Our hotel was the one we had set up for the block reservations. I had printed out Mapquest directions for everyone from the restaurant, and GW had already been there to check us in. Only one problem. Mapquest was wrong. There were two turns off the highway where there were street names listed to turn onto. Either there were no street signs, or the turns were just wrong. I only found the turn, but still go past it, when I luckily noticed GW waiting to enter traffic going the other way after making a U-turn off the highway. I looked at the Mapquest directions, saw that the route she was entering is listed about three directions down from where I thought I was in the list, and made my own U-turn to follow. The hotel was only about a half-mile after that U-turn, but knowing to make it was the problem. About half of the people staying at the hotel missed the turn. This number included BD, unfortunately, who was not happy about it. She stayed on the main road a lot further than I would have, and had to backtrack a good distance.
The hotel site was great, right on the ocean. Spectacular view of the water and of the approaching sunset. There were stairs to lead you to their private beach, but what they didn't say was that for about two hours before and after high tide, the beach is under water. The ocean came right up to the rock wall. Oh well. It was comfortable, there were lounge chairs, and we had alcohol. We met one of my cousins right after we got in, along with her husband and their little girl, who wanted to meet GW's goddaughter. I think my cousin's comment was that she was tired of talking only with adults. They went off to dinner, though, and didn't return until we had retired. I'm not sure if they ever managed to get together other than at the reception.
We were tired by that time, and pretty much vegged out for the rest of the evening. GW and I enjoyed the ocean and each other's company. BD hung with her buddies, the bridesmaids and their SOs (only two of the latter; don't know why, the bridesmaids are all good-looking and vivacious). MotG, Sis and cousin went off to make the boutonniéres. MotG told us it was the least she has ever done for a family wedding. Sis had made the invitations for us. For other weddings, MotG had made all the dresses, or the floral arrangements, and stuff like that. GW shares the sewing bug with her. I think that's why they've hit it off so well through their phone conversations.
One additional thing with the hotel. The rooms were nice, but the beds were rock-hard. We've become used to our pillowtop. The result was that we had some trouble getting to sleep. I had also had too much caffeine at the dinner, in the form of diet Coke. GW's issues were worry over what may have been forgotten, general anxiety over what will happen (or not happen) tomorrow, and of course, the idea of losing her baby. She has always been closer to BD and her friends over the years. The thought that soon her baby, the child who didn't want to go to a college on the NY/NJ border because it was too far from home, will be moving over 3000 miles away is hitting her hard.
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My apologies to my readers for the slowness in getting these out. Time, oddly enough, is less available at home than it was during the pre-wedding era. We're still digging out from under, as well as getting our own lives back in a groove. It has been over 25 years since we were truly on our own with only each other. I still say that part of GW's worry was the thought of being alone with just me again.
The next entries are, of course, the Big Day itself. There will probably be some references to the photos, though I'll try to keep those to a minimum for those who don't want to wade through them. I'll also have some BD**2 + X posts eventually as well, regarding the digging out, the packing the departure of the happy couple and what's going on now.
