A Reader Shares about Her $20 Date Night…

Ever been to Wilkeson? It’s a tiny little town waaaay out in East Pierce County, in the foothills of Mt. Rainier. Hubby and I have friends who live out there, so we’ve been there a few times. It’s a bit like stepping back in time, as you can see from loyal reader Kim’s post. Kim and Steve signed up for the date night contest and had their first $20 date recently. Way to go Kim and Steve! Read below to find out about their adventure:

Wilkeson, WA, population 425.

So my husband & I are up to the challenge! “$20 Date Night”. We made our jar and journal to record the challenge and photo’s of our journeys. Our first date was not a good pick. We live in rural Pierce County and picked from the jar- “Wilkeson” a small beautiful town. I grew up in a neighboring town and knew there were not a lot of options from a small town. My husband I never the less was up to the challenge of finding dinner & fun. Steve decided to take his almost complete ’38 Chevy out for a maiden voyage.

Walking into the Bar & Grill was a little unnerving, no one was around. We walked back outside to read the sign; it does say “Open”. So we walked back in and headed to the back and around the corner. Nice quiet place, fairly clean and yes the bathrooms were clean too. We walked in to the bar area and found a very friendly waitress. She said we could sit anywhere. From the conversation of a local and the bartender we found out the cook didn’t show up. My husband and looked at each other and smiled, it will be ok we thought. So from not finding a website, coupon or discount we knew we had to be very selective in ordering. My husband ordered a beer, $3, leaves us with $17. I ordered water and lemon with a Chicken Caesar salad with red hot pepper sprinkle, Steve ordered the French Dip sandwich. With the cook not there we gave the food a break, not the fault of the bartender

F.D. didn’t have cheese and was out of ranch for the fries, she had to go next door and buy some, the C.C.S. was shredded iceberg lettuce with mayonnaise and lemon mix with sliced tomatoes and rubber hard over cooked chicken; I was unable to finish my meal and a little disappointed in the food. It looked like the bar & grill could be fun; with the stage for a band, wonderful real wood old bar and clean tables. My husband and I decided we would revisit another time and give it a fresh start again in the near future. After dinner we went for a short drive to the Wilkeson Elementary School and took our pictures, we also found where the town hosted a two man rail car event that is in July every year. Steve has a friend that lives close by so we stopped in for a little while and had a great visit before our 40 minute drive back home.
So we came up with rating system 1-5 (1 never again- 5 Wonderful, *1 need fresh start), Food – *1
Service – 4
Environment – 4
Clean 4
Our bill with no discount/coupon $21.02 and tip $5.00. Waitress was great.