Out to Eat

One of my favorite things to do as a family is going out to eat.  Due to my schedule and the fact that I work in a restaurant, we don’t go out very often.  Actually, we don’t even get to eat dinner as a family very often due to my schedule… especially during high season in Sarasota, when I’m lucky to be home by bedtime if I happen to be working during the day instead of at night.  From November – April, we probably only get to eat dinner together 3 nights a week, at best.

I do love to cook, and I love meals eaten together at home, but there is just something fun and special an spontaneous about deciding to eat out instead of cooking at home.  Obviously, I’m not talking about planned dinners out… you know, special occasions and whatnot.  I’m talking about it’s my day off, which is almost always a weekday, and Hubby comes through the door at 5:00.  I might have something planned for dinner or I might not, but one of us suggests going out to eat and we just go.  Well, we throw together a bag with entertainment for Bug… and a sippy cup… and then we wrangle him into shoes… and THEN we go.

We like to eat local, and I love that we can go eat somewhere by the water and it is bright and sunshiny the whole evening.  We get to sit and enjoy each other’s company without worrying about having to do the dishes or rushing through dinner because there’s still laundry to be folded and lunches to be packed and baths to be had.  When we all go out to dinner together, we can just sit and chat and laugh and focus on our little family.  We can expose Bug to food that we probably wouldn’t cook at home… even if he refuses to take a bite.

I love season… the restaurant is busy and that is when we make our money, after all.  But I look forward to the summer, when we switch up our schedules at work so that the day manager gets off at 6pm instead of 7:30 or 8.  I look forward to more evenings with my family.  More evenings out to eat.