This is a blog mainly for the writings of Elizabeth, but others may chime in here and there. For example, this is one of Elizabeth's daughters, Catherine. I am helping my mom create this blog because I am so excited to see what she might like to share.
For six years, my parents have been going out usually on a Friday or Saturday to a restaurant each week. And they didn't have the discussions that many couples would have about where to eat, because that was already decided for them. How? The phone book. My parents ate at (almost!) every restaurant listed in the yellow pages for Greeley, Colorado. Every week I would ask them about their most recent culinary adventure - what part of town they went to, what they ordered, how was the atmosphere. As I heard stories about finding restaurants that had relocated, or how a they took take-out pizza to the park for an outdoor jazz concert, I was aghast that they weren't writing for the local newspaper or otherwise recording their exploits. Couldn't you just see a cute empty nest couple on the local morning show, talking about their most recent date night as they work their way through all the "El" restaurants? Wouldn't the Today show just love to interview them and publish a list of their favorite restaurants from each letter of the alphabet? This is interesting stuff- their coworkers and church friends were always interested to hear about this persistent and intriguing weekly date night. All that is physically left is a well-used copy of the yellow pages in the back seat pocket of their car.
My parents love the city of Greeley, and thoroughly enjoy having such a vast knowledge of the variety of eateries around town. Maybe one of them will chime in sometime with reflections on this journey.
As they approached the last page of restaurants, my parents began talking about what their next adventure would be. Of course, they would want to try any new restaurants in Greeley. They agreed to go once a month, first seeing if there was a new A restaurant, and then a new B restaurant... But they wanted to move beyond the restaurants. And as much as they love Greeley, they wanted to move beyond the city.
So begins Colorado A to Z. My dad, Paul, thinks it is a waste to live in such a beautiful state but never go to the places where tourists go. So quarterly, they plan to go to a city and be tourists. They began with Aspen over the weekend of my mother's birthday in September. She will have to tell you more about that soon.
In the meantime, we'd love to hear from you in the comments! How do you decide where to go out to eat? Have you had a creative way to get to know your hometown? What is your favorite way to mix variety into your date nights? What kind of details would you like to hear about as Paul and Elizabeth go on their mini vacations?
Until we meet again,
Catherine
