My husband, Bobby, and I have been married for 25 years! I know, it’s hard to believe that it could be that long since we look so young, but it has. I had thought that on our anniversary, we would be able to spend the day together… alone…away from the house and computers. However, due to circumstances, we couldn’t take the day off. Instead we decided that we would celebrate by enjoying a night out on the town.
My initial thought was that we would go to CW Burgerstein, in the basement of TJ’s Restaurant and enjoy their Wednesday night wing special. We believe that CW’s has the best wings around and hardly ever turn down the chance to eat them. If you want to see why we think they are so good, check out my post about them. However, this was our 25th anniversary, so no offense to CW’s, I wanted something a little more special. We decided that we would go to the Olde Jaol Steakhouse & Tavern for dinner.
The Olde Jaol, how it is affectionately known by this local, was the actual Wayne County Jail for over 100 years. It was built in 1865 and housed the jail and the law enforcement offices until they moved to the Justice Center in 1977. It was converted to a restaurant sometime after it was registered as a historical landmark. While Bobby and I have been to the Olde Jaol Tavern more than once, we have never gone to the Olde Jaol Steakhouse.
We typically visit establishments that don’t require a reservation, but to be on the safe side, Bobby called and made a 7 p.m. reservation for us. When we arrived, the hostess sat us in a dining area by ourselves, so it felt especially intimate. We could hear voices from other tables, but in our dining room, it was just Bobby and me. It couldn’t have been more perfect if Bobby had orchestrated the whole thing!
Our server, Roger, was the consummate waiter for a place like the Olde Jaol. His quiet demeanor enhanced the atmosphere of the romantic dining room. He gave us plenty of time to review all the options on the menu and took our order without writing anything down.
To start our meal off, I decided I would get the Harvest salad. It is a salad of mixed greens, dried cranberries, cashews, apples and shredded Swiss cheese. It comes with the Olde Jaol’s house made Red Wine poppy seed dressing. It was as good as it sounded!
Bobby isn’t a big salad eater, so he got a bowl of their French onion soup. As anyone who reads this blog much knows, onions are not something we enjoy. However, Bobby does like a good French onion soup with caramelized onions in a rich broth covered with toast and melted cheese. He enjoyed their soup, although he said it could have had a few less onions. When Roger checked on us, Bobby mentioned it. Roger said he has had individuals order French onion soup without the onions in it. The first time Roger heard that, he thought it was a joke, but has discovered that people like the flavor of the soup and not necessarily the onions. Maybe Bobby will try that next time.
Because they weren’t serving Prime Rib the day we were there, Bobby and I both got the top sirloin steak. Olde Jaol serves Certified Angus Beef, which is Bobby’s favorite kind of beef. (Mine, too, but I’m not as much of snob about it as he is.) He ordered is medium rare. Mine, I ordered rare. We also got a bake potato with sour cream.
What can I say about the steak? It was melt in my mouth perfection. It had the perfect amount of searing and was so moist and cooked just right. It was delicious!
Bobby asked that a side of mushrooms be brought out for me to enjoy with my steak. We hadn’t ordered them initially, but Roger said he would ask the chef to make them so I could have them with the steak. While the mushrooms were a nice enhancement to the steak, it was wonderful without them as well. What was nice about the situation was that Bobby asked for them because he knows I like mushrooms. That’s just what it is like being married to Bobby Warren. I always feel special and so well taken care of!
Needless to say by the time we were less than half way through our steaks, we were getting full. I knew we would be getting boxes to take home for later. Bobby, though, because he knows I like sweets, asked for the dessert menu. Roger brought out a tray with the desserts. There was a fudge layered cake, a chocolate lava cake, a carrot lava cake, New York style cheesecake and a sea salt caramel layered cake. Bobby decided we would take our desserts to go, which Roger said would be no problem. I got the fudge cake and Bobby decided on the carrot lava cake. We enjoyed a few bites of our cakes when we made it home from the restaurant. They were both good.
It was nice to have the room to ourselves. We didn’t have to worry about disturbing anyone — or being disturbed by anyone. We enjoyed talking about our beginnings and the dreams we have for the future. We marveled at how 25 years can simultaneously seem like a long time and a short amount of time. All I know is that my life wouldn’t be as amazing as it has been if I wasn’t married to Mr. Robert Edward Warren, Jr. He is the only one I would want to spend my life with.
While we may have had to work on our anniversary, a evening out at the Olde Jaol made it a memory I will cherish. And hopefully, it won’t take us another 25 years before we enjoy an evening out there.
