Sunday, January 24, 2010

{Date Night}

Cory and I rarely go out on dates. We both have so much going on in our lives and our kids are still young, so I guess we don't make it a priority to figure out ways to date. But we definitely should! So when my plans for Friday night fell through we decided it would be a good night for us to go out for dinner. We both looked forward to it all day long, but sadly we ended up not going that night. Dixon was miserable all day; he didn't take a single nap and just cried non-stop unless I held him. His top teeth are almost through his gum and he just wasn't having a good day. Plus Cory didn't get home until after six. Luckily for us, my mother said she was free on Saturday so we just rescheduled. THANKS, Mom!

Cory and I have been wanting to try a relatively new restaurant in Hagerstown called Bulls and Bears. The menu online looked great. So on Saturday evening we said goodbye to the kids and giddily hopped in the minivan and headed south. Date night!!!

The atmosphere of this restaurant is unique. There is an indoor alley that has streetlights, a fountain, and all kinds of other neat touches. You walk down this alley to get to the entrance of the restaurant.Here we are before entering. Can you tell we were excited to be on a date? Without children? Not even the baby? Yeah, it was awesome.The inside of the restaurant was a guy's dream. I counted sixteen flatscreen tvs within my view from the table, all showing a sporting event or a car show. I have no idea how many more tvs were throughout the place. It was all fine and good while figure skating was on one of them, but midway through the dinner it changed to basketball. Harumph.

So we started with an appetizer of crab stuffed baby bellas. Except there didn't seem to be any crab in our bellas.
Then we had salad. The house dressing had mango and pistachios in it - it was delicious!

Main course:
Cory opted for: Bleu Chip Steak - New York strip chargrilled to perfection and topped with bleu cheese and drizzled with a balsalmic glaze.
I chose: Pistachio Encrusted Salmon - Fresh Atlantic salmon served with a mango honey lime glaze.
Both dishes were divine. The salmon was perfectly prepared and the potato was just the right size. I was able to eat almost the entire meal and still have enough room to share a dessert with Cory.
My weakness is chocolate and peanut butter, so the peanut butter pie was the perfect ending to the meal.

As we waddled out of the restaurant I had to take a few photos of the atmosphere. So here's the quaint entrance:

They already have everything decorated for Valentine's Day. Balloons were everywhere and there was a really pretty bench set up with a gigantic red heart surrounding it. I imagine there will be a photographer there on Valentine's Day taking photos of couples in love as a keepsake of the evening. Cory refused to sit there and take a picture with me. I tried, and I was shot down.
But he was willing to stand next to this antique truck and gas station. Guys and their priorities. They're so twisted, aren't they?

This is the view down the indoor alley. There's other stuff in there that I didn't get in the photo, like a little market that sells coffee, sandwiches, and convenience store items. It really is a cute set-up.

After a tasty meal and a few drinks we headed towards home. But we had a couple stops to make first. We were out of baby food so we decided to hit the Wal-Mart on Rt. 40. But on the way something happened . . . something dangerous for two 30-somethings who've just had a couple drinks and a good meal on their first date night in a looooong time.
Vanilla Ice was on the radio.
Ice, ice, baby. Nah nah nah na-na-na-nah. Vanilla ice, ice, baby . . .
Suddenly the bass was pumpin' and the volume was cranked and that minivan was pimpin'. And this is what my husband was doing:
It was scary. It was hilarious.
We parked at Borders and hustled inside to clear our heads of a that trip down memory lane. Cory walked out with five new reads and we headed to Wally World.
When you go to the grocery store for one item, like baby food, do you always exit with a full cart of groceries? We do.
And Cory just kept saying how much fun it was . . . the shopping at Wally World. He must have been feeling really, really good.
So that's a date for us uninteresting folks who never get out. Dinner, Borders, and Wal-Mart. I think we need to get out more, and perhaps get a bit more adventurous.
Vanilla ice, ice, baby . . .

4 comments:

  1. What a unique restaurant! You didn't tell me about Vanilla Ice!

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  2. Very sweet entry! I haven't had time to read blogs much lately, but I appreciated that one. Especially because the last date night Matthew and I had, we ate fondue at that cafe in the Butcher Shoppe, followed by a trip to Lowes and then the Dollar Store. How romantic huh? Ha Ha Ha!

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