A Wonder(ful) Autumn Night

The Mrs. and I celebrated our 5th Anniversary in style on Saturday evening. The events of the night With Out The Kids were a mystery to her. That was true at least until my dad slipped, joking that we should take the kids to Atlantic City - 'cause they never have been. Then, the Mrs. saw a billboard advertising the 2nd night of Stevie Wonder's two night stay at The Borgata right before we headed over the Walt Whitman bridge...I was a bit aggrevated that I did not see it first and divert her eyes and also because she NEVER pays attention when we drive - which is why she NEVER knows how to get anywhere. The billboard confused her. She couldn't believe Wonder, an all-time favorite of hers, was finally touring again (after a 12 year hiatus) and he was in town the night AFTER our anniversary evening. Haha. The look on her face!

We continued driving sans music, just talking, until we were about a 1/2 hour away from A.C. when she noted that we had no tunes playing. I said I was tired of the options in the car, but that I had packed some new discs in my bag. She reached back to grab them and discovered just three Stevie records (it is tradition to listen to the music of the act we are on the way to see live.) The Mrs. was totally confused. She said something like "but the ad said the show is tomorrow" to which I excitedly replied "that is because tonight it sold out!" She flipped - exactly the reaction I was going for.

A few hours later, we sat 11 rows from a musical legend. Wonder played for 2 1/2 hours straight - no break, no encore. It was a Wonder-ful evening with my lovely wife. It was also the first of six shows we will see over the next two weeks: Two Decemberists shows on back-to-back nights in NYC, Josh Ritter in Philly, Dr. Dog (pending kid-coverage) in Philly and then Bright Eyes in Delaware. Whew!