January 27, 2016

I enjoy a calm morning stroll on the beach.
Pompano Beach, Florida
January 21, 2016

Heading to the Wedding

It would be a happy weekend!  Early Wednesday morning, we (my hubby, two sons, daughter-inlaw, and grand baby) boarded a plane in Maryland. We were off to Florida, for my first born, Trevor, and his finance’s, January 22nd wedding.

I happily head to Florida for my son’s wedding. What am I laughing at?                               My sweet 22 month old grand daughter is siting on my lap, just outside of this photo. :o)

                                                                 January 20, 2016

Florida

Through the miracle of air travel, (Thank you Wilbur and Orville Wright!),we were gazing down at Pompano Beach from our hotel room in just a few hours.

The ocean view from our hotel room in Pompano Beach.

Our “home” for the next few days, nestled between the coconut palms.
The Residence Inn
Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach/Oceanfront

The Whale’s Rib

Clothes were quickly unpacked, as we anticipated lunch!  We met Trevor, the groom to be, at one of my favorite restaurants in this area, The Whale’s Rib, in nearby Deerfield Beach.
First introduced to me by Trevor, several years ago, this unpretentious seafood haven
serves great food at reasonable prices, and has the stamp of approval from
Diners, Drive-ins, and Dive’s, Guy Fieri.

The Whale’s Rib in Deerfield Beach

When planning Trevor and Tanya’s rehearsal dinner, it was here that I first inquired.  It became clear rather quickly, however, that they did not have the kind of space that was needed to accommodate our group. So, instead, we would visit here twice while in town, sharing its ambiance with some of our relatives who were in town.

The Whale’s Rib is renowned for its Whale Fries served with Whale Juice,
a mayonnaise-based sauce.

We enjoyed eating at The Whale’s Rib, two times while in town. Always delicious and fun! 

Dining at The Whale’s Rib on our first day in town.
January 20, 2016

Dining at The Whale’s Rib, the day after the wedding.
Our group group grew in number from our first visit!
January 23, 2016

The Rehearsal Dinner
January 21, 2016

As parents of the groom, Dale and I had the honor of hosting the rehearsal dinner, immediately after Thursday’s wedding rehearsal.  We decided on an informal dinner at the same location as the rehearsal.The wedding would also take place here the next day, at Galuppi’s.
On a golf course, Galuppi’s setting is pictuesque.

A sunset view from the Galuppi’s back patio.

The rehearsal dinner was an enjoyable time, and we even had an enthusiastic game for the bride and groom.

Trevor and Tanya play a light-hearted game of “Who Will” during the rehearsal dinner.

The Wedding
January 22, 2016

Friday greeted us with rainy skies, but that did not dampen our spirits for the impending nuptials. Although, the wedding was slated to take place on Galuppi’s outdoor patio,
an alternative location was available in the reception area, if needed.

Our daughter, Martese, served as officiant for the wedding.
45 minutes prior to the wedding, we were still hopeful that the rain would subside.

Tanya’s handsome son waits for the wedding to begin.

It was wedding time and the rain continued to fall.  It would be an indoor wedding.
The wedding was beautiful!

Trevor and Tanya say their vows.

Trevor and Tanya kiss as husband and wife.
Tanya is a lovely bride.

Trevor and I do our Mother/Son Dance to “Singing’ in the Rain“.

The pretty wedding cake was delicious.

The evening was spent celebrating on the dance floor.

To read about Tanya and Trevor’s fun wedding shower, click here.

Homeward Bound?

With the honeymoon couple on their way to Colorado on Saturday, we turned our thoughts toward heading home.  Our Baltimore son and family were to originally fly out on Saturday, but with a mega winter snowstorm in that area, on Friday they rescheduled their flights for Sunday.  My hubby, son, and I were also scheduled to fly out on Sunday.  We all got the word on Saturday that all Saturday and Sunday flights had been cancelled.  Rescheduling, we found, would not be an option until Tuesday,
or Wednesday.  With that in mind, we all decided to drive the 15+ hours home in our rental car.

Newlyweds Tanya and Trevor enjoy the slopes on their honeymoon.

We pointed our car north, as our trek began at 3:30 am on Sunday morning.  Yawn.
Travel was relatively uneventful for the first several hours, with sparse traffic on
Highway 95. Baby girl was a travel champ, spending part of the travel time watching
Kid Songs on dvd. The highlight of the first part of our trip was having lunch in
North Carolina at Zaxby’s.

There are no Zaxby’s in Maryland, so we were happy to find this one just off the highway in Lumberton, North Carolina.

We continued to travel north. Through the photo (below) texted by our friend, Abe, and neighbors’ Facebook photos, we anticipated the snowdrifts that awaited us, with a bit of trepidation.

We were thankful to our good friend, Abe, for checking on our place,
and sending us this photo of our house on Sunday.

It became apparent about two hours south of Washington DC, that the landscape “was a changin‘”.  Large piles of snow began to envelope us from both sides of the road, and the number of snow plows began to largely outnumber the “civilian” vehicles on the road. It was eerie, as we carefully made our way on the newly, barely, somewhat, plowed highway.

 The Washington Memorial, and scaffolded National Capitol shone to our left, over an uncustomarily silent Washington DC.  It was at this time that it became sadly apparent, to some of our car’s occupants (having passed two unplowed rest areas) that the time had arrived for “resting”. As treacherous as it was to veer off the highway, it was now more treacherous not to!  As we made our way to a small unkept gas station, in a not so great part of town, a large sign made it clear that they had no public facilities.  Desperate times call for desperate measures. (Use your imagination.)  It was not long before we were more comfortably back on the road, marveling at the mountains of snow all around us as we went. It was then, after a total of 18 hours, we were finally home! Parking in our  neighbor’s shoveled driveway, we trudged through the snow and into our house, deposited in a giant snow cone machine. We said a quick prayer of thanks. We had made it home safely, after a wonderful wedding. :o)

Our back deck piled with snow, upon walking into our house after 18 hours on the road.

Thanks for reading!

Annette

I attempt to post my blog bi-monthly. Look for my next post on, or around, February 15.

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Trevor, our oldest at around age 1.5 years, with my husband and myself in 1986.
Time flies!