Last Friday, we took off work.  It was a glorious day, in that I wasn’t at work.  But, I digress.

We were off on Saturday and Sunday, too, of course, since we work our 40 hours during the week. On Friday afternoon, Sweetie said that we should probably go to the movies on Friday night instead of our usual Saturday night “date night” that we had established when I first started law school.  So, I said, okay, because he said that he already had something planned for Saturday night.  I didn’t ask him what it was, because I wanted it to remain a surprise.  I don’t know how I made it through the whole day without begging him to tell me, but I did think about it from time to time.

I thought he was taking me to a romantic restaurant.  I asked him what I should wear, and he said something nice but cool because he thought we might “be outside for a little bit”.  This confused me, because I didn’t know why would we need to be outside if we were going to a romantic restaurant where they don’t have outdoor dining.  I still had no idea, so I put on a nice summer dress, sweater shrug, and flat shoes.

We drove across town, and he took an exit toward downtown.  I then thought we were going to another nice restaurant in that area.  But, then he turned down a street that didn’t lead to that conclusion, either.  We turned into a parking lot and parked.  I looked around.  There were some people dressed like us, and they were milling around in the lot.  I looked toward the river, close to where we were parked.  All of a sudden I realized that we were going on one of those riverboat cruises that we’d been talking about for years.  I was so excited!

It was a glorious evening.  The weather was perfect – not too hot and not too cold.  There was an I Love You balloon attached to my chair when I got there.  I got a glass of Cabernet and we walked around the exterior of the boat, taking in the sights.  It was just as I had imagined it would be.

We have traveled far and wide, but that riverboat cruise was one of the best surprises that my husband has ever given me.  I will always remember the joy on his face when he knew that I had realized what we were going to do.

It was a truly magical evening.