danajohnhill.org | Hard Times Come Again No More

First and foremost, congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Clay on their nuptials – may they enjoy a long and happy life together.

Our weekend in Ormond Beach for their wedding was full of fun with friends.  We drove down on Friday afternoon, making a detour to Orlando to pick up some skates for Miriam.  Traffic on I-4 was miserable, and I cannot believe that people choose to live in that city.  We arrived at our hotel after dark, starving.  Jeff, Sandi and Burt were still an hour and a half away, but we managed to suppress our hunger until they could join us for dinner at Uno, across from Daytona International Motor Speedway, where they were holding some sort of race this weekend.  In fact, the NASCAR engines were loud, and audible across the entire city.

The room situation at the hotel didn’t turn out exactly as we’d planned.  There were supposed to be two rooms, each with a double bed, plus a fold-out couch.  Alas, there was one king bed in a room, a fold-out couch and a separate folding bed.  Sandi slept on the floor.  It was disappointing to all.  But the view from the eighth floor–they called our room “the penthouse”–was nice, and the Atlantic Ocean was roaring and covered in foam.

It was such a pleasure to see Burt again.  I always have a good time when he’s around, since, even if nothing particularly fun is happening, there’s still plenty to talk about; he knows a lot about every conceivable thing.  I cannot wait until our trip to Chicago.

We had meals together at several local establishments, like the aforementioned Uno, plus the International House of Pancakes, where I struggled to get my money’s worth of all-you-can-eat pancakes.  The morning after the wedding we all convened at Berties for brunch.  The waitress emphasized the long wait, but the food was good.  It was kind of special to see the bride and groom, since, in general, it’s a sign of your status as true friend to have newlyweds spend their honeymoon, in part, with you.  We also did some joy riding on the beach, and spent plenty of time lounging in the room, watching videos on YouTube and looking out at the sea.  I put my feet in the Ocean and Jeff fed seagulls.

The wedding itself was smallish, with mostly family and close friends.  I was asked to be an usher, a job for which I had no previous experience.  But there didn’t seem to be any disasters, so, all’s well.  Kathleen cleverly matched her red sweater to the curtains in the room where the reception was held, and Steve looked like a million bucks in a smart brown suit which I covet.   The music was good, as one would expect from Steve.  Their vows were nice, and the music Kathleen walked down the aisle to was a pretty choice, and a cute arrangement.  There was food aplenty at the reception, and much was made of a painting hanging in the room behind the wedding cake, which was delicious.  The photographers set up a room for guests to take pictures, and we naturally made fools of ourselves.  Steve’s parents are exactly the same as they ever were.  It’s a relief to see something stable in this world.  It was also a pleasure to see Dan and Heather and Shannon and Andrew, whom we call “Shandrew”.

That’s a very basic recapitulation of the weekend.  The photos tell the story as well as I can.  Again, huzzah, Steve and Kathleen!

Filed under: Food, Friends, General, Special Occasions, Travel on January 29th, 2008