August 30 – “Romance Under the Stars”

Well, we made it safely to Round Rock, Texas, for the wedding I am officiating this weekend.  The trip itself wasn’t all that eventful, actually, which was a good thing considering when we left Galveston there was a huge array of thunderstorms hovering off the coast and threatening to attack at any moment.  We did stop at some little town along the way to look at a little antique store.  Only it didn’t turn out to be so little.  Once you got inside the thing seemed to grow and grow.  I think Harry Potter had something to do with it.  Or maybe Dumbledore, himself.

Once we got near Austin we relied on the old faithful Google Maps Girl to find the hotel.  She failed.  We followed her direction exactly and when she ended with her famous, “Your destination is on the right,” we were at some huge mall, still in Austin.  Undaunted, we went on into the Olive Garden right in front of us and had a nice lunch.  GMG’s second attempt proved a bit more accurate.  As it turned out, we were just four miles from our actual target.  I think she was toying with us for making her re-evaluate our position when we stopped at the antique store.

After an initial snafu at the desk, we finally got into our room.  The receptionist wanted us to put the room on our credit card, even though the bride and groom had already taken care of all the arrangements.  I thought a quick phone call to them would settle the matter, but she was still insistent.  At least until her manager heard me telling the groom that we would go find something to do until he could get there to swipe his card.  That manager read the desk clerk the riot act and welcomed us with open arms.  Phew.  I was anticipating an early start on Chris’ list of quilt shops in the area.

Speaking of Chris, since she drove such a long way, I decided to take her out for a romantic dinner and then do something really special.  There was a Rudy’s barbeque joint right around the corner from the hotel, so we went there.  Half a pound of brisket and some slices of bread and we were good to go.  And then came the “something special.”  What could be more romantic than watching a fireworks show, out under the stars of the beautiful Central Texas sky?  It was a really impressive show, too, and we have seen quite a few.  Moody Gardens does one every Friday and Saturday night during the summer, and we watch those from our front porch.  So, what do you think?  Did I do good, ladies? 

Oh, did I forget to mention some of the details?  Ah, sorry.  My bad.  Let me back up.  When we were finally gathering our bags from the car at the hotel, Chris was getting kind of uncomfortable.  A whole group of scraggly-looking young men were gathered out front, obviously waiting for something.  Every so often one or more of them would walk behind our car and gaze into the distance.  Other paced back and forth.  Some were deeply involved in their cell phones or were zoned out to whatever was flowing through their headphones.  Suddenly, a mini-bus drove up, and the gentlemen began to board.  I noticed the look of extreme relief on Chris’ face right away, but I was just curious.  So I sidled over and asked the driver, “What team is this?”  And why was that an appropriate question, you might ask?  Because the logo printed on the side of the bus said, “Round Rock Express,” the name of the local AAA affiliate of the Texas Rangers.  He told me the guys sharing hotel space with us were the Nashville Sounds, in town for a weekend series. 

We chose the barbeque because of its proximity to the hotel and because we had been to a Rudy’s in Waco with Josh and Christi.  The food really was good.  After supper I might have mentioned that it would be interesting to drive by the Round Rock Express baseball stadium, “just to see what it looked like.”  And as we approached, I might have said, “Hey, would you like to go see the game, since we’re this close and all?”  That sweetheart of a wife of mine responded, “If you want to go, let’s go.  After all, you walked around an antique mall with me this afternoon.”  What a girl.

We paid our $8 to park and made our way to the ticket window.  But before we could make our purchase a guy came up behind us and offered us free seats.  He was a season ticket holder, and had three extra seats that he was giving away.  How could we refuse?  Right behind the third base dugout, about fifteen rows up.  Since we didn’t have to pay for tickets, I bought a Round Rock Express cap.  Strictly as a romantic souvenir of the evening, of course.  The game was a lot of fun.  The Express ended up losing, but the crazy entertainment antics you hare about that happen in minor league parks were all there.  Active team mascot (looked like some kind of 7 foot tall chipmunk), tricycle races between randomly selected fans, free t-shirts, even a dizzy-izzy relay (head on a bat, spin around ten times, then run to the finish line).  They even passed a hat every time an Express player hit a home run (that happened three times).  They then give the guy the money as a bonus.  These kids don’t make much at this level.  I could get used to supporting a minor league team.  And as a special bonus, we happened to be there on a Friday night … fireworks night after the game.  So you see, we had to endure quite a bit of extra shenanigans before we actually got to the romantic fireworks show. 

What a great night.  And now it’s time for breakfast.  Maybe we’ll see some of those Nashville guys downstairs.  Oh, yeah, and sometime today I guess we need to fit in those quilt shops.  And perhaps still have time for a wedding rehearsal.

Jeremiah 33:11 says, “Give thanks to the Lord Almighty, for the Lord is good; his love endures forever.”

Father, thank you for some great fun last night.  And thank you for the one you gave me to share it with.  Amen.