Last week my wife and I celebrated 8 years of marriage. Our plan was to have our daughter spend a night or two with her grandparents while we went away. Nothing fancy, just a night or two at a bed and breakfast about an hour away.

We both filed the necessary requests with our employers and scheduled time away. As the date of our anniversary approached, things changed and getting away for a couple of days no longer looked promising. We wound up scrapping the idea and planned a little staycation instead.

With our daughter on the school bus, on her way to Kindergarten, we set off for a little walk around the development. Between school, soccer, church choir, and our own work schedules, we don’t get to spend a whole lot of quiet time together.

As we set off, I slipped a Hererra Esteli out of my pocket and began the lighting process. Since moving from our previous home last year, I’ve been doing much more smoking outside in the elements. Often times it is out on the deck with a table and all my gear laid out in front of me. Let me tell you, walking, talking, and trying to toast and light a cigar while shielding the flame from the wind isn’t the easiest thing to do.

My wife and I covered a little more than two miles before we made it back to our house. My Hererra Esteli performed beautifully and had plenty of life left in it. Rather then cut it short, I suggested we go for a little drive and pick up some odds and ends from the store.

I continued smoking in my car and when we arrived at the store, I still had a fair amount of cigar left. Fortunately the store wasn’t open yet so we went on a short walk to Starbucks to pick up some coffee and kill time.

While the Hererra Esteli was a wonderful smoke up to this point, it came alive with some dark roast coffee. The earthy and nutty tones of the cigar were amplified by the nuts and slight bitterness of the coffee. After the smoke was expelled, waves of butter and spice washed over the palate and made a good experience outstanding.

I’ve been working hard at building strength and reducing weight over the past few months. A lot of my free time, which I don’t get much of these days, is spent in the gym. Taking a walk with a cigar, while enjoying the company of my wife, was a nice way to passively burn some calories. With the weather turning cold here in Pennsylvania I don’t know how many more walks I’ll be taking but I hope to to be joined by my wife while I puff away on a cigar.