Today my husband called me on the phone and asked me to catch the 4:45 train heading into Downtown Austin. He said he'd meet me in transit, then we'd continue to the last station where we'd have a date night. Everything was a surprise and I had no idea what to expect. What a fun way to start a date!
It was so fun to have a date with the unknown.
First off, we headed to an upscale sushi restaurant. This was my first time ever visiting a sushi restaurant. (I adore sushi, but we always either buy it at our local grocery store's sushi counter or we make it at home.) We happened to arrive during Happy Hour (which made the sushi affordable in the first place!) so we ordered a couple of appetizers and sushi rolls to try. Oh. My. Gosh. This sushi was absolutely delicious! I more fully appreciated the art of sushi-making after tasting these tempting morsels. It was really amazing, and I savored every mouthful with a smile on my face. It's interesting to note how good food can powerfully affect my mood.
We walked around the corner to a fun oil and vinegar store. The entire place is lined with rows and rows of gourmet vinegars and flavored oils. It was such fun to taste everything and marvel over the intense flavors. Some of my faves were mango vinegar, maple balsamic vinegar, and dark chocolate balsamic vinegar. It was such a treat to mix our own flavor blends and test them out (chili oil and mango vinegar taste AMAZING by the way). We indulged in buying beensy bottles of white truffle oil and dark chocolate balsamic vinegar. We wrapped them carefully in paper and stowed them in my purse for the rest of the night. I am salivating just thinking about them!
Next on the list was a stop to a modern haberdashery. We had a lovely time admiring all the different styles and trying them on wishfully. I'm so tickled hats are coming back into fashion, even if they are expensive. They just look so classy. I did need a sun hat to protect my face when I work outdoors on our farm, so we found a lovely pink hat with a wide floppy brim in the clearance section. It's perfect. My old straw hat was two years old and is finally biting the dust after years of use. I'm delighted to have a washable hat now.
With a hat bag in tow, we strolled up Congress Avenue to the Hideout Theater in time to catch a rendition of Shakespeare's, "Much Ado About Nothing". The acting troupe did this show with a modern twist and it was jaw-droppingly funny. The new interpretations were absolutely hilarious! Nathan and I had such a lovely time and are looking forward to another date night there in the future.
After emerging from the theater, we headed to a live music scene to catch some jazz performers. This was interesting. It was in a downstairs bar, which had a very low-light, moody feel with red candles providing the only illumination. The building was packed, but we managed to find some seats. The only seats we could find were on the front row, next to the saxophone player. The music was engaging and it was fascinating to watch the musicians improvise onstage.
Even though I love jazz music, this place was terribly bothersome. The atmosphere was too 'dark' feeling and I was pretty uncomfortable the entire time. My discomfort had nothing to do with the wooden chair I sat upon- it was entirely spiritual discomfort. This is not the type of place I like to linger, but I couldn't put my finger on what exactly was bothering my soul about it.
Even though I felt uncomfortable, I felt like I had to stay a little while because we had paid the cover fee to enter in the first place. After listening to music for about 30 minutes, Nate and I agreed to go. I was shocked to discover how elated I felt when we walked towards the door. It was the oddest thing- as if my soul had been chained and oppressed and now was finally free to frolic and fly away. It was an incredibly light and happy feeling to leave this place. Emerging onto the sidewalks outside I felt like I could breathe a sigh of relief. While we strolled back to the train station, Nate and I discussed our experience. I still couldn't define what had bothered me so much about the location, but I didn't need to hammer down all those little details to learn a lesson. The lesson itself is hard to define. I learned that even if I'm not even drinking alcohol, bar scenes don't feel 'right'. I'll not choose to visit one again. (Although you might think I should have learned that lesson the last time I visited a bar- dressed as a zombie during a zombie crawl. I had hoped it would be a better experience this time with my sweetheart at my side, but the oppressive atmosphere was disappointingly the same.) I learned -again- that environmental settings can powerfully affect the Spirit (and lack of it).
We caught the midnight train back home and arrived back to our little farm after 1:00 am. All in all, it was a very adventurous date night full of new experiences. I really loved exploring new places with my hot husband and holding hands everywhere we went. It was a life-enriching night for sure.
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