A Day with My Valentine

Several weeks ago we decided we would delay our Valentine celebration. Les was scheduled to preach Sunday morning and he had yesterday off for President's Day, so we thought a relaxing Monday would be just the ticket. Our original thoughts were to take Amtrak to Santa Barbara or Disney's California Adventure. As Phil the Groundhog predicted, we are having additional winter around here. We received over 2 1/2 inches of rain yesterday, so those outdoor adventures just weren't going to happen. I really don't like to be wet, miserable, and soggy, do you?

So what to do? How to spend a rainy day in Southern California?

Our first stop was IHOP for a late breakfast (almost 10:00). It is a rare day that we eat breakfast together, and even rarer that we eat breakfast at a restaurant. Cholesterol and fat counts were forgotten for a meal!

Driving in the pouring rain, we had a very fun exchange - "since there's nothing better to do, we might as well spend the day together." Of course it was said in jest, but then turned around, "there really is nothing better to do than spend the day together!"

We made our way to the Museum of Tolerance. Not exactly a "date" place, but we thought we would go there, then possibly go to Exposition Park to see some other museums. We never made it to Expo Park - there was just too much to see at the MOT. I'll write a complete post about it in the next day or so, but the highlight was listening to Holocaust Survivor, Gloria Ungar, speak for 45 minutes about her experiences during the Holocaust. Reading, listening, or seeing films about the Holocaust cannot compare to sitting 5 feet away from a woman who lost her entire family, save one brother, to the atrocities of Nazi Germany.

We spent about 4 hours at the MOT and were both emotionally spent. As Les put it, "the next time I think I'm having a bad day, I need to think about the Holocaust victims and survivors."

We finished the day at The Cheesecake Factory, and I can only imagine the number of calories we consumed! I had Louisiana Chicken Pasta and Les had Crusted Chicken Romano. We both ordered "Lunch Portions" and brought half of our meals home. Of course we had to save room for Key Lime Cheesecake! Our waitress was wonderful - Les asked how his chicken was prepared because it was so good - she went back to the chicken and came back and told us the entire recipe! I'll be trying that out at home in the near future!

It wasn't your typical romantic getaway, but we have a few of those planned in the next few months. But it's always a good day spending it with my best friend!