Celebrating 15 Years

Well, it was 2 months after the fact, but Brooke and I were finally able to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary last night. Every year is special, but since this year marked 15, I wanted to do something out of the ordinary.

Our afternoon/evening started on the club floor at Marriott's Renaissance Worthington Hotel in the heart of downtown Ft. Worth.

This is a view of downtown Ft. Worth from our window.

I have always remembered the one time Brooke and I got to eat at Texas de Brazil during the brief time they had a restaurant in Arlington. If you've never eaten there, the experience is hard to imagine. The food is great and the whole dining experience is just plain fun. They have a huge salad bar with a lot of exotic foods on it (I'm personally not that crazy about this part), but then the good stuff begins. Servers begin coming by each table with giant skewers of different kinds of meats: steak, fish, sausage, pork and chicken all cooked differently with PERFECT seasoning. The first time or two you wonder how the little bit they leave you is going to be enough to eat, but then the servers keep coming. The first course is usually the best...until the second one comes and then it is the best. Until the third one comes...well, you get the idea.

So a couple of months ago, I was talking to a friend telling him I wanted to take Brooke to the Ft. Worth Texas de Brazil for our anniversary. My friend takes friends to Texas de Brazil frequently and always purchases their VIP cards that gives you a half-price meal. He gave me a card with two punches on it and I was thrilled to be able to take Brooke.

When we got there, we found out the food was as good (if not better) than we remembered. The room where we ate had four tables in it. Two tables finished and it was just Brooke and I at one table and three "guys who looked like they were Texas oil/gas men" (Brooke's description) at the other table. There was a flat screen TV in our dining room and so they discussed the Olympics with us. They were very friendly and so we conversed on and off during the meal. They asked where we were from and we told them we were from Arlington and were there celebrating our anniversary. We carried on with them and as they left, they said, "You kids have a good evening. Happy anniversary."

We had dessert after they left and then the waitress brought us the check. As I looked at the ticket, I saw the charge for Brooke's cup of coffee that we had ordered with our free (anniversary) dessert, but nothing else. While I was puzzling over where the rest of the ticket was, our waitress came back and told us what was up...the three guys at the table next to us had picked up our tab! We were totally blown away and only wished they guys were still there so we could thank them.


Next, it was time for the "surprise" part of our evening. Brooke already knew we were going to stay at the Worthington and knew we were going to eat at Texas de Brazil, but I wanted to plan something she did not know about. We have seen horse-drawn carriage rides in downtown Ft. Worth, so I contacted Brazos Carriage to see what they offered. They have their carriages downtown every Friday and Saturday night and you can rent the carriage for a 15 minute ride. I was bummed because we were going on a Thursday night, but as I dug a little further into their web site, I found you could do a private, 30 minute rental most any time. I talked to Tracy, the owner, and set up the Sweetheart Package (30 minute ride with flowers and chocolates in the carriage when it arrives) to pick us up outside Texas de Brazil.

As our meal ended, I called Tracy and asked where she was. She said she was out front, so we left. As we walked out, Brooke saw the carriage but started on down the sidewalk. I said, "Hey, you want to ride this? I think they are expecting us." It was awesome...the weather was not too hot, the ride was great, Brooke was surprised and it made for a very romantic evening.

This is just a picture we took back in the hotel room after the carriage ride.

After we dropped the flowers and chocolates off in the room, we went for a walk downtown. We stopped and took this picture in the lobby of our hotel.

I love to take pictures of old-looking court houses. The courthouse in downtown Ft. Worth is very picturesque and I snapped this while we were out walking.


Fifteen years of marriage has flown by. I am so thankful for Brooke and I love her with all that I am. The night did not last long enough for me, but I'm glad we could take the time to create memories and celebrate our 15 years together. Brookie, you are still the love of my life!!!