On Friday Mrs. Blather and I marked our 21st wedding anniversary. As is our custom, we threw some clothes in garment bag and headed out for our annual overnight getaway. It’s a tradition we started 13 or so years ago when we still lived in Minneapolis and the girls were still quite small.

In those early days, we’d get an overnight babysitter and head to one of the many B&Bs in Stillwater, Minnesota. Stillwater is a charming historic town filled with antique shops and art galleries on bluffs overlooking the St. Croix river on the Minnesota-Wisconsin border.

Now, no babysitters are necessary and slipping away for 24 hours of shopping, dining and enjoying each other’s company is less of an exercise in logistics. This particular long weekend was packed with stuff that we found fascinating, and others will possibly find mildly non-boring.

• First, we grabbed lunch at a great restaurant at trendy Inwood Village spot called Rise No. 1 and ended up sitting about three feet away from former Facts of Life star, Lisa Whelchel. (We pretended to be oblivious to who she was but couldn’t help noticing that she prayed over her meal and talked about God pretty much the whole time she was there.)
• Later that afternoon we checked into the W Hotel, across from the American Airlines Center and immediately learned that some rapper by the name of Li’l Wayne (great-grandson of Li’l Abner, I presume) is staying at the hotel and will be performing at the AAC that night. We were offered tickets but politely declined.
• We had one of the best meals we’ve had in a long time here.
• Saturday night was the Dallas Cowboys’ final game in Texas Stadium and a friend was kind enough to invite us to join him, his lovely wife, and a few other couples in one of those skybox suites. It was a great place to watch a historic game, even though the Cowboys’ performance was more akin to a Greek tragedy than an exhibition of football. Again, massive quantities of food were a part of this event–a new wave of foods comes out every quarter–and you will be stunned to learn that I felt obligated to sample all of it.
• Sunday afternoon we had a few friends over and had a promise ring ceremony for my youngest daughter, FOU #3 who is 15. Everyone brought . . . wait for it . . . foods of many types and forms! It would have been bad form for me to not try a little of everyone’s wares.
• Per the pattern we’ve established with her older sisters, FOU #3 and I had a “date night” later on that evening.  It was great.  We went to the Gaylord Texan hotel, looked at the amazing Christmas lights, and had a lovely meal. Yes, that’s right. A meal. What’s your point?

As I said . . . It was quite a weekend. I think I’ll hit the gym today.