7 Legal Years

It was an early celebration, but tonight The Mike and I had our 7th wedding anniversary date night and whooo boy howdy it was really great.

If you follow me on twitter, this will be old news so don't read it if you don't want to get another rehash of my mushy evening, lol.

My boss had recommended The Grill at Avila Beach Golf Resort but I wasn't sold until hubs checked out the menu and gave it his approval. He can be really picky (read 'annoying') about trying new places and things he's not used to (one day I'll tell the story of the first time I took him to Benihana's. It was a fucking nightmare).

The restaurant is very open, with light colored walls and ceiling and tons of uncovered windows. Because we went so early, we had the place to ourselves until just before we left. Score!

Mike had a huge rib-eye steak and fell in love at the first bite. Whew. He was happy and that meant we were off to a good start. I had a stuffed chicken breast but forgot to make sure it was boneless before ordering it. Bones in meat creep me right the fuck out. This one did have a bone but they cut the piece of chicken in such a way that it was only one small bone and I could pretty much avoid it. Another score! My appetizer was their sweet potato french fries and I could not have been more surprised by how absolutely fantastic they were. Salty with a bit of sweet and more mushy on the inside than crispy - just the way I like all my fries and I've only recently dabbled in the world of sweet potatoes anyway. They were truly delicious.

Our view was the little inlet in Avila, where the creek meets the ocean. I've been to that inlet so many times but tonight was my first view from the golf course side. We could even see the Avila pier from our table and it was just as the sun was setting. Romantic, no?

The place was a bit pricey for us - $86 for two dinners, two iced teas and a cone of french fries, including tip - but as a once-in-a-great-while splurge it was completely worth it. I highly recommend them if you have a special occasion you're willing to open the wallet for. The pay-off is well worth the cost.

My only criticisms, and I am saying them for full disclosure, is 1) our waitress was a bit morose. Not mean or abrupt or lacking in helpfulness. Just . . . sad? Like she had gotten bad news and was making the best of it. Now this could totally be her everyday personality, I don't know. I'm just going to assume that usually she's an upbeat kind of person - but tonight just wasn't that night for some reason. And 2) the service was a bit slow at the beginning. This might be tied to #1 - again I don't know. We were the only people in the entire dining room is all I'm saying. Neither minor complaint was anywhere near a deal-breaker. We both agreed that we are looking forward to our next special occasion meal there.

So. Enough about our fabulous food and the fabulous location!

Next, we headed out of Avila and into the Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort for some soaking time in one of their hot tubs. Is it just me or do you guys all say "Hot Tub Time Machine" in your heads too?

When my real mom died and I had to go through her hoarded shit, she had two brand-new-in-original-plastic-casing gigantic terrycloth bath robes from CostCo. No lie, each one weighs over 15 pounds. Their inaugural use was tonight at Sycamore. We felt so decadent and ritzy, lol. Thanks Mom. We'll call these my 28th birthday present, mm'kay?

Anywho. We showed up for our reservation and bought a bottle of wine for our Hot Tub Time Machine appointment. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to buy a bottle before we got there and I ended up buying a bottle of red something. I hate red wine. Like really hate. It tastes like gasoline to me . . . if I had to guess what gasoline tastes like.

So we headed to the *restroom/changing room, did our restrooming/changing and then hoofed it up the hill to our appointed tub.

I had been looking forward to this part for weeks and it didn't disappoint. I'm sure, like with any dimly-lit place, the magic would have been less in the harsh light of day but I gladly entered with blinders on. It was a 104 degree mineral spring jacuzzi out in the open and yet secluded. Sold! For the price ($25 for two people for an hour) and for the location (15 minutes from our house), we will be going there more often. As a local, it's embarrassing to admit that I hadn't been there (as a paying customer) since Jr. High! And that was 100 years ago!

The good points of Sycamore: 1) Maybe we were lucky or maybe they were slow tonight, but the check-in gal gave us more than an hour. 2) It rained just a bit and made it more fun. 3) They have strategically placed the hot tubs to have full privacy without feeling enclosed. 4) We won't forget how close and affordable this place is. Mike already wants to come back next month. 5) You can totally bring in your own adult beverages without issue but FYI, they have a 'no glass' rule.

The bad points of Sycamore: 1) If you choose to look closely, it is very touristy. Some stuff doesn't work properly and some stuff would not get a local's approval in the light of day. *2) WTF on their bathroom/changing room?? It was a weird cross between a port-a-potty and a plunked-down guest bathroom. Incongruous, right? To top it off, there was a light fixture over the sink but we could NOT locate the switch . . . at dark thirty. That room-thing was so fucking weird that I will inquire about it when we go again.

Tonight was super fun and we laughed our asses off several times. While most people desire deep soul-sucking kisses and intense gazes, The Mike and I really enjoy cracking up together.

He's the funniest, sweetest, kindest and truest friend a person could have. He's also the most selfish, self-absorbed annoying jerk I choose to associate with.

That's being married though. The good, the bad and the funny and I know without a doubt he'd say the exact same thing about me.

7 years of being married and 8 years of being together. Most days it feels like yesterday we said "I Do".