Home is where the coffee is
Jul 6, 2010 Uncategorized
This weekend I traveled to the far away land of Lake Jackson, Texas for my friend Jessica’s wedding. Jessica has been my friend for 13 years, and my love for her was enough to make me pack up Brian and 2 of our friends and drive 11.5 hours to a town without a Starbucks.
The trip should only have taken 9 hours, but on Friday there were storms all the way to Texas and that really slowed us down. I felt bad for my friend Matt who was driving, because I’m sure it was kind of stressful driving in massive downpour on crowded highways in Houston trying to get us to the Rehearsal dinner on time (we were an hour late, not his fault). The rest of us could only sit and wait. Erin, Matt’s wife, was supportive by telling him he was doing a great job every so often and rubbing his shoulders. I tried to ignore the time and remember that Jessica would be there when we got there, even if we missed the delicious fajitas awaiting us upon our arrival.
The trip was really, really great. Seeing Jessica’s new life assured me that she is in great hands with her new husband. I really do wonder though how she is going to get along without Starbucks or coffee shop of any kind. They do have a gas station that is part of big chain called Buc’ees (the name of a Beaver with big buck teeth) that has a coffee bar inside, but as far as I could find, and I looked, that was it. I do have to admit that it wasn’t very often that I actually wanted coffee though, because it was hot and humid and I really just wanted iced tea the whole time. Maybe the Lake Jackson folk spend most of their time on iced tea. That would make sense.
One of the coolest things about the wedding was the grooms cake. I mean, just look at this thing. It’s a full size guitar cake. The lady who made it used real guitar pieces for parts of it. It was really incredible. I think it was supposed to be a surprise for the groom but the person who made it let it slip a few weeks ago. I would still be surprised with this awesome cake even if I knew it was coming.
One experience that we had this weekend that I have never had before, nor probably never will again (at least not in the near future), is that we got to stay at the Ritz Carlton in Dallas. The Ritz was beautiful. The pool was magnificent. Since we were there on the 4th of July, we went all out and ordered room service and watched fireworks from our window. I was shocked when I walked through the front doors to check in, and I heard a voice from behind the counter say “Mrs. Smith?” I turned and almost asked how she knew it was me, but I didn’t care. It was such a magical moment. I just went up to the counter and checked in, and then later realized that Erin had told the valet guy my name so that he could park the car, and I through their fancy magic earpiece system he told the lady at the front desk I was coming in. Very impressive. I felt at home. Plus, the coffee in the room was great. Here we are drinking out of our Ritz Carlton mugs. Classy right?
Now we are back home with Hurley, and I’m happy to be back. I made a pot of coffee when I got home and watched the Bachelorette, took Hurley for a longer than normal walk, and slept in my own bed. For the next three days I’m going to be working on my book some more before I go back to work. I don’t have a recipe to share right now, but hopefully in the next few days I’ll have something. It’s good to be home.
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