A great choice for a night on the town

Published 10:08 pm Saturday, June 25, 2011

Date night.

Parents around Suffolk will recognize the concept, though many are likely to have a hard time recalling the last time they participated.

For my wife and I, it’s not children that interfere with our ability to set aside time for each other, but the newspaper publishing schedule. Annette is a newspaper widow, and she has a remarkably good heart about it — and I often thank both her and God for it.

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But even the most comfortable couples need to find time to themselves once in a while, and Friday was our first chance to do so in a while.

We’d both looked forward to the event. Plans were made to attend the city’s TGIF party at Constant’s Wharf Marina and Park on Friday. She had called and reserved a room for us at the Hilton Garden Inn so that we’d be able to leave the party, get a good night’s rest and have me back at work on time on Saturday morning. My mother would have to fend for herself for the night — a task for which she is still eminently qualified at age 66.

As the check-in time at the Hilton came and went, Annette texted to tell me that the hotel’s lobby was packed with guests. It turned out there were two events going on within the hotel this weekend, in addition to the TGIF function outside. I worried whether we had picked the right weekend to use the one-night-stay voucher we’d bought in the fall at an auction benefitting the Boys and Girls Clubs of Suffolk.

Annette was eager to check into the room, glad for the chance to watch the Food Network while she waited for me to get away from work. We don’t pay for television, and my wife loves and misses the Food Network from the days when we had satellite TV, so hotel stays always involve a healthy dose of “Iron Chef,” “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” and food competitions. When I found her watching HGTV as I walked into the room at 7 p.m., I realized that the Food Network must not be one of the Hilton’s television offerings. Uh oh.

With no reason to hang out in front of the television, we headed to the Business Appreciation party held by Suffolk’s economic development office in a fenced area to the rear of TGIF. Along the way, I snapped a few pictures of folks enjoying the music by Strictly Bizzness (I’m rarely completely off duty at Suffolk events), and then we grabbed some barbecue, found a table and sat down to visit with friends.

Constant’s Wharf Park was packed with folks enjoying the good music, tasty treats and great fellowship. And somehow, even though it was date night, Annette and I found that sharing it with friends actually made it more fun. My theory is that, for her at least, the only other choice was to have been stuck looking at and talking to just me. Some folks would consider that a fate worse than death.

It’s hard to say when we’ll get our next chance at date night. But I’m glad we chose to spend this one right here in Suffolk and among good friends. There’s no place like home.