At this point, it's my duty to discuss this weekend's festivities. But before all that happens, I am sitting here watching Kevin Smith's great Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back on Comedy Central. There was just a commercial for a talk show on TV Land starring Alf. Yeah, a fictional character is having his own talk show on TV Land. I suppose it will be similar to Martin Short as Jiminy Glick (Primetime Glick), so maybe I just might try and see it. Or better yet, I won't.
So, Nikolas and Lacy were married this weekend. I shall attempt to describe how things went day-by-day.
The Continental Flight/Wedding Rehearsal/Rehearsal Dinner
Nick and I drove to Meaghan's house up in the Heights to pick her up. We proceeded to Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport and hopped on the flight to Washington DC's Reagan National Airport. Remarkably we arrived 25 minutes ahead of schedule, which was perfect timing. We left the airport and hopped on the Metro (DC's subway system) which took us directly to the Hilton Hotel in Alexandria, Virginia (south of DC). We quickly put our stuff in the rooms and headed to the lobby where everyone was waiting. We traveled en masse to one of Robert E. Lee's old houses to have the wedding rehearsal. The little house was very beautiful and the wedding was scheduled to take place in the back yard. We were instructed as to how the wedding would take place, where people should stand, who walks where, how fast you breathe, the extension of pi to 600 digits, and how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop. After the rehearsal, we went to the rehearsal dinner at a wonderful Tappas restaurant. I have forgotten the name of the place, but if you don't know what tappas means then go look it up. Just kidding. It basically means that all of the meal is brought out in appetizer sizes, and everyone gets to sample a bit of everything. On top of that, they brought out pitchers of sangria. Yeah, we drank pitchers of sangria. It's probably not appropriate to discuss how many glasses I put down, but I suppose it wouldn't be a stretch to say I may have needed more than one pitcher. The dinner was absolutely wonderful as well as the atmosphere. I sat at a table with Jeff, Adam, and made two new friends Caroline and John. Caroline is currently getting her masters in public health in the same program as Lacy. John is the cool boyfriend who used to wrestle and now works with wireless telephone technologies. I must say our table was very social and very enjoyable. Nick and Lacy gave the wedding party presents which consisted of martini utensils and a lovely ice bowl from Crate and Barrel. I have placed these items with my current martini materials and now have a complete set. I can't wait to have a wet bar at my condo for residency. It probably will be a very nice little place. So the first leg of the weekend was a complete success. Would it be hard to get any better? Oh yes it would.
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Adam's Morgan Night of Drinking
After we finished the dinner, we all went back to the hotel to prepare for that evening's festivities. The best man, Sean Glass, apparently treated Nick to a bachelor party the weekend before, but no one else was there so we decided to attempt and have our own mini bachelor party. The whole Texas Group accompanied Nick to an area of Washington DC called Adam's Morgan, which is like an Addison (near Dallas) or maybe something like the Galleria area of Houston. The centerpiece is the street we were on similar to 6th street in Austin. The first place we attended was called Madam's Organ (notice the pun on Adam's Morgan). We went directly upstairs and proceeded to sweat our fat asses off. Literally. It was an absolute sauna up there. So we got our drinks and went downstairs to continue the drinking. Downstairs was much better so we stayed for a bit and enjoyed some good conversation and discussion. I probably should introduce you to "The Texas Group" and how everyone knows everyone. We consisted of former Aggies and former Longhorns. Meaghan (lawyer) and I (doctor) now live in Houston; Jeff (park ranger) in New Mexico; Adam (chef/waiter), Margaret (engineer), and Chris in Dallas, and Nick (groom) in Virginia. I obviously know Adam, Jeff, and Nick from Texas A&M. I met Lacy through a friend in Fish Club, who introduced me to Meaghan and Margaret at the University of Texas my sophomore year. Lacy, Meaghan, and Margaret are from Huntsville. After meeting them I introduced Lacy to Nikolas (my roommate at the time), several years passed, and now we can continue with this wedding recap. After Madam's Organ, we went to a place called Heaven and Hell. The upstairs part (Heaven) was decorated with black lights and neon, and the music was sort of yuppie techno dance stuff. The downstairs part (Hell) was decorated with red lights, and the music was bump and grind rap. Ironically, not only was the decor and music separated but also the races. It seemed a lot of the White folks were upstairs dancing in Heaven and a lot of the Black folks were downstairs movin' in Hell. Of course this was totally due to the music being played in each venue, but it was interesting observation none the less. Oh, also of note was the middle floor, a bar called Purgatory. So we went to all three places, drank some more, and then it was 0300 and last call. We left the bar and navigated the immense crowds of people along the street. We stopped at a fine eatery called "The Diner" where the line went out the door into the street. We waited 30 minutes to get in, but the food was good, and again good conversation was had by all. After dinner, it was time for a cab ride back to Alexandria, because the subway stopped running at 0300. Ironically Crazy Chris suggested that the seven of us pile into one cab, which we then did. Funny thing about the cab ride is that in Washington DC, the drivers don't have meters...they have zones. Of course we were all drunk and didn't have a clue, so halfway home we asked how much the ride would run us. The driver said about $90. To this we gulped and went back to our previous mindless conversation. About 3/4 of the way home we told the driver not to expect his $90, so he suggested $40 which we accepted. I think we ended up giving him $55, which was very reasonable for 7 people driving illegally in one cab. After that we pretty much stayed up until 0630 or so. I do recall the sun was already up when I finally fell asleep. There are all sort of other indiscretions to discuss, but I can only tell you about it if you e-mail me. Later that day would be a trip into town, the wedding, and the reception.
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Enjoying Our Nation's Capitol
With grand expectations of going into town and seeing every sight possible, the day started around 11:30 AM. Thankfully I was not hung over in any way, so getting up was only difficult due to sleep deprivation. We got things rolling by noon by eating at Joe Theisman's restaurant directly across the street from the hotel. I had a Swiss mushroom burger and tea, recommended by the waiter. Adam had a chicken salad and tea. We finished quickly and headed back to the hotel to meet Nick to go pick up my tux from Men's Warehouse. We drove to the store, and I tried the tux on only to discover that the vest was too small. So, yet another wedding was screwed up by a wardrobe malfunction (at Cory's wedding, my tux had four buttons and everyone else's had two...but at least I got the rental free). So I mentally prepared myself to suck it in for a few hours, put the tux into the car, and headed to the Capitol. Nick dropped Margaret, Meaghan, and I off at the Washington Monument, which is absolutely breathtaking. It's such a great symbol of power, reaching up to touch the heavens. It reminds me of the Williams Building in the Galleria area of Houston. Maybe I could find a picture of it. Apparently, people still can't go into the tower since 9/11, so we just sort of looked at the thing and took pictures. Anyway, the area surrounding the monument is under construction, so we walked all the way around it to arrive at the World War II Memorial, just recently completed. The WWII Memorial is beautiful. It has two big fountains inside a big pool. Each state has an arch which surrounds the pool. The Washington Monument is in the background, making for a wonderful display. I was very impressed. I took pictures of Iowa and Minnesota, but people were surrounding Texas, so I missed that one. Then we walked near a nice little park/pond area on the way to the Vietnam Memorial, which was under construction. It is a very somber place, but beautiful. The geometrically right triangular wall just stands there in tribute as it gets taller and taller, with the thousands of names inscribed. It is very sad and makes one wonder if our presence in Vietnam truly helped stop the spread of communism throughout the world. Even if it didn't, I continuously respect and admire all who have died in wars defending the American way of life. The experience really moved me. Then we headed over to the Lincoln Memorial, with the big statue and the huge pool with the Washington Monument in the background. The Lincoln Statue reminds me of an episode of The Simpson’s where Lisa wins an essay contest about America but is tarnished by the corrupt congressman she overhears accepting bribes from lobbyists. But everything turns out ok in the cartoon; however, I wonder if that's accurate in real life. So then after you look at President Lincoln, you turn around and there is the big pool where Dr. King made his big speech and also where Forrest Gump makes his speech. It's quite breathtaking actually. I took a picture of it which is among my very favorite photos. So we finished all that, hopped in a cab, and went back to the hotel to prepare for the wedding.
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The Wedding
The groomsmen arrived at the wedding site around 4:20 to set the thing up. We did all the chairs (pictures included), tables, and set out bottles of water in tubs of ice for the guests. Then we headed up to Robert E. Lee's house to change and cool off. I wasn't quite soaked before the wedding, which was nice. But about 15 minutes into it, I was certainly feeling some intense moisture. The ceremony was very nice. The yard was pretty, the guests seemed very happy and interested, and I pretty much made jokes with Jeff the entire ceremony. However, let's preface that by saying I didn't miss any of the speaking, vows, important stuff, et cetera...but I did have my usual fun time making silly comments and the occasional stupid face at Adam in the second row. Plus it seemed as if World War III was happening on the street next to the wedding: two fire trucks screamed by, some Harleys roared by, and there was a lot of general commotion on the street. That in addition to the preacher's soft voice made it difficult to hear the ceremony. But it was very nice, with a lovely string duo, and a singer who is Lacy's work-out partner. The vows were spectacular, and Jeff even said he got teary-eyed when Lacy gave hers to Nick, which she had completely memorized. So, it was an A+ wedding through and through. After that we took some more pictures and went back to the hotel ready for some serious drinking and dancing.
The Reception
The Reception was held at the Hilton's huge conference room. Before that, the wedding party and family had a brief cocktail and hors d'oeuvres in a private room. There were crab cakes (no not lump crab), champagne, beer, and wine for all. After we did that, the reception began. The wedding party got a nice introduction, and then Sean (the best man) kicked things off with a nice story about Nick that even made everyone laugh. Jeff and I didn't speak about Nick, which I sort of regret now. But I think Sean did a sufficient job, and really all I would have done is make fun of Nick, and then add the whole "but he's a wonderful person and the best roommate I could have ever during my four years of college" sappy bullshit. Actually, none of it would have been bullshit, as I really consider Nick a great friend of mine. We spent our entire college careers together, the good, the bad, and everything in between. Yette mentioned how similar her family was with mine, which is entirely true. Nick and I are the same age, Carolyn and Kristine are the same age, and both our sets of parents are happily married with wonderful families. What a blessing to end up with Nick, totally by chance, by the way. I also have very strong feelings for Lacy, who was one of the first people I met my sophomore year. She always impressed me with her intelligence, charm, and beauty, and it turns out that her roommate (who was my little sis in Aggie Fish Club) really only remained my friend about a year while Lacy continues to be my buddy today. So let's end this mush-session by saying that I really love these two people, and I can't be happier that they are married and will spend many, many wonderful and successful years together. (There, that would have been my wedding speech. Maybe I should e-mail this to the wedding guests to make up for it.) So the reception went according to plan, with LOTS of drinking and even some dancing on my part. Actually, I hardly danced at Cory's wedding, while at Nick's I went ape-shit out there. I was absolutely drenched by the end of the night, which means I got my money's worth. Of note, I remember Adam singing "Sweet Caroline" with Neil Diamond; Lacy's singer friend was the best dancer on the floor; the food was good; the beer was free (for me); I danced with Yette but not Hans, Nick, Adam, or Jeff (thank God); the music was very generational and appropriate for a wedding; and a great time was had by all. Hurray!
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After the Reception
So after the reception, everyone basically headed back to our room (apparently the official meeting room of the group) to decide what was next. I was invited to and Irish bar called Murphy’s with some of the local DC guests, but no one was interested in joining me. So Crazy Chris and I took a cab to the bar and drank for the 35 minutes until it closed. I remember drinking Black and Tan's and singing "One" by U2 with the live one-man band. Afterwards, Crazy Chris, myself, and a guy named Ross? drove into Georgetown, which is a yuppie part of DC to have a bite to eat. I haven't told you about Chris. Basically this guy is a high school friend of Nick's who came up to PARTY. Every wedding has a guy like this; he was totally out of control. But I must say he did have a great time and made the trip more lively. Plus, we were the only two to go out after the reception, so I have to respect that. Sober he was pretty cool, but drunk he was just kind of overboard...which I actually think every wedding requires. So cheers to Chris. The drive up was great, because we passed by the Iwo Jima memorial (you know the statue of soldiers putting up the American flag...which was inadvertently reproduced by the 9/11 New York City firemen). There was this great punk rock song CD we listened to which I can't recall now. I remember it was cranked up pretty loud, and we were jamming for sure. I'll e-mail the guy and find out what it was...stay tuned. We went to a nice 24-hour diner and sat next to 4 recent Georgetown Law grads getting ready for the Bar, and one Capitol Hill staffer. I just sat there and thought, there are the people that basically write our country's laws. They sort of reminded me of Janelle, who does that very thing for the State of Texas. We had some very good business and philosophy conversation, and finished with a cup of coffee. After that, we went back to the hotel and went to sleep. It was a perfect end to a perfect weekend.
Sunday, July 4th
We all got up early, because Jeff had a 10:00 AM flight. We sent him off, then got packed up to leave. Adam's flight was at 12:50, so we got brunch at the hotel (which wasn't all that bad for the price), and proceeded to say our good bye's. Everything was wrapped up nicely, and it was sort of sad to see everyone go their separate ways. The wedding was a complete success--one of the best I've ever been to. Meaghan and I hopped on the Metro and flew home, which arrived only 5 minutes late. Ryan was there to pick us up, and that ended the weekend. I went home and grilled a few burgers and sausage with Ryan, had a few beerskies, and drove to school to watch fireworks from the top of the Hermann Professional Building garage. Ryan and I were joined by Melissa, Nick, and Katie (Melissa's sister) and then also by a bunch of medical school friends including Erik Graham and Priscilla Saldivar with her daughter Natalie. From there you can see about 6 or 7 shows throughout the Houston area, but the best was at Memorial Park which was rather far away. The Hermann Park show was less than impressive and afterwards we all went home and called it a night.
>>View the PICTURES<<
So, Nikolas and Lacy were married this weekend. I shall attempt to describe how things went day-by-day.
The Continental Flight/Wedding Rehearsal/Rehearsal Dinner
Nick and I drove to Meaghan's house up in the Heights to pick her up. We proceeded to Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport and hopped on the flight to Washington DC's Reagan National Airport. Remarkably we arrived 25 minutes ahead of schedule, which was perfect timing. We left the airport and hopped on the Metro (DC's subway system) which took us directly to the Hilton Hotel in Alexandria, Virginia (south of DC). We quickly put our stuff in the rooms and headed to the lobby where everyone was waiting. We traveled en masse to one of Robert E. Lee's old houses to have the wedding rehearsal. The little house was very beautiful and the wedding was scheduled to take place in the back yard. We were instructed as to how the wedding would take place, where people should stand, who walks where, how fast you breathe, the extension of pi to 600 digits, and how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop. After the rehearsal, we went to the rehearsal dinner at a wonderful Tappas restaurant. I have forgotten the name of the place, but if you don't know what tappas means then go look it up. Just kidding. It basically means that all of the meal is brought out in appetizer sizes, and everyone gets to sample a bit of everything. On top of that, they brought out pitchers of sangria. Yeah, we drank pitchers of sangria. It's probably not appropriate to discuss how many glasses I put down, but I suppose it wouldn't be a stretch to say I may have needed more than one pitcher. The dinner was absolutely wonderful as well as the atmosphere. I sat at a table with Jeff, Adam, and made two new friends Caroline and John. Caroline is currently getting her masters in public health in the same program as Lacy. John is the cool boyfriend who used to wrestle and now works with wireless telephone technologies. I must say our table was very social and very enjoyable. Nick and Lacy gave the wedding party presents which consisted of martini utensils and a lovely ice bowl from Crate and Barrel. I have placed these items with my current martini materials and now have a complete set. I can't wait to have a wet bar at my condo for residency. It probably will be a very nice little place. So the first leg of the weekend was a complete success. Would it be hard to get any better? Oh yes it would.
>>View the PICTURES<<
Adam's Morgan Night of Drinking
After we finished the dinner, we all went back to the hotel to prepare for that evening's festivities. The best man, Sean Glass, apparently treated Nick to a bachelor party the weekend before, but no one else was there so we decided to attempt and have our own mini bachelor party. The whole Texas Group accompanied Nick to an area of Washington DC called Adam's Morgan, which is like an Addison (near Dallas) or maybe something like the Galleria area of Houston. The centerpiece is the street we were on similar to 6th street in Austin. The first place we attended was called Madam's Organ (notice the pun on Adam's Morgan). We went directly upstairs and proceeded to sweat our fat asses off. Literally. It was an absolute sauna up there. So we got our drinks and went downstairs to continue the drinking. Downstairs was much better so we stayed for a bit and enjoyed some good conversation and discussion. I probably should introduce you to "The Texas Group" and how everyone knows everyone. We consisted of former Aggies and former Longhorns. Meaghan (lawyer) and I (doctor) now live in Houston; Jeff (park ranger) in New Mexico; Adam (chef/waiter), Margaret (engineer), and Chris in Dallas, and Nick (groom) in Virginia. I obviously know Adam, Jeff, and Nick from Texas A&M. I met Lacy through a friend in Fish Club, who introduced me to Meaghan and Margaret at the University of Texas my sophomore year. Lacy, Meaghan, and Margaret are from Huntsville. After meeting them I introduced Lacy to Nikolas (my roommate at the time), several years passed, and now we can continue with this wedding recap. After Madam's Organ, we went to a place called Heaven and Hell. The upstairs part (Heaven) was decorated with black lights and neon, and the music was sort of yuppie techno dance stuff. The downstairs part (Hell) was decorated with red lights, and the music was bump and grind rap. Ironically, not only was the decor and music separated but also the races. It seemed a lot of the White folks were upstairs dancing in Heaven and a lot of the Black folks were downstairs movin' in Hell. Of course this was totally due to the music being played in each venue, but it was interesting observation none the less. Oh, also of note was the middle floor, a bar called Purgatory. So we went to all three places, drank some more, and then it was 0300 and last call. We left the bar and navigated the immense crowds of people along the street. We stopped at a fine eatery called "The Diner" where the line went out the door into the street. We waited 30 minutes to get in, but the food was good, and again good conversation was had by all. After dinner, it was time for a cab ride back to Alexandria, because the subway stopped running at 0300. Ironically Crazy Chris suggested that the seven of us pile into one cab, which we then did. Funny thing about the cab ride is that in Washington DC, the drivers don't have meters...they have zones. Of course we were all drunk and didn't have a clue, so halfway home we asked how much the ride would run us. The driver said about $90. To this we gulped and went back to our previous mindless conversation. About 3/4 of the way home we told the driver not to expect his $90, so he suggested $40 which we accepted. I think we ended up giving him $55, which was very reasonable for 7 people driving illegally in one cab. After that we pretty much stayed up until 0630 or so. I do recall the sun was already up when I finally fell asleep. There are all sort of other indiscretions to discuss, but I can only tell you about it if you e-mail me. Later that day would be a trip into town, the wedding, and the reception.
>>View the PICTURES<<
Enjoying Our Nation's Capitol
With grand expectations of going into town and seeing every sight possible, the day started around 11:30 AM. Thankfully I was not hung over in any way, so getting up was only difficult due to sleep deprivation. We got things rolling by noon by eating at Joe Theisman's restaurant directly across the street from the hotel. I had a Swiss mushroom burger and tea, recommended by the waiter. Adam had a chicken salad and tea. We finished quickly and headed back to the hotel to meet Nick to go pick up my tux from Men's Warehouse. We drove to the store, and I tried the tux on only to discover that the vest was too small. So, yet another wedding was screwed up by a wardrobe malfunction (at Cory's wedding, my tux had four buttons and everyone else's had two...but at least I got the rental free). So I mentally prepared myself to suck it in for a few hours, put the tux into the car, and headed to the Capitol. Nick dropped Margaret, Meaghan, and I off at the Washington Monument, which is absolutely breathtaking. It's such a great symbol of power, reaching up to touch the heavens. It reminds me of the Williams Building in the Galleria area of Houston. Maybe I could find a picture of it. Apparently, people still can't go into the tower since 9/11, so we just sort of looked at the thing and took pictures. Anyway, the area surrounding the monument is under construction, so we walked all the way around it to arrive at the World War II Memorial, just recently completed. The WWII Memorial is beautiful. It has two big fountains inside a big pool. Each state has an arch which surrounds the pool. The Washington Monument is in the background, making for a wonderful display. I was very impressed. I took pictures of Iowa and Minnesota, but people were surrounding Texas, so I missed that one. Then we walked near a nice little park/pond area on the way to the Vietnam Memorial, which was under construction. It is a very somber place, but beautiful. The geometrically right triangular wall just stands there in tribute as it gets taller and taller, with the thousands of names inscribed. It is very sad and makes one wonder if our presence in Vietnam truly helped stop the spread of communism throughout the world. Even if it didn't, I continuously respect and admire all who have died in wars defending the American way of life. The experience really moved me. Then we headed over to the Lincoln Memorial, with the big statue and the huge pool with the Washington Monument in the background. The Lincoln Statue reminds me of an episode of The Simpson’s where Lisa wins an essay contest about America but is tarnished by the corrupt congressman she overhears accepting bribes from lobbyists. But everything turns out ok in the cartoon; however, I wonder if that's accurate in real life. So then after you look at President Lincoln, you turn around and there is the big pool where Dr. King made his big speech and also where Forrest Gump makes his speech. It's quite breathtaking actually. I took a picture of it which is among my very favorite photos. So we finished all that, hopped in a cab, and went back to the hotel to prepare for the wedding.
>>View the PICTURES<<
The Wedding
The groomsmen arrived at the wedding site around 4:20 to set the thing up. We did all the chairs (pictures included), tables, and set out bottles of water in tubs of ice for the guests. Then we headed up to Robert E. Lee's house to change and cool off. I wasn't quite soaked before the wedding, which was nice. But about 15 minutes into it, I was certainly feeling some intense moisture. The ceremony was very nice. The yard was pretty, the guests seemed very happy and interested, and I pretty much made jokes with Jeff the entire ceremony. However, let's preface that by saying I didn't miss any of the speaking, vows, important stuff, et cetera...but I did have my usual fun time making silly comments and the occasional stupid face at Adam in the second row. Plus it seemed as if World War III was happening on the street next to the wedding: two fire trucks screamed by, some Harleys roared by, and there was a lot of general commotion on the street. That in addition to the preacher's soft voice made it difficult to hear the ceremony. But it was very nice, with a lovely string duo, and a singer who is Lacy's work-out partner. The vows were spectacular, and Jeff even said he got teary-eyed when Lacy gave hers to Nick, which she had completely memorized. So, it was an A+ wedding through and through. After that we took some more pictures and went back to the hotel ready for some serious drinking and dancing.
The Reception
The Reception was held at the Hilton's huge conference room. Before that, the wedding party and family had a brief cocktail and hors d'oeuvres in a private room. There were crab cakes (no not lump crab), champagne, beer, and wine for all. After we did that, the reception began. The wedding party got a nice introduction, and then Sean (the best man) kicked things off with a nice story about Nick that even made everyone laugh. Jeff and I didn't speak about Nick, which I sort of regret now. But I think Sean did a sufficient job, and really all I would have done is make fun of Nick, and then add the whole "but he's a wonderful person and the best roommate I could have ever during my four years of college" sappy bullshit. Actually, none of it would have been bullshit, as I really consider Nick a great friend of mine. We spent our entire college careers together, the good, the bad, and everything in between. Yette mentioned how similar her family was with mine, which is entirely true. Nick and I are the same age, Carolyn and Kristine are the same age, and both our sets of parents are happily married with wonderful families. What a blessing to end up with Nick, totally by chance, by the way. I also have very strong feelings for Lacy, who was one of the first people I met my sophomore year. She always impressed me with her intelligence, charm, and beauty, and it turns out that her roommate (who was my little sis in Aggie Fish Club) really only remained my friend about a year while Lacy continues to be my buddy today. So let's end this mush-session by saying that I really love these two people, and I can't be happier that they are married and will spend many, many wonderful and successful years together. (There, that would have been my wedding speech. Maybe I should e-mail this to the wedding guests to make up for it.) So the reception went according to plan, with LOTS of drinking and even some dancing on my part. Actually, I hardly danced at Cory's wedding, while at Nick's I went ape-shit out there. I was absolutely drenched by the end of the night, which means I got my money's worth. Of note, I remember Adam singing "Sweet Caroline" with Neil Diamond; Lacy's singer friend was the best dancer on the floor; the food was good; the beer was free (for me); I danced with Yette but not Hans, Nick, Adam, or Jeff (thank God); the music was very generational and appropriate for a wedding; and a great time was had by all. Hurray!
>>View the PICTURES<<
After the Reception
So after the reception, everyone basically headed back to our room (apparently the official meeting room of the group) to decide what was next. I was invited to and Irish bar called Murphy’s with some of the local DC guests, but no one was interested in joining me. So Crazy Chris and I took a cab to the bar and drank for the 35 minutes until it closed. I remember drinking Black and Tan's and singing "One" by U2 with the live one-man band. Afterwards, Crazy Chris, myself, and a guy named Ross? drove into Georgetown, which is a yuppie part of DC to have a bite to eat. I haven't told you about Chris. Basically this guy is a high school friend of Nick's who came up to PARTY. Every wedding has a guy like this; he was totally out of control. But I must say he did have a great time and made the trip more lively. Plus, we were the only two to go out after the reception, so I have to respect that. Sober he was pretty cool, but drunk he was just kind of overboard...which I actually think every wedding requires. So cheers to Chris. The drive up was great, because we passed by the Iwo Jima memorial (you know the statue of soldiers putting up the American flag...which was inadvertently reproduced by the 9/11 New York City firemen). There was this great punk rock song CD we listened to which I can't recall now. I remember it was cranked up pretty loud, and we were jamming for sure. I'll e-mail the guy and find out what it was...stay tuned. We went to a nice 24-hour diner and sat next to 4 recent Georgetown Law grads getting ready for the Bar, and one Capitol Hill staffer. I just sat there and thought, there are the people that basically write our country's laws. They sort of reminded me of Janelle, who does that very thing for the State of Texas. We had some very good business and philosophy conversation, and finished with a cup of coffee. After that, we went back to the hotel and went to sleep. It was a perfect end to a perfect weekend.
Sunday, July 4th
We all got up early, because Jeff had a 10:00 AM flight. We sent him off, then got packed up to leave. Adam's flight was at 12:50, so we got brunch at the hotel (which wasn't all that bad for the price), and proceeded to say our good bye's. Everything was wrapped up nicely, and it was sort of sad to see everyone go their separate ways. The wedding was a complete success--one of the best I've ever been to. Meaghan and I hopped on the Metro and flew home, which arrived only 5 minutes late. Ryan was there to pick us up, and that ended the weekend. I went home and grilled a few burgers and sausage with Ryan, had a few beerskies, and drove to school to watch fireworks from the top of the Hermann Professional Building garage. Ryan and I were joined by Melissa, Nick, and Katie (Melissa's sister) and then also by a bunch of medical school friends including Erik Graham and Priscilla Saldivar with her daughter Natalie. From there you can see about 6 or 7 shows throughout the Houston area, but the best was at Memorial Park which was rather far away. The Hermann Park show was less than impressive and afterwards we all went home and called it a night.
>>View the PICTURES<<
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