An IKEA Idea

With Hallie away at her first “away from home camp”, Cameron sleeping over with one of her buddies, and Reese having plans for most of the day, Louanne and I found ourselves with a very rare free Saturday a couple of weeks ago.  Not wanting to waste this rare opportunity, I asked her what she would like to do on our free day. 

“Let’s go to IKEA and look around” was the reply I received.

Her answer didn’t surprise me since she had wanted to go there for a while.  So we decided to get up earlier than normal for a Saturday, and hit the road for Charlotte, NC to tour the giant Swedish furniture and decorator’s paradise. 

We were both excited as we hit the road for a day all to ourselves.  I was excited to be alone with my Lucy (didn't matter where we were going), and Louanne was excited that she was finally going to visit IKEA.  Our commute was almost a paradise of its own.  There was no noise.  There were no kids asking for a CD to be played or a DVD to be put in.  No one asking for something to eat or when we're going to get back home.  Nor was there any arguing or tough parenting to be done while we had some teenager trapped in a moving vehicle.  It was almost like we were back in 1989 all over again – newly married and with no responsibilities other than keeping the van on the road.     

We left home a little after 8:00 and after a couple of stops along the way, we made it to downtown Charlotte just before lunchtime.  We decided to eat lunch before tackling the furniture behemoth - that decision was easy.  Our next decision, however, was much more important - where to eat.  We were on our own and we could eat anywhere we wanted, and with no regard as to whether 5 people would all like the place or not.  Plus, we were out to relax and enjoy the day.  Making a bad food decision was not an option. 

After some deliberation we decided on a place that I have been going to ever since I was a boy – a really little boy - the Bar-B-Q King Drive-In on 2900 Wilkinson Boulevard.  You may recognize the name of the place or recognize the picture from the Food Network show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  They have done a feature on this old drive-in.

 

Bar-B-Q King has been serving good food since 1959

 

We got there not long after 11:00, so it was easy to find a spot to park and order.  We pulled up, pondered the choices on the menu, pushed the speaker button and gave the crackling voice on the other end our order.  I ordered the same thing I have always ordered there – a chili cheeseburger, onion rings and a cherry lemon Sun-Drop.  Louanne ordered their specialty – the Bar-B-Q chicken plate, which comes with fries and cole slaw.  Not long after we ordered, a curb hop brought out our tray, and the fun began. 

 

Chili cheeseburger, Bar-B-Q chicken, onion rings and Cherry Lemon Sun-Drop



The food was really good.  Louanne commented, “These onion rings are the best I have ever had out.”  I thoroughly enjoyed the burger and rings, and Louanne ate all of her chicken.  Well, I did manage to score the wing that came on Lucy's plate.  Delicious! 

They have a broad menu with several different items, but the burgers, dogs and chicken are all very good.  We both highly recommend you visit the Bar-B-Q King. 

 

Sandwiches, chicken and seafood highlight the Bar-B-Q King menu



After lunch we rode for a while around downtown Charlotte, then headed to IKEA.  When we got there the parking lot was full and the store was bustling and crowded with people.  It is a very clean and neat store, and full of furniture and every home accessory you can imagine.  We walked through the whole store looking, touching and deciding on what we should buy, what we needed and didn’t need.  After walking through each department (following the arrows on the floor that guide you through), we exited the furniture paradise tour at a sea of cash registers.  You would have thought it was Christmas Eve in there.  It seemed like there were 6,000 people waiting to pay for their loads of stuff.  For Louanne and me, judgment time had come.  It was now time to settle up and pay for the 75-minute stroll we had just taken. 

I couldn’t take the suspense of wondering how much we owed this huge Swedish conglomerate, so I walked to the restroom and left Louanne on her own to wrestle with paying for all of our stuff.  After my short leave, I returned to find out how much trouble we were in.  We came on this in-state adventure to visit the wonderful world of IKEA, and we had partaken mightily.  We had represented our family well.  What was our damage?  Grand total…$6.66.  We had spent more on lunch than we did at IKEA!  I laughed and turned cartwheels all the way back to the van. 

After leaving IKEA, we spent the rest of our afternoon shopping around the Concord Mills Mall.  We walked around the entire mall.  We bought a thing or two for the kids at Old Navy, but spent most of our time browsing and talking.    Louanne even went into Bass Pro Shops with me to look around.  Concord Mills is a lot of fun. 

With the sun beginning to set, we slipped onto I-85 and headed for home.  We decided to stop in Greensboro for pizza, and upon the recommendation of a friend we decided to try Brixx Wood-Fired Pizza on Westover Avenue.  Louanne and I both enjoyed a fresh, thin-crust pizza, and shared a Mediterranean salad.   Louanne had the Margherita pizza with Roma tomatoes and fresh basil, and I had the Rustica, which comes with prosciutto, mushrooms, kalamata olives and roasted garlic.   All of the food was very good, and we totally enjoyed ourselves.

We then left there and rode over to downtown Greensboro to Cheesecakes by Alex.  We decided to allow Reese and Cameron (Hallie away at camp) to share in some of the fun we were having, so we brought home some sweets to share.  We got Reese a chocolate cupcake stuffed with Bavarian cream and covered with devil’s food icing, Cameron a piece of chocolate chip mint cheesecake, Louanne a piece of white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, and I had a piece of simply chocolate cheesecake.  I don’t need to go too far into how delicious those all were.  They tasted as good and rich as their names.  Let me just say that I cannot encourage you enough to go by Cheesecake’s by Alex anytime you’re within 300 miles of downtown Greensboro, NC.  They’re at 315 S. Elm Street.

We finally pulled back into the driveway around 10:00.  Our journey was over and we were both tired.  But we were very happy that we had spent the day together doing all that we did.  Louanne and I love our children more than we ever thought possible, but we were "Nate and Lucy" before we were a family of five, and 24 years after that first date we still love spending time dating.  Even so, we have already planned to take the kids with us next time - this time for a family adventure.