Road Trip

Mom and I ventured out to the Island yesterday for a family wedding. One of my cousins was getting married so there were all the standard festivities: ceremony and reception. And because it's about a three hour trip one way (on a good day) and it's during peak vacation season, we opted to take a room out there.

The key here was to avoid beach traffic so we left early. Don't people work? We made a quick stop at the National Cemetery to check on her grandparents' grave. She wanted to make sure her grandmother's name was etched into the stone. I'm happy to report the gravestone was as it should be and the caretakers are tending to the place. The only disturbing part was that there was a huge sunken area in front of my great-grandfather’s graver that spanned at least 2 spaces. The indentation was too perfect to be random settling. Needless to say I was nervous about walking on the grass. And Mom took pictures. Whatever makes her happy, right?

Even with that quick stop, we made it to the church with about 2 hours to spare. So we drove up and down one of the famous roadways looking for food. We settled on getting bagels from the grocery store because the reception wasn't until 7 PM and I really needed something to hold me over until then.

The ceremony was lovely and maybe a little longer than usual. So even though we thought we'd have a ton of time between the church and the reception, there really wasn't.

My Dad's older brother ended up staying at the same hotel so the plan was for him to follow us there. Well when Mom forgot the take the first turn 50 feet away from the church, he took the lead. The funny part was that we made it to the motel without further incident while my Aunt sent them in the wrong direction. And to make it even kookier, they were put in an adjoining room. There was one of those connecting doors but we couldn’t get it open.

The good news was that the place was nicer than the last hotel we stayed at but not by much. The linens were clean which is more than I can say about the last place but this motel probably hadn't seen a renovation in awhile. Fortunately the hotel was within 2 miles of the reception. What can you expect for $125 a night during peak season near the beach right?

The reception was great. The food was amazing. I could have been full just from the cocktail hour. The main hall was freezing. Thank goodness I brought a sweater. Mom and I sat with my father's sisters and one of his brothers. We ate. We danced. We had a lovely time. Maybe the music could have been a touch lower. Geeze, I'm getting old.

By 11:30 we were really to call it a night and we scurried off to bed. We got up fairly early the next day to make the long trek back. We thought about stopping at the little aquarium up the street from the hotel but we were afraid of getting stuck in beach traffic. We made great time home even with a stop to see my Mom's Aunt.

A good time was had by all. I wish the happy couple the best and it was great to see everyone. I'm happy that I took Thursday off otherwise I wouldn't have been ready for this adventure on time.

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