Don't tell my husband I was out with my Boyfriend!

Aug 10, 2017
4 min read

I just came back from a weekend away with my boyfriend! Do me a favor and don't tell my husband! So this year Edward "Bam" McClary and I celebrated 13 years of marriage... 17 years of dating! I always include the dating years in our celebration. I mean aren't they just as important to the development of your relationship as the married years? I don't know you tell me. So officially our anniversary is on July 31, but when you have 3 kids you have to be flexible as to when you actually celebrate. The past couple of years we felt comfortable enough to leave the boys overnight and go away for a couple of days. Not too much longer than that as I will be missing them terribly! Usually by the time we are about to head back we are wondering out loud what they did while we were away.

Bam and I met in college at Morgan State University when we were 20... He maintains that he knew I was the one when he first saw me. It took a while for me to get the memo. You know the saying "A man's way to his heart is his stomach" well apparently that is true for woman who is stuck in Baltimore with no way back home and is trying to survive off of Ramen noodles and eggs. Our first date was at "Cactus Willy's" an all-you-can-eat buffet.He had really just started cutting hair so I was the best kind of date...cheap and grateful! LOL. I was determined we would just be friends, and he was determined to make me love him. He won. We got married 2 months after we graduated from college so here we are 17 years and 3 sons later. Man what a ride it has been.

So this year we decided to go to the National Harbor for a getaway. We left the boys with some family friends and hit the road. The great thing about living in the DMV (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) area is that there is so many possibilities is a such a short distance... a few hours in any direction will land you in a wonderful getaway spot. We checked in at the Westin Hotel on the water. We have passed the National Harbor many times heading down I-95 but never had I appreciated it the way I had from my hotel room. The area has the attractions of the big cities, but the feel of a small town. Imagine my delight when I look out our hotel window to see the sky wheel a stone's throw away.

After we checked in (and was upgraded) we tried to figure out what to eat. Bam had been working all day and I had been getting ready most of the day. Needless to say we were hungry. We decided to go to a restaurant called "Succotash". It was a great eating experience. Succotash is a restaurant serving soul food with a slight upgrade. Overall I would give the atmosphere a 9 and the food an 8. Our service was extraordinary. We had at least 4 people coming to check on our comfort including the manager. Everything sounded so good on the menu that we could not narrow it down to two entree's. We ended up ordering their "Taste of the South". If you like to taste different items while minimizing the chances of being disappointed this is for you. In a nutshell we received an half order of 12 items off the menu from appetizers to desserts. It was very affordable at $39 per person. I loved the wings, but could have lived without the fried green tomatoes. The pecan pie was decadent. And the bacon macaroni was even better the next day. We were not able to finish everything, and they neatly packed up our remaining dishes to take with us. We definitely got our money's worth.

Following dinner we went on a walk down the pier and had a wonderful time walking down the pier hand-in-hand talking about our goals, and reflecting on another year together. Afterwards we went to a cupcake shop called "Pretty Girl Cupcakes". It was close to closing time and they were down to about 8 cupcakes. We took 4 of them and headed back to the hotel. Setting in the middle of the king- sized bed eating a cupcake while Bam tells me not to worry about the calorie count... heaven. We got four different kinds of cupcake, but there was a tie for my favorite. Snickerdoodle cupcake and the raspberry cheesecake cupcake... yum!

My boyfriend opens the door for me, helps me into my chair and lets me order first. Over the years my admiration and love for him has grown. I watch him make solid decisions as a husband, and raise our three sons with patience and humility. But, as every wife will tell you, there is nothing like when your husband is in full boyfriend mode. When he smiles that special smile and you both know what it means. My boyfriend looks at me like I am the only girl in the world. He makes sure that I walk on the inside of the sidewalk and holds my hand as we walk along the shops. His charm is in overdrive and he indulgs my requests even when they were not something he would prefer to do. It almost seems like he is trying to win me again! lol! When you are out with your boyfriend you realize how important it is to NEVER stop dating. To always make time to focus on reaffirming who you are to each other OUTSIDE of the kids, bills, goals, and decisions. Blushes and a fluttering heart after 17 years... yep it can happen.