On October 6, 2001 a group from the Dames of Vines and Roses met at th Larkspur Ferry and headed over to San Francisco for lunch at Neiman Marcus. As the group was browsing their way towards the restaurant, a woman approaced Marcia and said "You must be part of the Red Hat Society." It turned out that she and a friend were visiting from Ann Arbor and her friend was the founder of the chapter there. They were invited to join the group for lunch and she ran back to the hotel to collect her friend. As Marcia stated in her note about this "It was interesting to hear what all they do - and to sense the common bond that we all share."

Also according to Marcia "There were many smiles all day, wherever we went - it was heartwarming at a time when we all need smiles. It was also good to experience how women just lit up when they asked us what we are about, and we began to talk about our belief in freedom from all the shoulds and oughts and have to's etc. Our outing may be "frivolous" but our message is not!!!"