Following our little out-of-the-way
excursion, we made our way into College Station and located our hotel. It
was brand-new, and way better than the air B-and-B that Nathan and April ended
up staying in. Seems they located a place just outside of Navasota.
Quaint little cottage in the woods. Looked really cute, with lots of
windows and very few neighbors. Isolated. And as it turned out,
perhaps haunted. At the very least it felt ... watched. All the
windows that were so attractive in the daylight became windows to their very
soul in the dark. Ever seen the movie Deliverance? They lived
it. Shadows in the trees outside. Windows becoming mysteriously
unlocked. Hey, give me a Choice Hotel any day.
Speaking of which, at. Check-in, when our
hotel found out I was a gold member of the Choice Hotel family (Not sure how that happened, myself, but I
didn’t argue), They started treating me like royalty. I got my pick
of floors to stay on. They offered me coffee. And best of all,
informed me that my gold card status had earned me a free gift. What was
my illustrious gift? A bottle of water and a tiny package of chocolate
chip cookies. You know, those snack packs from Sam’s. How do I know
they were from Sam’s? Because the delivery guy was still there, unloading
his big box of them marked ... “Sam’s.” Can’t slip anything past this
clever dude.
We quickly unloaded our stuff in the room
and headed out for some lunch. That had to happen in a hurry because
Chris was starving. So much so that I had to watch my back so she
wouldn’t take a bite out of my shoulder. Thankfully there was a Cotton
Patch Restaurant right around the corner. I drove so she could
concentrate on holding back her culinary urges.
Hunger pains relieved, the rest of the
afternoon was spent relaxing and watching college softball until it was finally
time to head for the wedding venue. There was no easy way to get to the
site. We took some back roads just for fun (I was still driving), and as
luck would have it, for one stretch of several miles our path became a dirt
road. Google Siri continued to reassure us that we were on the correct
road, though, so I persevered. And sure enough, there it was. An
old gin with two little baby silos that was kind of a Waco Magnolia Silos
Junior. Chairs were set up near those silos, and the old gin buildings
were where the reception dinner would be held. It made for a long walk
for the bridal party, but the live orchestra they had playing made up for that
with music.
The ceremony went without any discernible
hitches. In fact it went really well. It was the officiant’s first wedding to perform, and he did
a great job. He took charge of the situation and walked the bride and
groom through with no real hiccups. I don’t count the groom crying when
he saw his bride for the first time as a hiccup. In fact that was kind of
cool. She walked the very long walk behind the wall of bodyguards that
escorted her over from the gin, so by the time they moved out of the way and
Will saw Chelsea for the first time, the anticipation was simply more than he
could bear. They both made it through the vows they had written for
themselves with just a few sniffles. But before they knew it the rookie
officiant was pronouncing them husband and wife and encouraging their first
kiss as a married couple. OK, now I’ll fill in the final blank ... that rookie
officiant was none other than Nathan. Nice job, son.
The reception meal was great.
Prepared and served by a crew of fire fighters, so I would expect nothing
less. Lasagna and fresh green beans and a salad. There was
something else too, but I couldn’t identify it. It had rice and mushrooms
and I some kind of chicken. My lasagna was delicious. Compliments
too the chef and all of his crew. It was the meal that provided the only
glitch in the evening’s proceedings. It was prepared at a nearby church,
but father the ceremony when the guys went to pick it up, all the doors were
locked, and there was no key to be found. They ended up having to somehow
pick the lock to get in. One of the guys asked me how much trouble he was
in with God for breaking into a church. I think under the circumstances,
and because the only thing broken was one of his credit cards, he will be OK.
The rest of our journey was relatively
uneventful. Well, except for the bug Chris found in the bed the next
morning. Not sure if it was a bedbug or not since I have never seen one,
but neither of us got bitten. We did report it, however. Oh, and
Chris squished it. Bed Bug? Dead Bug.
Ephesians 6:23 says, “Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Father, please be with Will and Chelsea as
they begin their life together. Amen.
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