[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP7AJiQM2RI[/youtube]
Yesterday, Matt and I had a date. A date with a boy king, no less.
The background to the story is long and since no one probably cares, I’ll spare you the details. However, through the generosity of a very special family member, we were able to go see the King Tut exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art. Egypt holds special significance for us as a couple, since it was while Matt was living and teaching in Egypt that we began dating and essentially fell in love. He had visited many of the sites while he was there, but this is probably the closest we’ll ever get to seeing them as a couple.
We had tickets for a 3:00 entrance but were encouraged to watch the Egypt 3D movie first. It was an experience watching the 25-minute history lesson with funky glasses on, but we learned some things and gained some historical perspective on the exhibit. We then toured the numerous galleries and saw artifacts from not only Tutankhamen but other pharaoes and members of the royal family. And yes, believe it or not, I enjoyed my time in an art museum!
After we had filled our brains with information, and indulged our senses with the beauty and amazing craftsmanship of the ancient Egyptian civilization, it was time for some shopping! We raided the gift shop, and since the rest of the galleries were closed, we headed back to the car to find a place to eat dinner. We managed to find Thomas Avenue Beverage Company, a place Matt had taken me for my birthday dinner about 11 or 12 years ago. The fact that we haven’t been back has more to do with an inconvenient location lack of a children’s menu (or playland for that matter) and the fact that it’s a BAR than anything to do with the quality of food. We began with their hummus and pita bread and I think we would have licked the bowl clean if that would have been appropriate. Matt enjoyed a bleu-cheese stuffed steak and I opted for the non-South Beach friendly spinach ravioli with cremini mushrooms and tomato sauce. We talked without interruption, enjoyed a liesurely meal without questions of “what’s this green stuff” and “do I have to eat more vegetables before I can have a treat?”, and even watched a bit of the Steelers-Ravens game.
After sufficiently stuffing ourselves, we weren’t ready to head home immediately – and it was only 7:00 which is early even for our standards. After weighing our options, we decided to take advantage of free babysitting and no curfew and see a movie. We arrived at the theater about 15 minutes too late, so we had to wait about 45 minutes before the next show. We sat in the theater’s cafe and sipped hot chocolate from Starbuck’s while we waited to see Paul Blart, Mall Cop. Yes, we went from one end of the cultural spectrum to the other in a matter of hours.
Not sure the movie was worth the $18 price of admission, but the time spent together was worth far more than that. All in all, it was a pretty great way to spend a Sunday – from the ruins of ancient Egypt, to the kitschy neighborhood of Uptown Dallas, to the Orange County Mall in New Jersey (which was really filmed at the Burlington Mall in Midlesex, MA – my very favorite mall from college days, and home of the only Chili’s within several hundred miles of Gordon!!) – all without leaving home.