The Dead, The Wicked, and Hell

Kinda morbid sounding, eh? Well, it's not what you might think!!

This past weekend, Joe and I went had a much-needed date day in The Cities. And our first stop? The Dead Sea Scrolls...

When we heard that the Dead Sea Scrolls were visiting the Science Museum, we knew we had to go see them! I mean...this is the chance of a lifetime! So, after locating a coupon that saved us $16 (Go me!), we visited the Science Museum to get a peek at the scrolls. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed (to protect the Scrolls from deteriorating too quickly), but we did get to read plenty about the caves they were found in, see lots of artifacts from those same caves, and read more about the history of the Scrolls themselves. I wish we had been able to stay longer - we were slightly rushed to get to the next thing on our agenda - but I'm glad I had the chance to see them.

After finishing up at the Science Museum, we made a mad dash to the Orpheum Theater where we had tickets to see....

"Wicked" is a musical that I've known about since college, and have been dying to see! We tried to go one other time with my parents about a year ago, but the tickets were super expensive, and our seats wouldn't have been that stellar. Joe surprised me a month ago by buying us tickets to FINALLY get to see it LIVE! I was on cloud nine, and believe me, it lived up to everything I'd dreamed it would be! The music was phenomenal and the performance was as stellar as anything on Broadway (not that I've ever seen anything on Broadway... ;) )

Here's a shot of one of the stage decorations:

It would move and the eyes would light up periodically.

Creepy.

And here's us waiting for the show to start!

(I'm not sure why Joe has the deer-in-the-headlights look...)

After the show, we began walking to our dinner reservation, but I had chosen fashion over function earlier in the day, and I was wearing heels.

Oops.

So....after a few blocks of walking (and frantically trying to hold down my skirt as the wind whipped by) and complaining, I talked Joe into stopping at the Target located downtown (How cool is that?). And so I got myself some pretty, yet functional shoes:

See how sparkly they are? :)

It was much better, let me tell ya.

Soon, we arrived at our dinner reservation - Hell's Kitchen (my apologies for the language on the sign...) 

I had heard of this place, but never been there before, and Joe was excited about it so we checked it out -- plus it had live music in the evening, so I was totally game! It has quite interesting decor (kind of on the dark and goofy side) and the food is great! We got BBQ pork nachos which come with pickles and coleslaw on top -- might sound strange, but they were addictive!! Joe got a penne pasta with lots of cheese and garlic on it that he loved and I got the BBQ pork sandwhich, though it ended up being a bit too spicy for my taste. And then we got strawberry-vanilla bean cheesecake for dessert.....yumm....

It was a fabulous day, and so special to have that much time to just have fun with my hubby. :)

a date!

Saturday was an all day date for Joe and I...we had a great time. With him working nights and taking two college classes, sometimes it feels like we're just running by each other!

First we did a little shopping at a local craft/home decor sale, but didn't find anything we couldn't live without. Next, we stopped at the Villa Maria, a Catholic retreat center that one of Joe's co-workers had said we should check out sometime because of how beautiful it is.

Isn't it magnificent looking? We got to go inside and look around. They had a beautiful chapel with a gorgeous stained glass rose window. I would have taken a picture but one of the Sisters was nearby, and I didn't want to seem disrespectful. :) We also had the opportunity to see a little bit of the grounds -- spacious and green. Reminded me of the Nunnery in Dubuque - and we also got to see a little room with a lot of the Catholic Icons. Kind of sad to realize that many people really believe that those have power or that they can be prayed to.

Next we went on to do a little more shopping...just roaming around and checking places out. There was an antique shop that had amazing furniture! Joe and I wanted to bring it all home, it was so beautiful!! But we refrained...and held onto our pocketbooks. :)

Joe managed to smile for this one...since he knew it would somehow show up on my blog!! This is at the Subhouse, where we enjoyed scrumptious, fat subs, and shared a bowl of yummy beer cheese soup! Yum!!

See how big the subs were? I could barely fit my mouth around mine!! :)

From there, we went to see a well-known pottery factory, as well as it's pottery museum. In the museum area, there was a collection of quaint little shops (more antiques!), player pianos, and various eateries. Joe even found a coin for his collection that we got for 15% less than the price they wanted! All because I asked if the coin counted in their autumn sale...it never hurts to ask! :)

This is us inside the pottery museum/shopping place. We thought it was funny that I was wearing a Smithsonian Institute shirt, and he was wearing a Village Idiot shirt. Except, usually the personalities are the opposite!! :)

Here, Joe re-enacts how his mom used to bring them about the Pottery Museum, demonstrating how the giant pipe turned round and round and round....

Our next stopping place was one of our favorite spots for frisbee golf. It has a beautiful scenic view, as you can see here:

And we even got a glimpse of the Mississippi Queen and heard strains of her caliope music all the way up on the bluff we were on!! You can see her twin smokestacks in this picture if you look intently a little to the right of the middle of the photo:Joe wasn't cooperating in my little photo shoot, so this is the best pic I got of us before engaging in a rousing round of frisbee golf! He won, of course...but just barely...



And last but not least, we got all dolled up and went to Applebees for dinner, and then to the movie Fireproof. (I didn't get any pictures of us all dressed up, unfortunately...) And if you haven't seen Fireproof, I highly recommend it!! It is a must see for any married person, or anyone in a serious relationship, or anyone who thinks they might ever get married, or basically anyone!! AMAZING. To hear more about the movie, go here.

And that concludes our date weekend -- hope it didn't bore you all too much!! :)