A Night Out

I had a good time last night.

The county Parks and Recreation Department here has, for the past eight years, organized a Valentine's Dance. They sell tickets for a complete evening's enter­tainment, for couples, and it includes snacks, dinner, door prizes, and dancing with a live band, in the old historic county courthouse. My Honey found out about it at work, and arranged for us to attend.

We talked about going full formal, but decided against it. According to the Parks people, we would be as likely to see tuxedos as jeans, but we felt we'd be more comfortable just wearing semi-formal clothes. I wore my black suit and she wore a LBD that showed her off very well!

Before dinner, we took advantage of the complimentary couples photo, and I have to say, she looked mahvelous, and I didn't look so bad myself. Before dinner, we ended up at a table near the snacks, sitting by ourselves, although others tended to group together.

When we were called to assemble for dinner, everyone scaled the stairs to go to the main courtroom. They had about 30 tables set up, most of which were tables for two. There were a few for larger groups (as many as six), though. The buffet was still being set up, so they took the time to award the door prizes. We won something! Amazing - that just doesn't happen. Of course, what we won was something for which we had little use: a four-hour rental of one of the meeting rooms in the downstairs area of the courthouse. Too bad they aren't really big enough for one of our family-sized parties. Not sure that four hours would be enough , either

After the prizes were awarded, the buffet was opened and everyone got in line to feed. The food was edible, but not exemplary, and the iced tea was way too sweet. I wasn't tempted to overeat, which was a good thing.

I never heard of the band before, but their music was all familiar to me - Elvis, Buffet, Jerry Lee Lewis, and others. Songs like "Love Me Tender," and "Margaritaville," as well as "The Tennesse Waltz," and "Could I Have This Dance?" A fair amount of slow dance stuff, some rumba, and a goodly amount of swing. There was even one line dance, done to "The Electric Slide."

Although we didn't participate in the line dance, we were very much entertained, when one great-grandmotherly-type lady ended up paired with a young, tall, black man. The young man, of course did very well, but surprisingly, so did the grandmother!

We didn't know anyone there, but some of the folks we met had been attending the event for several years. We weren't either the youngest or the oldest couple there, but we were among those who'd been together the longest.

After a while, the band took a break, and we were tired, our feet hurt, and I was sweating like a horse, so we decided to leave. All in all, a very satisfactory evening out together.

I hope you and yours did as well.