January 2021, deep pandemic, Nashville, TN. Like a beam of light in dating darkness, Caroline's friend Caroline shares her online courtship wisdom and swipes right on a tall, handsome, mysterious man from Dallas. A handful of messages later, Beau wins the International Award for Boldest First Move and offers to "fire up his small plane and fly to Nashville" for an in-person meeting. Caroline M is skeptical but bolstered by Caroline RW's encouragement. There's only one problem: where to meet? We're still two months away from the first vaccines, and restaurants are not an option. Beau ends up landing shortly after sunset, and a walk in a park in the dark with a relative stranger doesn't seem like the best idea. Cue friends Josh, Quin, and their big front porch complete with heat lamps and blankets. After six hours of lively conversation, six-feet apart, in near-freezing temps, Beau and Caroline decide to see each other again...

In the earliest days of our text exchange, pre-Nashville porch meeting, we engaged in the usual, somewhat awkward small talk: "Where are you from?" Caroline asked. "I grew up all over, but I consider New Orleans the closest thing to home," Beau answered. The hook was set. Caroline grew up visiting her family in New Orleans and considered Mardi Gras, brass bands, and cajun magic part of her identity. Beau caught the Big Easy bug early when his family moved to New Orleans for his dad's dental residency at LSU. No matter where in the world they moved after those two years, Beau always came home to the Crescent City, where his sister and parents now live again. It made sense, then, that our second date would find us in New Orleans. Valentine's Day 2021. Caroline drove down from Nashville, and Beau caught the last commercial flight out of Dallas before an epic ice storm brought Texas to its knees. Caroline's cousins, Ginger and Will, lent us their home, Godfather Tim hosted a cautious COVID Mardi Gras party, we confirmed our Nashville suspicions that this was the real deal, and the rest is history.