Valentine's Day Experience: After the Show

After not too long, we arrived at the restaurant where we first met, little place called Annie's Paramount Steak & Seafood House.  I think we agreed this would make for a nice Valentine's Day.

The restaurant was in Dupont Circle, and was occupied by around twenty men.  All men.  Some were in pairs, some were in groups.

All ignored us.  Dupont Circle is known as a gay neighbourhood, but I never think about that when I'm there.  I forget which is the "gay" part of town, or if there are several.  I also forget which is the preppy part, the hipster part, and so on.

It's not really important.

We were seated by the window.  We were both smitten by the aroma of a particular dish at another table and ordered the same. As we sat, we saw some guys hugging outside, some girls and guys holding hands....

I've offered this before:

Q: why do gays publicly show affection in Dupont Circle?
A: because they can.

Because it has a wide reputation as a gay neighbourhood and people who are there (or in

Provincetown, MA or Fire Island, NY or the Castro District of San Francisco or...) know that's normal behaviour and ignore it or partake in it or enjoy the freedom others have.  I'm in the latter group, but I also feel freer to get involved in PDAs in those areas.  I know, it's just for shock value when I do it. :)
While we ate, a few mixed couples came in, and I could see a woman or two at the bar.  But the diners were overwhelmingly male.

We had a male waiter who kept addressing us as individually as "honey".  At one point, after dinner, I walked over to the restroom.  There were, not surprisingly, two.  But one for men and one was unisex/family.  I smiled and understood the reasoning (know your clientèle).  I could hear someone in the unisex so I waited.  Someone came out of the men's and told me there was a ladies' room upstairs.  So I went upstairs and there was another bar and seating area and restrooms for each gender.  I chose the appropriate one.  There was no-one upstairs so I took my time and touched up my powder (my nose was a bit drippy from the cold) and redid my lips before going back down.  The waiter asked if we were getting separate cheques and I told him I would pay.   He made a comment like "good for you" or something but I forget what.

Leaving, the weather was still nice: cold but not too cold and the wind was calm, as opposed to the 40+ mile per hour winds the previous night and earlier today, and we didn't even consider a cab back to the hotel (my plan B) where we left the car.

The drive back was uneventful.  I stayed in my dress for a while and then heard what sounded like heavy rain on the window. The weather had become what I was afraid of from the start: heavy, blinding snow, high winds, with some ice mixed in so we'd know it was out there.

But I was home and relatively warm and I thanked Thalia for getting us home before the nasty stuff began.

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