaurant that had the best seafood. She would make reservations.

Mirella told us we were to all meet at “Molly Club” on Mollarella Beach at 8 pm on Monday night. We looked it up and only found a Facebook page for Molly Club. It had an address that was not on the map and not recognized in our GPS. So the day before, Frank and I decided to do a scouting trip. And good thing we did. We drove around in circles for 2 hours before stumbling upon the Molly Club down a one-lane track. It turns out the Molly Club is a snack bar by day, a disco on weekend nights, and a nice seafood restaurant on week-day nights. I really wish I had snapped a picture of the outside.

The Big Night

So the next day, we set out in our little Jeep caravan. We drove toward the beach, down the one-lane track, and right to the spot. But no one was there. Oh no – could there be two?! Frank called the family. Well, it turns out nothing in Sicily ever starts on time, so they were just leaving their houses, which gave us plenty of time to check out the place.

That’s when we encountered our next dilemma. It turns out the Molly Club only takes cash. Oh no!  We had no idea how much a dinner for 17 people would be but figured we probably didn’t have enough. (Thank goodness the family was late because this gave us time to negotiate in Italian with the staff to work out a payment plan – a little tonight and come back with the rest tomorrow – whew. When the family arrived, they’d be none the wiser.)

We had a fabulous time. And they were right – the seafood was excellent. They are known for their pasta and lobsters, both which were delicious. Everyone had a very merry time.

AND – the bill came in just under the exact amount Frank and I had when we pooled all our money. A lesson learned in Sicily – bring lots of cash!