Olive Garden

Since most of us were working on the actual day of my parents' 25th wedding anniversary, we decided to go out to dinner this weekend when we were free. Ryan did have to work, so it ended up being just my parents and myself, and we chose to go to the Olive Garden. This apparently has some historical significance, since my parents have gone out to Olive Garden to celebrate many a wedding anniversary.

The first thing we noticed and enjoyed about our dinner was our excellent seating. We were given a booth in one of the back rooms of the restaurant that sat in a cozy corner. It made for an intimate gathering for family appropriate for an anniversary dinner. The food, of course, was delicious! My mom had a chicken and pasta dish with white sauce, spinach, and tomatoes, which I tried and found excellent. My dad had a garlic Parmesan tilapia dish with Mediterranean-style veggies; again I tried it and liked it. I had stuffed chicken Marsala, which was grilled chicken stuffed with tomatoes and cheese, topped with Marsala sauce and mushrooms, and came with garlic mashed potatoes. Mmmmm... We added in a bottle of wine (which we finished), and topped it all off with a chocolate cake dessert that we split. Delicious!

One highlight of the evening came after the dinner and wine were finished. My mom had made a joke that we should get to take home the silver wine bucket, since it was indeed their 25th (silver) wedding anniversary. My dad said this jokingly to the waiter, and he very sincerely agreed to do so! He didn't give us the one we used tonight, but did have one that had been given to him by the restaurant that he very graciously gave up! What a nice gesture, don't you think? So now we have a genuine wine bucket for the future. Whether or not the bucket is actually made of silver is still up for debate, but of course, that is completely irrelevant.

All in all, it was a great dinner, and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We may have over-indulged a little bit, but you don't celebrate 25 years of marriage every day! I took a couple of pictures while there, including one of the wine bucket we took home, and one of my parents sitting together, which I have posted below. Great job, Olive Garden!