The Road Trip Continues

We arrived in Florida today with two hours to spare before the wedding rehearsal. It took us about 9 hours from Hammond to Inverness. After checking into the hotel and getting a quick shower and change of clothes, we were off to Grandma Cunningham’s house to meet up with his parents. From there we drove to Crystal River where the wedding will be held tomorrow, and watched as the final details for the ceremony were worked out.

The venue is a beautiful golf resort called Plantation Inn. The gazebo where Kristin and Travis will be married is right on the edge of the river, and is the stuff of which bridal dreams are made. The Spanish moss hanging from the trees, the sound of the water lapping against the land, the intimate setting for affirming vows of love and faithfulness…all perfect. There was some concern about the outdoor wedding in July, but the breeze off of the water was quite nice and we aren’t going to be outside very long anyway. I can’t wait to see Kristin walk down the aisle on the arm of Uncle Dwain.

After the rehearsal, we went to this really quaint tea house for the dinner. It had a well-appointed gift shop that I seriously wanted to peruse, but it wasn’t really the time or place! We started outside on the screened in porch with tea, raspberry champagne and a beautiful assortment of hors d'oeuvres which were quite tasty. Once the staff was ready for us, we went inside for dinner. The food was delicious (Trevor and I had the mahi mahi instead of the roasted chicken), and I even tried the mango salsa and found it to be very good.

A hummingbird cake slice approximately the size of a compact car was served with coffee and we boxed up the remains to have for breakfast tomorrow. It was so moist and good…just like Mama makes. I don’t think Trevor’s mom and dad had ever had it, but they really enjoyed it.

After the dinner, we went back to the hotel to change into something more comfortable and then we went out to Uncle Dwain and Aunt Susan’s for fireworks. They have a beautiful home and yard, and we enjoyed spending time with the family and with the wedding party. They have a pool, so of course there was much splashing, and threatening to throw clothed individuals into the water. Actually, Will did throw Caitlin in fully dressed and then Nick quickly followed suit. He was so cute in his little water wings.

We didn’t get back to the hotel until close to midnight, and that 4:15 am wake up call from this morning was really dragging me down! We have no real plans except for visiting Grandpa Cunningham’s grave at the Florida National Cemetery, and of course the wedding tomorrow evening. For now, I am going to crawl into a nice warm bed and sleep as late as possible. There will be no alarm clocks (mechanical or human) and no agenda. It’s good to be on a road trip!