Last weekend, Mark and I went on a belated anniversary getaway. We don’t always go somewhere – or even do anything elaborate – for our anniversary, but with our schedules and circumstances cutting our time together shorter every day, we were long overdue for some alone time.

[Okay, that sounded weird. Kind of like when we met our friends for breakfast on our way home, and they asked with raised eyebrows, “So, what have you been doing all weekend?” But I promise, I did not mean it to sound weird. {Awkward!}]

Since Annalyn was already living it up on the beach with my parents, Mark and I decided to take off for a couple days this weekend. So, I drove my parents and child to the airport (and tried not to hyperventilate about that), then we hopped in the car and hit the road.

[Well, I did a load of laundry first. But if that doesn’t make me sound old and boring, I just don’t know what does. So, let’s leave it at the spontaneous, carefree “hit the road” description, eh?]

When I decided we should go away instead of wasting our free weekend on chores and afternoon naps, my criteria were simple. I wanted somewhere not too far away and not too expensive. Omaha was my first choice, until I learned about a) major road construction between here and there and b) the College World Series, which means hotel rooms were crazy expensive.

Next, I considered St. Louis. Then Mark suggested somewhere in Oklahoma or Arkansas. Finally, we settled on Springfield. Not Branson. Not the Lake of the Ozarks. Springfield.

It’s not necessarily a tourist hot spot, but it was just a few hours away and we got a great rate on our hotel. So, Springfield it was. We had a great time (especially after my mom texted and said that they’d landed safely and my child was a brilliant traveler).

We watched two movies at the [three] dollar theater (and mourned the loss of our own local, albeit moldy, dollar theater). It was perfect, because we’d planned a date night a couple months ago (when the dollar movies were newly released) but had to cancel at the last minute.

First up was The Lincoln Lawyer with Matthew McConaughey. It was really good, and as far as I can tell, the language was the only reason for its R rating. Next, we saw Limitless with Bradley Cooper. It was also good (and thought-provoking), although it ended with a totally gross scene and several loose ends.

In between movies we visited Fantastic Caverns and took a tour. It was a lot of fun and reminded me how much I love caves. Not that I’ve been to a lot, although I did learn that Missouri is, officially, The Cave State. So, I suppose I could indulge my love of caves fairly easily. We actually did try to visit a second cave but didn’t have enough time before our name would be called for dinner.

No, not before our dinner reservations. They don’t take reservations at Lambert’s. But they do throw hot buttered rolls at your face. So, it’s a pretty fair trade-off.

For those of you not from here, Lambert’s is a Cracker Barrel-type restaurant with huge portions of wonderful, salty Southern food and servers constantly walking around offering delicious side dishes and their famous “throwed rolls.” I’m not going to lie to you. I thoroughly enjoyed my fried chicken, mashed potatoes (yes, and gravy), black-eyed peas, fried potatoes (yep, another potato), green beans and rolls.

But I truly felt like I had a rock in my stomach when we left. I told Mark, “I think I’m going to die. But I am so glad that was my last meal.”

It was good. The movies were good. Seeing our friends on our way out of town was good. But best of all? Spending so much time with my husband. He is what makes this post a prime candidate for Things I Love Thursday and Finer Things Friday. He’s (obviously) not a thing, but I sure do love him and he definitely makes my life finer.

I know it’s late, but how was YOUR weekend?