Don't Back Down

While my wife and I met a number of years ago, it was well after we were both out of high school, and though we each went to prom, it wasn't with each other. So we decided that we wanted to have the chance to see what it would be like.

In the morning, of course, we had gone to the Girls on the Run Charlotte 5K, which helped one local charity, so we decided that we'd make this a sort of "charity day", and in the evening head to Ace and TJ's Second Chance Prom, which supports their Grin Kids charity, giving terminally ill children (and their families) the chance at a once-in-a-lifetime vacation.

Though we were a bit late in our planning - that's nothing new - and we weren't able to book a room at the hotel where the event was being held, that's not an entirely bad thing. It really just mean that we weren't able to drink ourselves silly. But since we aren't really big drinkers anyway, and the drinks weren't cheap, that's not an entirely bad thing.

In the end, it's probably a good thing that we didn't, because with the actual prom not ending until midnight, the people who did stay there likely would end up at the bar, which means it wouldn't have been quiet by any stretch of the imagination. So it all works out.

Regardless, we showed up at about 8pm, after our dinner at the Omaha Steak House (yum!), and promptly found ourselves a table near the front of the dance floor. Though we didn't really plan this, it turned out to be a good move on our part.

First because by about 9pm, the ballroom was absolutely packed. Even with the dance floor jammed and most tables completely taken, there were still a ton of people standing around. So I'm glad we arrived early and found a place to sit. Second because it made people watching so much easier. If we were at the back, we would never have seen them. Or at least not as often.

In any case, the prom was held in a large ballroom, so there was a decent amount of room, though the dance floor was pretty well packed most of the night. Unfortunately (for us), there weren't a ton of songs that we really cared to hear. This is mostly because we aren't huge huge fans of the music that they play on the radio station, but also because we're probably towards the higher end of the age range of people that were there.

That's okay, of course. We're just glad we could go, both to be able to say we went to prom together and to support a worthy cause.

Inside the ballroom were at least half a dozen (cash) bars with overpriced drinks. There wasn't really any food, but that was okay, since we had just eaten. But some sort of appetizer offering would have been nice.

They also had a picture area, just like they did back in high school, so we had our picture taken. We're waiting now to get the picture back. No word on how long it will take to receive.

About every 20-30 minutes, they would play a slower song, so those not interested in the standard bar atmosphere of dancing could get up and have a few minutes with their special someone.

Somewhere around 10pm, we decided that it was just getting a bit too crowded for our tastes - people were still coming in, and it was more packed than ever. So we decided that we'd brave the smoking area (which was amazingly thick with hanging smoke) and make our way to the car and head out.