On a blustery 2-degree (-15 degree wind chill) evening, a couple married for over 40 years left their “fortress of solitude,” otherwise known as Del Webb, for a date night of dinner and a show on Valentine’s Day.
Unbeknownst to her, he made 6 p.m. dinner reservations at a romantic restaurant that he said would make her feel like a “princess in a castle.” This was to be followed by a movie about a shady love affair.
In case you haven’t figured it out by now, these two lovebirds are named Jim and Nancy. This fairy-tale evening came to a screeching halt when Jim suddenly pulled in to a White Castle. I gave Jim the old “stink eye,” and he politely reminded me that he said I’d feel like a princess. Oh lucky me….
When getting out of our car, we were literally blown into the castle by “Old Man Winter.” After adjusting my windblown hair (this was not a problem for Jim), we gave our name to the hostess, who checked our reservation and escorted us to table no. 18. The castle was decked out in all of its Valentine’s Day finery. Our little “love nest” was adorned with a red plastic tablecloth, which was complimented by the red plastic roses and the plastic LED tea light. As luck would have it, we were seated by a window next to the “drive thru” lane. As the cars drove by, we saw the look of envy on each and every one of the driver’s faces. Who wouldn’t be green with envy?
We talked to the general manager Debbie, and she told us that they had 31 reservations for that evening with the busiest time being between 6 and 7 p.m. Love was in the air!
Who goes to White Castle on Valentine’s Day you ask? There were young families; old couples; young, dating couples; grandparents with their grandchildren; and even a couple who met at a White Castle 41 years ago. How romantic is that?
When we questioned people on whose idea it was to spend Valentine’s Day at the Castle, more often than not, it was the woman’s choice. Nancy was shocked! I just looked at her, smiled and said, “I know what a woman wants.” Nancy’s laughter stopped only when our waiter came over to take our order. He was dressed appropriately for this fine dining establishment in black pants, black vest, white shirt, and a red tie.
Nothing speaks of romance quite like a meal of steamy sliders. Just for fun, you can always try to reenact the spaghetti scene from Disney’s Lady and the Tramp with a deep fried mozzarella cheese stick. We spent the rest of the evening gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes over the growing mound of little cardboard boxes on the table.
We’ve come to learn at our age that this type of meal will come back to haunt us as the night goes on. There will most certainly be a foot race to the antacid bottle when we finally get home.
Being the cockeyed optimist that I am, I still had high hopes for the second part of my romantic evening, namely Jim’s movie choice. That was quickly shattered when we walked in to theater No. 9, which was proudly showing 50 Shades of Grey. Honestly, I would have preferred seeing the movie in the privacy of my own home. The movie was sold-out, after all it was Valentine’s Day, but luckily Jim used his brain (for once) and ordered the tickets well in advance.
We haven’t been to a movie in years, and the motorized recliners that AMC in Lake in the Hills has were fun to play with. Nancy enjoyed relaxing with her feet up, noshing on buttered popcorn, and seeing the movie adaptation of one of her three favorite books! She’s now looking forward to seeing the second movie in the trilogy which is due out in 2016.
When the movie was over, the cold, crisp air felt good cooling everyone off, as all the patrons filed out desperately trying not to make any eye contact. Can you say awkward?
Hopefully, this was a once in a lifetime experience. This is what I get for asking him to marry me 42 years ago. I hate to see what Jim has in store for me next year. He’s a moron, but he’s all mine….
