RAD: Moondoggie in These Foolish Things

Name: Moondoggie

Introduction Platform: No platform, this was a pure and natural meet-cute! This is the guy I met at his coffee shop/cafe on the lake where I sometimes like to hang out. His dog (turns out he was dog-sitting for his daughter) wanted to say hello to my dog and he and I got to talking. He OWNS that little coffee shop/cafe!

Age: 63

Relationship Status: Divorced for a long time (I think he said in 2008?), three grown children in their 30s, 2 grands. Not sure about recent relationships

Lives: further out from downtown than I thought, but still close enough

Length of Date: 3.5 hours

We Did: He also owns the boat rental place at the dock right off of the coffee shop! So on the day we met, he’d taken me to the dock to show me the boats and said I should go for a boat ride sometime. As it turns out, he took me for that ride! It was so, so, so much freaking fun! It was early evening and the weather was absolutely phenomenal - like, perfect spring weather with a little breeze that got a little chilly the darker it got. Yes…we had a sunset sail and we followed the skyline and watched it sparkle. He’d packed a little cooler with sparkling water, some wine (for himself), cheese and crackers and some figs. Amazing! I can’t tell you how much I’d been wanting to see the city by boat. It was nearly perfect. Oh! And Martini was with us…which made it even that much closer to perfect!

He Looked: Super casual in a tee shirt, denim shorts,and boat shoes. He’s very, very handsome and fit…runs ultra marathons. But he’s also much, much shorter and smaller than I am.

I Looked: I knew we were going to have a cute, kinda retro boating experience. So I wore a sleeveless dress with a short, full skirt and my signature hat. Platform sneakers. We both had on aviator sunglasses. Martini was naked.

Convo: Lots of good, getting-to-know-you conversations. He told me that his wife left him and the kids…abandoned them…when the kids were young teenagers. So he raised two girls and a boy by himself. They are VERY close-knit. He asked me about my past love life and I ended up telling him about my two engagements. We are both kinda midwestern people and we have some things in common, but the conversation didn’t feel as magical as the boat experience. I felt weird about how much info I gave him, and I wasn’t even drinking!

High Point: Literally everything about being on that fun little retro boat…from waving to the kayakers and other boaters to seeing the skyline as the sun set to the cool-ish breeze.

Low Point: Do you ever meet someone and think…hmmm…that little quirk might just drive me insane? Well, this guy whistles when he says his “s”s. And not in a sexy Matthew McConaughey way. And as he talked and talked, he whistled and whistled and I bristled ever so slightly. I know, I KNOW, it seems like I’m trying to find something wrong with this guy. And maybe I am. But ugh. I don’t know. That whistle. That, and I like my guys BIGGER. I suck.

How It Ended: We made our way back to the dock and he spent some time getting the boat all put back together while I took the dog for her potty break. He walked me to my car in the special parking lot and we hugged it out. He said he had a fantastic time and I did too (I honestly did - it was a MAGICAL evening thanks to him and his little boat), and also said he’s going to be in town for the next couple of weeks. I said I’m around…

Chances Are: If he asks me out again, I’ll go. Yes. Because he is suuuuuch a great person to know!

Date Rating: B-