Mystery Weekend and Giveaway!

Saturday morning, we got up at the freezing cold crack of dawn and were met with the knock of Sara and Bryan. David and I scurried out the door into the angry winter wind. Hugs was taking me on a mystery weekend getaway! I had no idea where we were going or what we would be doing. He just told me what to pack, which was kind of unnerving because I am a very organized traveler and it made me nervous to not know EXACTLY what to bring. After an hour or so on the road, I realized we were headed to Atlanta! I knew immediately one of the things we would be doing. We parked on Peachtree Street and headed toward the Fox Theatre. Love, love, love the Fox. David's taken me to see so many shows there and they're always amazing. That day, we were seeing Beauty & the Beast, one of my favorites. I was ECSTATIC!

Mom and I went to NYC several years ago with my grandparents' senior adult group. I'm telling y'all, senior adults are so much fun. We saw two Broadway shows...Titanic and Beauty & the Beast. We were supposed to see the Lion King, but we got there and our tickets were messed up or something, so they gave us B&tB tickets. I was not happy. I thought...lame. Uh, boy, was I wrong. It was phenomenal! I've raved on and on and on over the years about how I wish David could have seen it with me. And David has been checking the traveling Broadway show's performances and he got us tickets. It was just as amazing as I remembered it. I've always loved musicals.

There were a lot of kids there, too. Most of the little girls were dressed up as a princess or Belle. It was adorable. And they behaved so well during the show! A few around us would ask questions like, "Mommy, is the Beast going to be okay?" So stinking sweet. One little girl in front of us got scared during the wolf attack scene. I'll be honest, I got scared, too. The wolf puppet things were creepy. And they were huge!

Here's one little Belle.

The stage from our seats. It's super dark, hard to see in the picture.

When you walk into the theatre, it looks like you're walking into a medieval world. The open night sky is above with twinkling stars and the stage is a castle.

It was so so so so so good. I hated that it was over. The performers were just as talented as anybody on Broadway. The best character to me was Lefou, Gaston's little sidekick. He looked and talked just like the cartoon. It was very well cast. I could go on and on. It was GREAT!

After the show, David took us to our hotel right across the road and I took a nap. Ah, a nap, that rare jewel of joy. Then, Hugs told me to get all doozied up and we headed 20 minutes north to this AMAZING restaurant called Canoe. It was kind of in this random place right near this FANCY neighborhood. I swear it's where they film Atlanta Housewives...whatever it's called. The houses looked like the capitol building. And there was still snow everywhere, undisturbed in the hills. It was beautiful. Canoe was situated right above the Chattahoochee River. David researched the restaurant and apparently, they grow their own vegetables and all of the seafood is caught locally.

David and I aren't foodies at all. I'll eat just about anything and I'm fine with chain restaurants. But, I do appreciate good food. And this was, hands down, the most delicious meal of my entire life. We started off with cranberry walnut bread and herb-infused flat bread. I am a little bit of a crab cake snob, though. I love crab cakes and they've gotta be good. I ate half the crab population when we went to Charleston two years ago and I ate some good crab cakes. But nothing like the appetizer that David got. It was incredible. It had some kind of lime sauce on the side.

I got an arugula, baked bleu cheese, and sweet pecan and cranberry vinaigrette with bacon salad. OHMYGOSHITWASDELICIOUS.

For my entree, I dared to go outside my comfort zone and I got steelhead trout. Hmmm...not my absolutely favorite. Our waiter, Russ, said it was like a mild salmon. Russ lied. It was like a trout flavored salmon filled with anchovies. No, it wasn't that bad. It just was a little more fishy than I like. But the squash salad underneath it was heaven.

David got braised short ribs that literally cut like butter with a warm knife. And that's not a praying mantis on his place. It his his knife...with antennae.

For dessert, David got a fuji apple pie with brown butter ice cream. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh...kill me now.

But, no...I got this (I took a picture of the menu so I wouldn't forget the name) Valhrona chocolate and salted caramel grotto with pretzel hazelnut dust. Oh yes. It was like a giant truffle, only better. It was the most incredible thing I've ever eaten. It was like a big gloopy hot salted caramel center, surrounded by a fluffy chocolate mousse, surrounded by a hard dark chocolate shell, sitting on a pretzel hazelnut crust. I know, right.

Aside from the fish, it was the best food I've ever had. If you are ever in the Atlanta area, PLEASE go and eat there. You will not regret it, I promise.

So, Aunt Moo and Uncle Bryan watched the girls for us, for which I am incredibly grateful. We had such a fun, relaxing time. It seems like they did, too. I got these pictures while we were away.

I wrote down a general schedule...Bryan made his own edits. I hope you can read it.

They found my cough syrup whiskey.

Bryan brought along 5-hour energy drinks.

They played Superman.

Fun times had by all. I know I married a good man. He planned the whole thing by himself. Thank you, Davey, for a wonderful weekend trip!

So, giveaway! Mom and Dad have graciously offered to keep the girls for us for a week in October again so David and I can go somewhere by ourselves. And, well, we don't know where to go! We don't want to do a Caribbean cruise again for awhile. And we can't go too far away in case we need to get back to the girls quickly. We'll probably wait another year and then start traveling further away again. So, we're thinking anywhere in the U.S. (except Hawaii) or Canada. We had thought about Vancouver or Victoria or the Canadian Rockies or New England or Napa Valley. Anywhere. And it can be tropical, too. We need your help! Where would you recommend going for a week? Anywhere in Canada or the continental U.S. Places to stay, things to do, etc. To show our appreciation, the travel agent with our favorite idea will receive a 1,000 Places To See Before You Die daily calendar (I know it's halfway through January, but that means you can double up on some days, yay!), a Rowallan travel notepad, and two batches of shortbread cookies made by the twins. If you can't leave a comment, email me! Thanks in advance!