Yesterday we were watching one of our favorite shows, Call of the Wildman. If you haven’t seen it, you’re missing some live action from the forests of Kentucky. It’s hilarious and unbelievable at the same time. On today’s episode, a date with the Turtleman was auctioned off and went for over $700. The three girls who went in together for the date were expecting a nice dinner out. For someone who gets paid in jars of honey, gets sprayed by skunks, and doesn’t look like he bathes very often, I’m not sure that the Turtleman even had a restaurant on his radar. Instead he took the three girls to one of his jobs where they fished (using their bodies as bait) for snapping turtles.

The show made me wonder about some of the strange dates I’ve been on in my life.

It’s hard to remember very far back, considering that my husband and I have been together for over 17 years. In the years since we’ve had kids, we have only been out on a date a handful of times.  Our kids aren’t comfortable staying with a babysitter and we don’t have a lot of family in the area.  This summer my mom came to visit and one night she offered to stay with my kids while we enjoyed a date. We went out to eat — by ourselves!! I ordered what I wanted, ate the whole meal by myself, and didn’t have anyone sitting on my lap the whole time. We considered going to a movie afterwards but there just wasn’t anything we were interested in seeing. Instead, we headed to the furniture store to look at recliners. We ended up crashing on two side-by-side chairs and sat back, closing our eyes, holding hands, and savoring the quiet. Maybe we dozed off, because I certainly did not hear the sales associate walk up beside us. She asked, “Are you guys having a good nap?” Sheepishly, we explained that we were on a date night and after 15 years and 2 kids, the best thing we could imagine was sitting in a recliner for some peace and quiet. She laughed and let us sit there a little longer. It might not have been as exciting as Turtleman’s date, but it was a great evening!

What’s your favorite date story?