Tuesday, February 10, 2015

February 10 – “The Date”

Chris and I went on a date yesterday.  It was our Valentine’s Day date.  I know Valentine’s Day is not until Saturday.  We were a little bit early, but you have to understand something.  Here in Galveston, this Saturday will be pretty much a … madhouse.  It is the last weekend of Mardi Gras.  There will be parades and revelry.  Streets will be closed.  And literally thousands of people will be running all over the Island.  Seriously, our population for the weekend, if the weather continues to be nice, will probably top two hundred thousand.  And all those people have to eat somewhere.  We decided long ago that Mardi Gras, especially the final weekend of Mardi Gras, is not the time for a casual or romantic lunch or dinner on Galveston Island. 

So we decided to do it yesterday.  Of course that meant I didn’t get nearly as much done as I usually do on Mondays.  And Chris didn’t get to work on the quilt she has laid out on the table.  But I thought it was worth the trade-off.  You’ll have to ask her what she thought.  We went to lunch.  Not just any lunch, though.  We had a gift card to Rudy and Paco’s, one of the “special” places to eat here.  What’s “special” mean?  They have real tablecloths, and cloth napkins, and waiters that remember what you order, and a girl whose job is to walk around with a bottle of water and refill your drink.  And speaking of waiters, they have to wear uniforms, not just a t-shirt and jeans.  There are monstrous bottles of wine on display.  I don’t know if they were real or not, but they were huge.  Does wine come in such big bottles?  One whole wall was nothing but a massive mirror, so the place looks a lot bigger when you first walk in than it really is.  I guess that’s by design, though.  They have one section of the wall by the welcoming station with photos of the owners (that would be Rudy and Paco, of course) posing with the numerous celebrities who have eaten there.  We didn’t stop to see who they were, though.  That’s on my agenda for next time we go in.  I ordered fried shrimp.  Actually I can’t pronounce what they called it on the menu.  It was in Spanish and incorporated four different very long words.   The description was in English, though.  Fried shrimp.  That’s what I ordered.  And ketchup.  I had to special order the ketchup.  Chris ate some chicken that also had a long Spanish name attached.  Mine came with rice and broccoli.  But you have to understand, they didn’t just slop a hunk of broccoli and a scoop of rice on a plate.  The broccoli was covered in some kind of buttery sauce.  Good stuff.  But the rice.  Now the rice was a masterpiece.  In the grand tradition of Moody Gardens, which I am sure had nothing to do with their presentation decisions, the rice was intricately formed into a pyramid.  That is one I have never seen before.  A pyramid of rice.  That made it fun.  I mean, when it’s evident that they have already been playing with your food back in the kitchen, why shouldn’t I continue when they bring it to me?  OK, OK.  I confess that Chris didn’t allow me to reform it into a rice hippopotamus, which would have been my goal, for sure.  I do wish they had poured some of that butter sauce on top of the pyramid, though. 

After lunch we took a leisurely stroll around a nearby antique shop just off the Strand.  Very nice, non-stressful hour or so.  Now we ended the date by running a few errands.  Post Office to mail our tax return in to the accountant.  Bank to redo the term on our tiny little IRA’s.  And finally, where else to end the perfect date on Galveston Island?  Of course … WalMart.  Can’t beat that for a romantic culmination to the day, right?  I’m sure she’ll remember this year forever.  Well, maybe after she actually gets a gift on Saturday.  I have been married for 40 years, come June.  So … hmmm.  Ideas …

Proverbs 31:10 says, “A wife of noble character who can find?  She is worth far more than rubies.”

Father, thank you once again for my great wife and partner and friend.  Amen.

 

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