On New Year’s Eve, my husband and I went to an event called “First Night Spokane.” Even though we’ve lived here for 11 years, this is the first time we’ve gone. Many events, demonstrations, concerts, and shows take place in the downtown area, with fireworks to finish off the evening. You can get in to all the events for free if you have a button (which costs $12). The event lasts six hours.
We might take our kids next year, because there were pottery throwing demonstrations, wool weaving, crown-making, ice sculpting, and chain-mail making. The children’s museum was also open. And children 10 and under go free with a buttoned adult.
My husband and I started the evening by riding on an antique carousel. I realized that everything was blurry, and my husband handed me my new glasses. Even though most people consider a carousel to be a slow ride pointlessly going in circles like our lives, I really love the exquisite detail of each horse. I’ve always loved carousels because of the ornate artwork.
Ice sculpting took place outside. Since the theme for this year was dinosaurs, the men were carving the ice into dinosaurs, fossils, and dragons. My favorite was the Loch Ness Monster. There was also an ice slide with colorful lights embedded on the inside, which children were sliding down.
We listened to a violin player who added drums and other sounds to his violin music. Other buildings contained bands which played salsa or blues or rock. People were dancing, and I looked sweetly at my husband, and he rolled his eyes.
Suddenly we were hungry, so we went to a Chinese restaurant that my husband had been wanting to check out. We split a salad and a main meal, which was delicious. The lanterns hung on the ceiling were gorgeous and added to the ambiance.
Closer to midnight, we were randomly walking around. We went to the crown-making place, and the materials on the long tables looked like they had been hit by a tornado. My husband tried to cut a piece of lace for me, because I wanted a bookmark, and the scissors were so cheap that they didn’t cut. Then they just snapped in half. My husband and I backed away from the table, whistling a tune, so as not to be noticed.
One good thing about the evening is that policemen and guards were sprinkled like salt and pepper all over, so you felt safe. Only about a third of the people were inebriated. The others had children with them, with bags under their eyes, looking tired rather than inebriated.
We counted down to midnight, and fireworks lit up the sky in magnificent splashes of color. “Happy New Year!” I shouted to my husband, grabbing his face and kissing him. Unfortunately I was so cold, my depth perception was off because of my new glasses, and my teeth were chattering, so I accidentally bit his lip. (It wasn’t hard.) “Ow,” he said, instead of wishing me a Happy New Year, and we skipped off like kids to the car. It was a lovely evening.
Tags: date night, First Night Spokane, marriage, New Year
