I'm going to bullet this, to make it streamlined. Don't like it? Imagine there are paragraphs here...
Thursday:
- Flew out from Newark. Arrived in Jacksonville at about noonish. Got our rental car, a red Ford Mustang, convertable. Drove it out of the parking garage with the hood down. Drove for 5 minutes, it started raining. Hood goes up...
- Got to the hotel, got checked in, and got to our room on the 14th floor. Of course, it's actually the 13th floor, but that's an open secret.
- At around 5pm, Sue and I went to eat at The Landing, a collection of restaurants just a short walk from the hotel. Ate at a Mexican place, that was pretty good. Not outstanding, but a solid place to eat. We ate outside, where there were birds (sparrows and pidgeons) all around. I said to Sue, "If these were rats, we'd be disgusted, but since they're birds, we think they're cute."
- Back at the hotel. Rested. Brian, In, and Rowan came down to the Landing to eat, Sue was tired (and knitting, I believe) so she stayed in. We ended up going to the Mexican place again. I just had a coke since I had eaten. Had fun with the three of them, along with Rowan's sister (Maggie, if my memory serves me right). And, that was Thursday...
Friday:
- Breakfast with Brad, the groom. A good time. You can never really talk deeply with the bride and groom at their wedding, so it was good to have some time to talk with Brad before everything got nutty.
- Left for St. Augustine. Nice place, the oldest city in the US, settled by Spain in the late 1500's. Very quaint. Brian, In, Rowan, and Maggie met us there in the early afternoon, we ate at the White Lion Inn, which had nothing to do with the band. Good times...
- Toured an old fort. $6 to get in, which I felt okay about since it went to the upkeep of the fort. It was raining most of the day, but it got really heavy in the afternoon, and a bit cooler, so the fun slowly disappeared.
- Then, went to the rehearsal dinner at 7:30pm at The Chart House in Jacksonville. Good place, sat with In, Rowan, and Brian again, and a good time was had by all... Also talked to Tami, the bride, which was good, and saw Brad's brother Ryan who I hadn't seen since about 1990. He actually recognized me, which was impressive.
Saturday:
- Had breakfast with Don Lord and his family, Don's a cousin to my grandfather. I got in contact with him through my genealogy research. He was a talker, and fun to listen to. Sue talked with his wife and daughter, who were also at our table. A great guy, and it was a pleasure meeting him and his family.
- Then, for lunch, met up with my friend Kim and her husband Charles. Another good time had by all. It was actually the third time I had met Charles, but really the first time I was able to talk with him. A good guy. It was fun to talk with Kim again too, it's like one of those friendships that just picks up where it left off the last time you saw each other. Which, I think, was actually our wedding... Is that right? Thanks also to Kim & Charles for treating Sue and I to the meal!
- Then, the wedding at 4:30pm. Catholic ceremony, very nice, but you've seen one, you've seen them all, not a lot of creativity in those. But, it was all good. It's always nice to see friends be happy!
- Reception at The River Club, on the 35th storey of a building by the river. A good location. The reception was your standard fun, I enjoyed myself, talking to Sue, Brian, In, Rowan, and two others at our table, the husband was from Ocean Township, so there was that connection.
- Stayed at the reception till the end, then met up with others in the hotel bar till about 1:30am. Thanks to Rowan for my coke drink! Farscape was on the TV in the bar, which I thought was curious...
Sunday:
- Went to Jacksonville beach. Sue collected shells, was attacked by birds, saw jellyfish, and got some small shark's teeth. I lay on the beach, relaxing, getting sunburned. Fun!
- Wandered around the town, seeing some little shops, and enjoying being outside. It was a great day, so the top of the car came down. Very cool tooling around Jacksonville in a convertible. Worth the extra money.
- Back at the hotel, got room service for dinner. Was very tired, both of us were asleep by 10pm, I think...
Monday:
- Back on the plane, back here. Did laundry.
And that's our adventure! More little stories may come out over time, but it was great fun to be away with Sue, and to see so many friends all at once. It's not often that group stuff like this happens, so when it does, it's a good time.
NP: King Crimson - Groon (11 Feb 1972)
Hotel Room, first day (Thursday)
