Table for Two

Today I had a plan, as usual.  We would drop Rick’s car at the service station for an inspection, drive him to work, and then head to the new Tanger Outlets in Washington.  It was a decent plan.  I had only wanted to look in a few stores and sort of check things out.  Let’s just say that my plan did not exactly turn out how I imagined.  (This is typical for me.)  How I responded to this was a bit different today though.  

We arrived at the Outlets in a mob of traffic and as we approached, I was wondering where I would see a particular outlet store to park near.  This was a joke.  There was certainly not ample parking for the amount of crazies (like myself) that came out.  And apparently, there was some goofy parade at 11:00 and Jerome Bettis making an appearance.  Lots of fanfare for a bunch of shoppers.  The bottom line for me and Quin is that we drove around for 20+ minutes hunting a parking spot.  The arrangement of the parking was a little strange to me, plus there were news vans, carousels, and lots of carnival looking stuff taking up some of the normal parking area.  Basically, I looked back at my son who had been so patient in the back seat all the way to Rick’s office and then to Washington, and I just couldn’t put him through any more driving around.  

My decision was to take him down Route 19 for lunch.  I’ve never requested a table for two for just me and Quin.  We drove down to Red Robin (always a good choice for us).  He had a burger and fries, and I had soup and salad.  He got to color.  Mostly, he got to be out of his car seat and be himself.  I enjoyed lunch with him, which isn’t always a simple matter.  

Someday we’ll go back to the outlets, but for today a table for two suited us just fine.