Whew!

Man, I am exhausted. Long story short my little sister got married this last Friday so Jenny and I hopped in the car and took off to New Jersey to witness an event that many years ago was sworn to never happen.

Wednesday
Jenny and I were smart enough to pack the car the night before so all we had to do is wake up, jump in and go. Which is what we did at 6am. With Clementine in the back we headed to the Detroit area to drop her off on the in-laws who grudgingly watched her while we were gone (they didn’t want to give her back).

I climbed back behind the wheel and drove us straight through from there and rolled in around 7pm… to the wrong place. As it turned out the address I entered into the GPS was where the wedding was, not the hotel. Whoops. Problem rectified and when we got to our room we collapsed in exhaustion. While the drive was pleasant, I couldn’t sleep the night before and ended up getting less than three hours. Nothing a few cups of coffees and a few energy drinks couldn’t handle, and Jenny doesn’t need to know about the slight hallucinations towards the end (double whoops).

Thursday
We drove to my sister’s house and hung out with my future brother while she was out doing something (taking some down time I assumed). I really enjoyed spending time with him since whenever he and Lori have come into town in the past I never got to hang out with him much. We talked much Pink Floyd.

Later on was the rehearsal/dinner where we got to meet the fam-in-law. I particularly enjoyed the company of the best man (a fellow Peter to boot), Greg’s mom and Greg’s grandmother (who smooched me). All wonderful people who made me wish I lived locally so I could see them more often.

Friday
The big day. Rain forced the wedding inside to the room that would hold the reception. It was odd… no one knew what was going on and the guy who should have known must not have been interested in telling people what was going to happen. I wasn’t particularly impressed with the handling. With some things I am all about shooting from the hip and letting what happen happen, but other times you need to have things laid out for everyone to see, and I think a wedding is one of those. Of course, that was from my end as a guest/someone interested in Lori and Greg having a perfect day. Lori and Greg had a familiar and correct attitude, which was great – they just wanted to get married and didn’t care about the details.

The reception was fun, the food was great and everyone had a good time. I even got out on the dance floor and got Greg’s grandmother to join me.

Saturday
We wanted to hang out some more with Greg’s family at a brunch for a little while before heading into NYC to meet up with some friends but didn’t get the details about it until it was too late, which was a bummer. We rolled into NYC around mid afternoon and eventually found a spot to park the car.

Matt and Lisa graciously started the tour around the city, beginning with Central Park. Which is awesome, really a fun place to hang out at. Gardens, entertainers, Strawberry Fields, nice place. The Beatles obsessed were a little weird, but fun. At my request we went to the Fifth Avenue Apple Store. I may have inappropriately touched a wireless keyboard.

Sunday
For breakfast they brought us to some restaurant where they serve a brunch that consists off a menu selection and up to three screwdrivers, bloody mary’s and/or mimosas. It was an interesting way to kick off a morning. Then they took us to Soho where we looked at the side of NY most tourists wouldn’t see, which Jenny and I are really into. We also hit up Grand Central Station, Wall street, and Federal plaza.

Monday
Matt had to jet into work but Lisa was given a late morning in so she took us back to Central Park for breakfast and left us to wander around by ourselves which was fun. After a relaxing walk around the park we went back to the car and with Jenny behind the wheel we left for home. She did really good driving in a city where lanes are subjective and she even got to honk the horn like a real New Yo’kah.

Instead of taking 80 like we did coming in, we took 78/76 (which may or may not have been the result of a missed exit) and traveled along southern Pennsylvania stopping whenever we came across something which was a lot of fun. We found a couple wineries and as it turns out PA has some really tasty wine. We then made it to Hershey and got in a quick tour of the chocolate museum which, while super cheesey, was a lot of fun.

Tuesday
Long drive back. Picked up an excited doggy. Made it home and ate four awesome-sized bowls of spaghetti because I was so tired of eating restaurant food. I like to leave town now and again but not for long periods of time. I miss my bed, my routine. Or something.