15 MINUTES OR LESS

Last week, my wife and I and my parents were all set to go out to dinner and to see Dancing in the Dark at the Old Globe theatre. We had tickets for a 7pm show and a baby sitter coming at 4:30 pm. But by around 2pm, we still needed dinner reservations.

So I heard that the melting pot is tons of fun. I called and landed a 5:15 reservation. Score!!!

I discovered it is a blast to go to the melting pot. Very cool and so worth the flow- even though it's a little pricey. Cooking your food at the table in vegetable broth and the appetizers and stuff was very worth repeating.

However, it is not something you can do in an hour and a half. It is basically an event in itself and should be given like 2 1/2 hours for the 4 course meal . So needless to say, at 6:35pm, realizing we were not going to finish our food (or even dream about the chocolate fondue desert- bummer), we dumped the remaining meat in the pot to cook, I bolted to go get the valet to get our car. Our tickets had a note on them that said they do not allow any late arrivals. So, since we could not afford to lose our tickets- which cost more than the meal- we then sprinted for the theater in our "zippy car". Mapquest says it's an 18 minute drive, I made it in 14. I think I may have left Jesus somewhere in the process.


I dropped my family off at the front door and went in search of a parking space- which at Balboa park is like a half mile away. I then began a sprint for the door and walked in just as the attendant was literally closing it. I felt like I was walking onto an airplane as the door was closing. So crazy. So fun. Too fast. Next fancy date I'm taking a whole day and I say the show should start at 8pm.