Not long ago, my girlfriend and I celebrated our 10-year anniversary together as a couple.
First, we started off the morning in pleasant fashion. We used to have Saturdays off together, and made a tradition of beginning our mornings off with real coffee from a French Press, and some pancakes. She would make the pancakes, while I would prepare the coffee. Then, we would decide what we would do together for the day. As we enjoyed our breakfast on this sunny Friday morning, we talked about our options for this day, and how we might celebrate such a momentous anniversary marker.
Well, we decided to go to the same restaurant where we first met on that first date, all of those years ago. A decade ago now!
It was the Tiger's Tale, in Montgomery, New Jersey. It is very close with the border of Princeton, from which it gets the inspiration for the name. The tiger is, of course, the official mascot of the prestigious Princeton University.
Back on that first date 10 years ago, we met there for the first time. She was standing outside waiting for me, but I could not be sure that it was her. I called out her name, asking basically if that was who she was. And she answered no.
That was surprising, and embarrassing. So after apologizing, I started heading into the restaurant to meet her. That was when she began laughing and called me back, saying that yes, it was her.
We had a good first date. We ate at this place, then decided to take in a movie. It was American Pie: Reunion, I believe.
After that, we had a couple of drinks at Old Man Rafferty's, a bar in town, close to where she lived.
Initially, my impression was that the date had not gone especially well. She did not respond to my humor, although that could have been because English was not her primary language.
So when I took the nearly hour long drive back home, it was in disappointment. My guess at the time was that this had not gone very well, and that it would be a one-time date. Yes, I was discouraged, and wondering if I would meet somebody soon.
A few days later, she texted me, and I responded. We agreed to a second date. And this was almost like a replay of the first date.
Once again, I took the long drive back feeling discouraged. Yet, she reached out to me a few days later once again, and we agreed to a third date.
It was on the third date that it became obvious that there might be something there, more substantial than merely a single date or two.
Before long, we were in a relationship, and then a committed relationship. Not too much later, we moved in together. We have been together ever since.
Well, it has now been 10 years. A long time together. And we decided to celebrate when we had a rare mutual day off that we planned together.
So we went back to the Tiger's Tale, which was not quite as good as the other times that we had gone there, admittedly. In fact, she was not in the mood for anything that was offered on the menu. And when she finally did order, it was mostly not to her liking. She ordered ribs, but did not like the fries (they were steak fries, and she had wanted the more common, thin fries) and she also did not like the baked beans. I had a Cajun Burger, but it was admittedly, surprisingly flat of real taste. Again, not sure if it happened to be just that day or what, but we just did not enjoy our experience there as much as either of us had hoped.
After that, we went to Peddler's Village in New Hope, Pennsylvania, one of the spots that we seem to frequent at least a few times per year, usually. It is a kind of shopping mall, only it is more outdoors than indoors. It is a bunch of small shops, mostly mom and pop specialty stores. Also, it is done in an Old World style, and has beautiful gardens and grounds.
Some of the grounds feel like a mixture of Europe and Colonial America. There were tulips standing proud and exploding with color in the surprisingly strong and bright spring sunshine. Lower down, there is a pond that actually reminds me of the grounds of Gasho of Japan in Goshen, New York, a once wonderful Japanese restaurant in a building that used to actually stand in the Land of the Rising Sun, and with formal Japanese gardens just outside of the restaurant itself. It felt like a bigger experience as a result, like you were actually getting a real taste of something authentically Japanese. Not just a meal for maybe an hour, but an experience for a part of the day. That place went belly up years ago now, but this pleasant little pond, complete with those big fish, enhances that experience.
It is pleasant to go to even when you end up not actually buying much of anything. We got some candy from the German store, which has some cool European stuff not generally available in more typical American stores. And we also got a drink, and almost got some novelty, home-made, flavored popcorn, although she decided at the last minute that she did not actually want any.
Probably not the most exciting night out by most people's standards. But we are both quiet people. Most of our time out is done in some quiet way. On occasion, we may go to a concert or something a bit more flashy or loud. By and large, though, when we go out, we prefer quieter places, where we can hear each other and engage in conversations, like we did on this day.
It was amazing to both of us that it has actually been fully 10 years now. Again, that is a long time together, and it just does not quite feel like it could have been that long. But when you look at the calendar, there is no arguing it.
We had our mostly quiet celebration, which was mostly a rare, mutual day off together. In the early evening, we went back home, both of us needing an early night, since we both had to be at work early the next morning.
However, here are some of the pictures taken from that day. It happened this past Friday, the 22nd. Earth Day. A great day to enjoy the pleasant (almost perfect) daytime temperatures of spring in the region. Warm days and pleasantly cool, even borderline cold, nights. Along with the autumn, when days are similarly warm to moderate, and nights are similarly cool to chilly (even cold sometimes), it is my favorite time of the year. A nice, quiet celebration of a decade together during the season of life.
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