Richmond Weekend

Saturday morning we left Jefferson before 8 am. Drove through the countryside on rural two-lanes due north, through Chesterfield, Rockingham, Chapel Hill, and Durham to I-85, then on to Richmond. Met our friends the Broadwells at the AirB&B and walked to a neighborhood sandwich shop for lunch. I had a BBQ sandwich.

 

Saturday night we attended a fun gathering at a Richmond restaurant for the wedding party and out of town guests. The father of the groom, a musician, welcomed everyone and sand a couple of songs. Then he had the entire gathering sing "Puff, the Magic Dragon" – and went through not only every verse, but also added a verse he had written himself. Someone quipped "well, now we know what kind of family she's marrying in to" and later "I'm outta here if he sings Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds." When he finally finished singing Puff I shouted "One more time!"

 

Dinner there at the restaurant was a delicious buffet of sandwiches, cheeses, grilled brussel sprouts, macaroni & cheese, cookies, etc. Back to the hotel not too late to watch LSU / Florida. Ceil was asleep by 9:45. I turned off the game at halftime but couldn't get to sleep.

 

Sunday: breakfast in the hotel: scrambled eggs with cheese and ham, potatoes, sweet rolls. Skipped the biscuits and gravy, oatmeal, cereal, sausage, and other fixins. Ceil and Nancy attended a wedding brunch, so I fixed an eggy boy sandwich to save for lunch. Walked with Lee to WalMart, a round trip of almost three miles. On our walk to WalMart I noticed my friend Lee was wearing hearing aids. He's 63, I think. He's been wearing them for over a month before his wife noticed. Later I caught up deleting emails and did some play on my laptop.

The wedding was at Tuckahoe Plantation southwest of Richmond, where Thomas Jefferson spent some of his childhood. Beautiful place. We prayed that God would hold off the rain and God answered our prayers. Wedding ceremonies usually last about 20 minutes and it didn't rain from the 4:30 start time until 4:50, when a sprinkle turned into a steady rain. Unfortunately the wedding was 20 minutes late getting started. The groom held and umbrella, and several guests (including us) vacated our seats and stood off to the side under umbershoots.

The reception dinner was under a big tent in front of the main house. Couldn't have been a better time. We were seated at the prestigious table two with the parents of the bride and groom (table one was the bride, groom and the groomsmen and bridesmaids). Father of the bride Myron gave a touching speech. Roast beef, pork, brussel sprouts, macaroni & cheese, salad, cupcakes, and wedding cake. Groom John's family tradition was to cut the wedding cake with a sword from The War of 1812. Also at our table was the pastor and two of Dawn's college friends: Marylee from Sandy Springs and Jeanie from Hampton GA. Marylee cut a mean rug on the dance floor.

 

Yesterday after checking out we drove near the University of Richmond to a recommended coffee shop, and browsed the bohemian shops similar to Little Five Points.

 

Lunch in Durham NC, where we drove around the beautiful Duke University campus (above), ate lunch at Bull City Brewery, and strolled around the baseball stadium with the famous "Hit the Bull!" sign.

 

I was taking my time to hit Atlanta after rush hour, but took too much time and hit Charlotte rush hour. Arrived home at ten and stayed up past midnight.   

 

On the drive home yesterday we listened to a good Louie Giglio sermon on mental illness and suicide. I will email you a copy of Braves sideline reporter Kelsey Wingert's notes, which she posted on Instagram. Had I taken notes mine would've looked different. Also listened to replays of several 680 the Fan broadcasts from earlier in the day. During one of them Nick Cellini jokingly played an audio clip of an old time pastor preaching "YOU MUST MAKE THE DECISION FOR JESUS!" Interesting to hear his partner Chris Dimino admit: "That's a decision I made a long time ago."   

When we arrived home Monday night we hadn't eaten so I ate a piece of leftover cheesecake, and finished off the cheesecake Tuesday morning for breakfast. Had an upset stomach all day.