Dinner For Dummies

My parents surprised Greg and I with an early anniversary present last night. They treated us to dinner at McGill's on the 19th floor of the Hard Rock Casino. We're pretty sure that this is the fanciest dinner we've ever had. Wow. The restaurant view was stunning and the waitstaff was superb. The waiter even had an assistant waiter. We felt a little out of place, but we played it off nicely ... at least we think we did.

We were seated, and asked for our drink order. Did we want wine, champagne ... no, we just ordered water. We're boring like that. We were then served something on a fancy triangle plate. It was compliments of the chef, and it was good. The base was cucumber, there was something pink in the middle, and a tiny tomato slice on top.

The complimentary bread arrived next. It was zucchini muffins and sour dough bread. I felt the need to shovel it all down, like a hoarder, so that they wouldn't think we were done and carry it off. Both breads were fabulous, and Greg asked me to stuff what we didn't eat in my purse. For the record, I did not put any bread in my purse.

Salad time. I'm not even sure what salad I ordered since I hadn't planned on ordering one until Greg did so I threw it in at the last minute. When the salads arrived, Greg sat there looking at the forks, not knowing which one to use. I told him to use the smaller one on the outside and work your way in. I learned that on the movie Pretty Woman or, maybe, The Little Mermaid. There were at least two things in my salad that I ate, but still don't know what they were. There was a circular white thing sitting next to what we think was an artichoke. Both mystery items were good.

We were then served a lime sherbet looking ice ball thing. I really have no idea how to describe it, but my mom had told Greg that its purpose was to cleanse your pallet so we ate it. It was great! If entered in a contest, it would be a good front runner to Gypsy Ice (the sno cone place by our house) as one of our favorite icee things.

As we wait for dinner, looking at the view and wanting to put our elbows on the table, the couple across from us finished dinner. The waiter brought them a plate with two rolled up wash cloths, two lemons, and two chocolate sticks. Greg and I both watched intently to see what they did with the items. Apparently the rolled up wash cloths were to clean your hands and face. They didn't use the lemons (and neither did we) so we're still not sure what they were for. Greg and I then made eye contact, realizing we were both watching the same couple to see what they would do with those items so that we would know what to do with them when they were put on our table. We grinned at each other because we realized that we are both geniuses. Spy geniuses.

Dinner was served. Greg had the prime filet, garlic mashed potatoes, and fresh veggies. I had the coconut shrimp, sweet potato, and fresh veggies. Both were amazing! On my plate, but not on Greg's, was another mystery item. I had seen it on one other table, but it didn't look used when the waiter carried off their plates. What was this round thing wrapped in yellow mesh cloth and tied with a blue ribbon? Hmm. I ignored it for a bit, but then curiosity got the best of me so I had to explore. It ended up being half of a lemon wedge for my shrimp. Fancy. I used it.

During our small talk, we discuss whether we were suppose to tip the main waiter, or both waiters. We never figured it out so we just left a good tip and called it good. While waiting on our check, I told Greg that I was going to get a hand shake or a high five from our waiter. He asked me not to. The waiter was a really nice guy and he did a great job, but he seemed a bit nervous when we first arrived. So, while waiting for him to return, I decided that a high five would do. He accepted my high five and I'm certain that the smile on his face showed that it was the only high five he received that day. A job well done deserves some recognition and we are just a high fiving type of family.

After dinner, we headed down to the casino to waste some money (aka play the slots). We didn't win big, but we had fun. After about an hour of breathing in second hand smoke we called it a night.

Our fancy date made us step out of our comfort zones and we really had a good time trying new things. Here is what happens when two dorks get a night out on the town with no kids...

We'd like to take a moment to thank our sponsors for this night O'fun! Thank you mom and dad! We love you more, and we loved celebrating our 11th anniversary at the Hard Rock Casino and McGill's!