Jim's Italian Cuisine, of Bellefonte

My husband and I had plans to go swimming at Bald Eagle State Park on this late-summer morning. We had talked about having a quick breakfast at McDonald's first, but in the end, we did something much better. After our swim, my husband surprised me by treating me to an anniversary lunch at one of our favorite restaurants: Jim's Italian Cuisine, of Bellefonte, PA.

I have mentioned that August 13 was the anniversary of our first meeting, in a laundromat in State College, 30 years ago. So last weekend, I treated my husband to a fine lunch at Couch's of McAlevy's Fort, just before we had our only swim of this summer at Whipple Dam.

Later in the month - the 27th - is the anniversary of our first actual date. So it appears we have been celebrating for much of the middle of August. I'm a girl who likes to celebrate any chance I get. Aren't anniversaries fun?

We were the first ones in the water at the park, with nobody there at all, which was a very odd experience. And then we were the very first people in Jim's when they opened for lunch. As I said to my husband later, "We were everywhere, and there was nobody there!" (See for yourself; the picture above is the main dining room in the restaurant just as we sat down to eat.)

My husband is the first person who ever introduced me to Jim's, and he did so quite early in our courtship. How did he know about it? He had rented a small house in Bellefonte years ago, and had a job at the counseling service there. So throughout these many years, we have had MANY lovely lunches (and dinners) at Jim's.

We tend to be creatures of habit, with a standard set of items we order when we visit to eat in. Our "entire usual" consists of two small chef salads, a small order of cottage fries, and garlic bread. On this day, we had everything but the garlic bread, and it was delicious. It was a fine way to celebrate these many years together.  :-)

The soundtrack: Little River Band, Happy Anniversary.