Saturday morning, King David picked me up and we met for breakfast with fellow bloggers Mr. Dilettante and The NightWriter. Some cool place in downtown St. Paul called Key's Cafe. I've already mentioned the pancakes,didn't I? And the coffee?
First cup of coffee I've had since surgery (the swallowing is improving), tasted great, and I surprised myself by drinking the whole cup.
I can imagine that I must have been putting on quite a show for the guys, choking down itty,bitty bites of pancake and small sips of coffee, but they pretended not to notice.
Later that afternoon came the event we were all gathering for: what just may be the first blogger wedding in history.
Short version of the story: Ben and the NightWriter became friends after meeting on the blogowebs. Ben soon became even better friends with NightWriter's daughter, the Mall Diva (reportedly, she owns something like 63 pairs of shoes!). A courtship ensued, leading to last weekend's blessed event.
To further bloggerize the whole affair, the groomsmen were all friends who Ben had met the same way, with King David serving as Best Man.
Full wedding coverage, live blogging by Mr. Dilettante, photos, commentary, and it's aftermath can be found here.
A great occasion, great weather, and some genuinely good people made the whole day a truly memorable one. And I had the opportunity to meet in person so many of the same people who I've either read or befriended on line: King David and Mocha Momma, Mr. & Mrs. Dilettante, NightWriter and the Rev. Mother along with their daughters Tiger Lilly and The Diva, Ben, Bike Bubba was there with his lovely wife, Brad and Jennifer Carlson, Stover, Surely Dave and many others.
Sunday was spent with Mr. Dilettante and his family. A trip to Mall Of America, where we met up Stinger, who also happens to be Mr. D's kid brother.
Together, the three of us man folk had one finger nail polished to a nice sheen while we fended off the insistent sales pitch of the young gal who was trying to sell something we didn't want or need.
But at least she was kinda cute, not that it helped her cause any.
I also had the opportunity to challenge an adorable, if overconfident, young Cheesehead to some competitive skeeball in the arcade. Beat him twice. A foreshadowing of this years football season,maybe?
(Hey, Mr. D... the offer is still open if you want to get rid of him.)
Afterwards, Mr. D showed me around the region, including a trip over that bridge that collapsed a year or two ago. I'm still here, meaning it didn't fall a second time. I think they got it figured out now.
Later was a rare experience for me: Sunday Mass where english wasn't a second language. How is that possible?
After a long visit with the Dilettante family, some good conversation, and music (Mr.D knows his tunes) it was time for me to let them have their lives back.
As we parted ways, he summed it up: this isn't goodbye. It's see ya later, and bring a fishing pole.
Yes, another trip needs to be in the making.
Monday was spent monopolising King David's life. The Royal Family lives outside the city, in a little Mayberry kinda place called Rockford. Small town America on full display, with a Memorial Day parade (I like parades, and marched my share of them), solemn observances at the town cemetery, and quaint stuff like that. It was cool.
Point of interest for Jade: the high school drum section was mostly girls. Even the three or four quads were girls.
I liked the sign posted outside the local bar: "Firearms not Permitted". By contrast, California posts things like this at the state line.
And then it was on to Cabela's, after a trip past a local bison farm. The bison didn't seem to enjoy being gawked at, and made sure I was aware of that fact with one of the smaller bulls attempting a mock charge.
We don't have Cabela's here in California, but we got Bass-Pro Shops. Very similar, but I liked the Cabela's better.
We spent hours in there. Kinda like a Disneyland for middle-aged guys. Who needs roller coasters and life-sized cartoon characters when there are all those guns to handle, stuffed trophies to admire, and a game fish aquarium to amaze you?
King David and his family wore out whatever was left of me from the day before. Once again, another full day, lots of laughs, stories, and good feeling all around.
I can't overstate it. I had a wonderful weekend, great visits, and cemented solid friendships with solidly good folks. And thinking that I almost didn't make the trip, I'm sure glad I did.
Can't wait to return and have some more fun.
And next, time I will bring a fishing pole.
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8 comments:
Next time you come you won't need a fishing pole. You just drop a line tied to a stick down the hole you chopped in the ice. You sit there on your fanny with the temp at minus 10 and the windchill at minus 30. Every once in a while you scoop out the ice building up in your hole, and take a shot of brandy.
You want to get the whole MN experience, don't you?
We had a wonderful time with you Gino. It has definitely motivated us to plan a CA trip sometime in the next year or two to come check out your stomping grounds.
And did your contraband Keys coffee cup survive the trip home?
It was good to meet you in person and I'm happy you got to visit when we had such great weather. No mention of whether or not the Dilettantes or the royal family ever dedicated a song to you, though....
Sounds like a great trip!
It's always good to know there are more chicks out there breaking out of the marching band "you have to play the flute" mold. :)
We have a Cabela's near us (about 40 miles south) G loved looking at all the animals. In the fish tank area she saw all the rainbow trout together, with one larger one off to the right. I said "Look honey, it's a school of fish!' and she pointed to the big one and said "That must be the teacher!"
Hey Jade, you'll be glad to know that my son has broken out of the 'you have to play the trumpet' mold if you're a guy as well. He chose to play the flute, and loves it. He's also very good, making the regional honor band earlier this year.
(he doesn't say it, but I think he does enjoy the fact that the other flutists are all very attractive young ladies)
Kingdavid - :) I had a friend in high school who played the flute - he was really great at it. When we hung out in the band room it was sort of "traditional roll reversal", he'd go take his seat with the girls up front & I was in the back of the room surrounded by dudes.
We didn't plan it that way going in, but it was a nice bonus feature.
Senior year he was our drum major for the marching season - which... in the hierarchy of Band Geekdom is the coolest position to have in the band.
Drummers are second only to the drum majors.
in my band, we controlled and harassed the drum major.
he got no respect from the drum section. zero.
Our drum majors were highly respected - and both my drum majors (from sophomore year and senior year) were absolutely brilliant at their jobs and really took their leadership roles seriously. We loved them, but it also might have had something to do with their personalities... they were both just lovable guys.
One of them is actually the current band director for one of our rival high schools. I saw him at my niece's marching band competition last fall. Very strange to see him in front of a sea of the wrong uniform... but listening to his post-competition talk brought back so many memories.
Sorry I missed you. You did meet Inkle mama though. I have the picture to prove it. Zbizz and I caught our limit of crappies the other day. and 19 sunfish to boot.
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