My husband, Les, and I were out on a date last night. Let me just take a second to stress that this should be a priority in any marriage. It is for us -- I mean, when you have six children constantly vying for your thoughts and your attention, it is especially important to place major focus on your marriage...Otherwise, when the nest is finally empty what do you have in common anymore if you've ceased growing together? In our house, date nights are sometimes as frequent as a few times a week, or could be something that ends up happening only once a month. Last night we went to Barnes & Noble on Fruitville Pike in Lancaster. It's my home-away-from-home...I mean, my car can almost navigate there by itself!
When we first got there it was pretty crowded. We probably wandered around the store a good 20 minutes or so before we were able to find a table! Les got his usual -- a java chip frappuccino with whipped cream -- and I had a cafe vanilla frappuccino with whipped cream and, because I wanted to indulge a little, asked the barista to drizzle that with chocolate. It was really great, not at all overpowering like a syrupy chocolate can be if there's too much. I have no complaints about the service. The baristas there are very helpful and friendly, and good service is an important asset in my book. The lost art of customer service in many businesses has irked me for a while now, and I am thankful that at least my favorite go-to spot is full of friendly staff who do what they can to make your visit pleasant.
Back to my date...Les and I had a great time looking at the latest in fiction and non-fiction best-sellers, which always leads to great discussions of politics, religion or what-have-you based on the current offerings. And we talked about travel. And our plans for 2011 after the (for us) disastrous year of 2010. Somehow we got on our long-term goals. One day my goal is to own and operate a bed & breakfast inn, and thankfully Les supports me in this, so talk gravitated toward trying to visit one or two next year as nice little marital getaways -- you know, sans kiddies! It was then that Les got this idea that I write really well, and that if anyone cared to read what we wrote, we should review the places we go. I posed that thanks to technology we could do it via a blog...so it'd be a combination journal and promote (or not) some of the spots we find.
Well, loving to go to begin with, and enjoying writing about places I love or warning people about places I don't, I figured it was a pretty great idea...and one that might garner me more nights out than normal!
So here's our newest blog, A Couple of Thoughts, where either Les or I -- or maybe both of us on occassion -- will take time to let you know where we've been and what we liked, or didn't like, about the places we've visited. This time of year entertainment abounds in all kinds of venues, and we will likely spend our time and dollars on a mix of entertainment that is family-friendly though future outings will be geared toward couples only.
Please let us know if you have any suggestions for us...Right now our focus will likely be in and around Lancaster County, PA, but we will broaden our horizons as time and weather permit.
