A Wedding in the Family/A Day in North Carolina
When you arrive at a breakfast restaurant with your entire familyful of aunts and uncles, totaling a dozen people, don’t expect to be seated immediate if you haven’t contacted the place ahead of time. It’s going to take a while for enough tables to open up that can be pushed together. That was our situation this morning, the beginning of a full hangout day until the 6pm wedding. Excepting Aunt Margaret, it was a plenary session for the aunts and uncles (I wish English had a single genderless word for ‘aunts and uncles’ like we have with parents, siblings, children). As planned, Bethany and I drank the heck out of a whole bunch of coffee, or something resembling coffee in color, but not so much in taste of caffeine content. I had two pork chops for breakfast (I know, right?) and the biscuits were outstanding. Supposedly we’re going back there tomorrow for breakfast again.
After leaving there and coming back to the hotel, half the family decided to drive out to Brad and Lynn’s house while we had the free time. They live out in the country a ways back from the road among the trees and rolling hills. The view from the sunroom is similar to the view from Aunt Margaret’s living room, overlooking a green vista. The cattle were hiding somewhere. Our visit was brief because trouble was brewing on the home front. Wedding preparations had been much more stressful and time consuming than they had any right to be and having us at her house when she got home would have been the final straw for Lynn who was in bad need of some down time. We split.
After a drive-by to see Erin’s house where we ran into Joel and the wedding party, Bethany joined us to go looking for more coffee (you know, real stuff with caffeine). Joel’s only recommendation was for some Jesus-based placed that was five minutes from closing when we arrived. A block away was a pizza place/ale house with an awning specifically calling out coffee and espresso drinks. We went in and exploited the wifi, sipping on cappuccinos and splitting a piece of cheesecake and a piece of tiramisu.
Leaving there on a different road than the one we took to Lynn’s meant I missed the turn and ended up several miles past where we wanted to be. That was soon remedied and we got back to the hotel to snooze, flip between Olympic events, then get changed for the wedding. Two vans carried everyone there. The Kuhlman, Linebaugh, Bethany and me van took a detour to Wal-Mart to pick up Uncle Jim’s forgotten wallet with his credit cards. Oops.
The vineyard was hot, the wedding ceremony set up under the full fury of the sun. Not long after we arrived, it began. Although not as noticeable once the bridesmaids and groomsmen took their places on opposing sides, the paired couples walking down the aisle looked absurd. It appears that Erin, the bride, has only short to very short friends and family while Joel, the groom, has only far above average height guys in his posse. It’s no exaggeration to say that one or two of them were very close to 7’ tall. Erin had a least one lady who was closer to 4’ than 5’ tall. Design wise it looked very sharp - two pairs of three colors of dresses, lined up in sequence on the left with the same tone echoed in the men’s ties paired with black shirts, pants, and waistcoats on the right. The groom wore a white tie and waistcoat over black. Erin looked chic and svelte in her tastefully cut white dress.
It was a concise wedding which was some relief because the heat was so stifling. Everyone except the bride was sweating, the farther of the bride profusely. Aside from the head it was a very tranquil setting.
The wedding ceremony was followed immediate by a meal served outdoors under a pavilion with additional tables outside in the sun. Bethany and I ended up at one of the additional tables, but then went on a mission to find a bathroom before eating.
The bathrooms were inside a house that had been converted into a tasting room and bottle shop. Finding respite from the heat in the air conditioning, we stayed to chat with one of the vintners and see if there was anything we might like to try. All the people working there were friendly enough, though slightly more restrained than one might expect. I was asking questions about the wines and the vineyard and normally a wine maker would jump at the opportunity to discuss his product. Instead he gave me short answers and didn’t try to sell me on anything. Maybe wine geekdom that I’ve seen in New York, Washington, and California has yet to infect North Carolina. We were given a map of dozens of vineyards in the area and it certainly appears that this state is working to be a wine producer. A bit more prodding warmed them up and by the time we headed back outside for dinner I’d learned one of the gals working there moved from Spokane and is a student at Johnson and Wales, but no in culinary arts as you might expect.
Aunt Judy had won the battle and moved inside to a covered table while we were away. All the other seats were claimed there, leaving Bethany and me to eat our brisket, macaroni, green beans, and potatoes alone in the sun. Chicken was another choice and served in large half-bird portions. I saw several plates with enough uneaten meat for two more meals.
After eating I began to make my rounds, chatting with Mark and Gail for a while, then with the newlyweds who failed to invite a sufficient number of single lady friends. I finally had a chance to sit down and chat with Neal, who I see even less frequently than the rest of my cousins, and get properly introduced to his wife Yifat. He told me about living in Minneapolis and his motorcycles and work. I also finally got to sit down with Aunt Margaret and chat. Even after we moved from under the roof to outside to beat the heat, the music was so loud and I was positioned directly in front of both speakers so it was a great strain to hear Aunt Margaret’s voice.
All the other old folks had gone back to the hotel without us so they could crawl into bed at 10pm, I suppose. Bethany and I, ever the life of the party, hitched a ride home with Gail and Margaret only to find my key wouldn’t open the hotel room door. It wasn’t particularly late yet and Dad answered when I called, then let us in the room. Having not heard from Bethany, I can only assume she succeeded in making it into her room.
Tomorrow morning after breakfast, we’ll head north towards Winston to get some face time with John Wait. He rang me this morning, perplexed about what I could possibly be doing in Albermarle. He also reminded me I haven’t seen him in five years and I reminded him I’d never met his children. Seeing me is sufficient reason for him to skip church and I’m highly looking forward to catching up. If I could just fit Stephen into this trip, it would be a nearly complete high school reunion tour. I guess that probably isn’t going to happen anytime soon. Stay tuned for more tomorrow after our very long drive home.
After leaving there and coming back to the hotel, half the family decided to drive out to Brad and Lynn’s house while we had the free time. They live out in the country a ways back from the road among the trees and rolling hills. The view from the sunroom is similar to the view from Aunt Margaret’s living room, overlooking a green vista. The cattle were hiding somewhere. Our visit was brief because trouble was brewing on the home front. Wedding preparations had been much more stressful and time consuming than they had any right to be and having us at her house when she got home would have been the final straw for Lynn who was in bad need of some down time. We split.
After a drive-by to see Erin’s house where we ran into Joel and the wedding party, Bethany joined us to go looking for more coffee (you know, real stuff with caffeine). Joel’s only recommendation was for some Jesus-based placed that was five minutes from closing when we arrived. A block away was a pizza place/ale house with an awning specifically calling out coffee and espresso drinks. We went in and exploited the wifi, sipping on cappuccinos and splitting a piece of cheesecake and a piece of tiramisu.
Leaving there on a different road than the one we took to Lynn’s meant I missed the turn and ended up several miles past where we wanted to be. That was soon remedied and we got back to the hotel to snooze, flip between Olympic events, then get changed for the wedding. Two vans carried everyone there. The Kuhlman, Linebaugh, Bethany and me van took a detour to Wal-Mart to pick up Uncle Jim’s forgotten wallet with his credit cards. Oops.
The vineyard was hot, the wedding ceremony set up under the full fury of the sun. Not long after we arrived, it began. Although not as noticeable once the bridesmaids and groomsmen took their places on opposing sides, the paired couples walking down the aisle looked absurd. It appears that Erin, the bride, has only short to very short friends and family while Joel, the groom, has only far above average height guys in his posse. It’s no exaggeration to say that one or two of them were very close to 7’ tall. Erin had a least one lady who was closer to 4’ than 5’ tall. Design wise it looked very sharp - two pairs of three colors of dresses, lined up in sequence on the left with the same tone echoed in the men’s ties paired with black shirts, pants, and waistcoats on the right. The groom wore a white tie and waistcoat over black. Erin looked chic and svelte in her tastefully cut white dress.
It was a concise wedding which was some relief because the heat was so stifling. Everyone except the bride was sweating, the farther of the bride profusely. Aside from the head it was a very tranquil setting.
The wedding ceremony was followed immediate by a meal served outdoors under a pavilion with additional tables outside in the sun. Bethany and I ended up at one of the additional tables, but then went on a mission to find a bathroom before eating.
The bathrooms were inside a house that had been converted into a tasting room and bottle shop. Finding respite from the heat in the air conditioning, we stayed to chat with one of the vintners and see if there was anything we might like to try. All the people working there were friendly enough, though slightly more restrained than one might expect. I was asking questions about the wines and the vineyard and normally a wine maker would jump at the opportunity to discuss his product. Instead he gave me short answers and didn’t try to sell me on anything. Maybe wine geekdom that I’ve seen in New York, Washington, and California has yet to infect North Carolina. We were given a map of dozens of vineyards in the area and it certainly appears that this state is working to be a wine producer. A bit more prodding warmed them up and by the time we headed back outside for dinner I’d learned one of the gals working there moved from Spokane and is a student at Johnson and Wales, but no in culinary arts as you might expect.
Aunt Judy had won the battle and moved inside to a covered table while we were away. All the other seats were claimed there, leaving Bethany and me to eat our brisket, macaroni, green beans, and potatoes alone in the sun. Chicken was another choice and served in large half-bird portions. I saw several plates with enough uneaten meat for two more meals.
After eating I began to make my rounds, chatting with Mark and Gail for a while, then with the newlyweds who failed to invite a sufficient number of single lady friends. I finally had a chance to sit down and chat with Neal, who I see even less frequently than the rest of my cousins, and get properly introduced to his wife Yifat. He told me about living in Minneapolis and his motorcycles and work. I also finally got to sit down with Aunt Margaret and chat. Even after we moved from under the roof to outside to beat the heat, the music was so loud and I was positioned directly in front of both speakers so it was a great strain to hear Aunt Margaret’s voice.
All the other old folks had gone back to the hotel without us so they could crawl into bed at 10pm, I suppose. Bethany and I, ever the life of the party, hitched a ride home with Gail and Margaret only to find my key wouldn’t open the hotel room door. It wasn’t particularly late yet and Dad answered when I called, then let us in the room. Having not heard from Bethany, I can only assume she succeeded in making it into her room.
Tomorrow morning after breakfast, we’ll head north towards Winston to get some face time with John Wait. He rang me this morning, perplexed about what I could possibly be doing in Albermarle. He also reminded me I haven’t seen him in five years and I reminded him I’d never met his children. Seeing me is sufficient reason for him to skip church and I’m highly looking forward to catching up. If I could just fit Stephen into this trip, it would be a nearly complete high school reunion tour. I guess that probably isn’t going to happen anytime soon. Stay tuned for more tomorrow after our very long drive home.