Je m'amuse: Thursday Date Nights

Seth and I end up working through most week nights. Then the weekend arrives and we've either quadruple booked our schedule (this weekend it's helping frame a wall, Fall Fest, a volleyball tournament, Barktoberfest, and a Halloween party) or we're lying on the couch in an exhausted stupor. Date nights on weekends usually feel like a chore or something we need to "fit in." No bueno. So a long while back we declared Thursday nights our date night instead. Neither of us makes any plans. We both put our work away by 5pm. We eat a real dinner at a normal time, whether it's out or at home. (No poached eggs on toast for dinner at 10:30pm on Thursday nights! Are we the only ones who eat breakfast for dinner multiple times weekly because it's fast, easy, and filling?) And we talk to each other. We both hang out in the same room of the house. I don't get lost in blogs or Pinterest. He doesn't get lost in Sportscenter. It's not high maintenance. Easy and nice. That's our style.

This past Thursday we used a gift certificate from last April for a sunset cruise. It was out at the Ritz Carlton which meant we got to play tourists for the evening. We got there a few minutes early so that we could lounge on the beach before boarding. (The St Thomas Ritz does lounge chairs right. I didn't actually realize there was a "right" way for a lounge chair until sitting in one of theirs a few years ago. Oh my. Oh. My. I think there are a million magic fairies inside acting as a cushion.)

Now, full disclosure, this cruise didn't go very far. It went just south enough of St Thomas that we could see the sunset and then we basically circled a rock until the sun sunk below the horizon. But the service on board the boat was probably the best boat service I've had here. Wine put in my hand before I could even sit down. Great painkillers. A large, beautifully kept interior. Pinwheels for all the kiddos. Food that they did not pick up at CostULess on their way into work that evening. Friendly crew. They didn't once lie about our surroundings. (I don't care what you've been told by snorkel crews, Michael Jackson does not have a house on St Thomas. Fact. If you repeat all the info you were fed by your snorkel tour guide you end up sounding like the poor guy that sat behind me on my most recent flight out of here. I had to put my headphones on to keep from turning around and correcting him as he tried his darndest to impress the lady next to him with terribly false Caribbean knowledge.)

Our sunset looked like it was going to be a bust but at the last minute we got a little bit of color.

And after we got back to shore, Seth and I got to wander the emptied Ritz grounds for a little while. As beautiful as it is during the day, it's equally stunning at night. I always love a good reason to go out there.