IE,
I don't know if you found those posts about first AA meetings, but I'll give them to you. First, check out this page that tells you
what to expect at your first AA meeting. Each meeting is a little bit different, has its own "flavor", but this will give you a pretty good idea.
We've had a couple of members who recently went to their first meeting, and are pretty well sold on AA. Here are their threads:
mama36 and
SweetCityWoman.
As far as "what to tell the babysitter," you could always tell her you're going to your "book club." (Lol, well, we DO have the Big Book, right?) I also suggest you buy a Big Book as soon as possible. Most meetings have them for sale--$7.25 for hardcover (I'm the literature rep for my home groups). Till then, here's a link for the
Big Book online. The first 164 pages are the AA program, and the latter part are personal stories of sobriety.
I think this will be the best thing you could ever do for yourself.