02/15/2006

The last time Laralee and I went out to dinner on Valentine’s Day was in 1996. We decided (well, I decided) to repeat the feat in some wacky ten-year celebration, so we found a babysitter and left the kids in her capable hands while we headed out for dinner.

We had big plans to go to Outback Steakhouse, but when we arrived (around 5:45) they had a two-hour wait. Whoops. We figured we’d go down the street to the Texas Road House– another steak place– but their wait time was two and a half hours. We checked Chili’s, Red Robin, and anything else that wasn’t Wendy’s or Arby’s. Every place was packed.

In the end we had a nice dinner at the Pumphouse, which is a little bar and grill brewery in the middle of town, but I sure learned my lesson: on V-Day, call ahead for reservations. Luckily I won’t have to worry about it again until 2016.