As I mentioned in my last post, G & L had a costume ball reception in addition to the Secret Gardens reception. When I got back to my room after taking photos at the stables, I got into my costume and proceeded to the parking lot in front of G & L’s room. There, the guests were arriving. Everyone had a costume on. Mine was Aragorn from Lord of the Rings.
After taking a few photos, I was ushered into G & L’s room. The wedding party members were going to go separate from the regular guests so we could be introduced at the reception. While waiting, I was handed my mask. It was nice, but I was afraid that it would mean I’d need to remove my glasses. Luckily, it fit over my glasses quite easily. I’m not sure if this was planning on G & L’s part or just plain luck, but it worked nicely. The mask had only one drawback: No peripheral vision. More on that later.
After waiting for awhile, we headed to the reception. It wasn’t far. The reception hall was at another section of Middleton Place. We waited outside while everyone got ready. It was nighttime and the entire place was pitch black. Our main source of light (besides the reception hall) was a series of torches lining our path. I glanced to one side and realized that I was dangeriously close to one of the torches. Any closer and I’d have had to change my blog name to CrispyDad!
When it was time for us to be introduced, we all donned our masks and the band started playing the Closing Theme from Star Wars. Yes, G chose this musical selection. I guess L should be happy he didn’t choose Vader’s March. It actually worked out very nicely. The big fanfare at the end came up just as G & L entered the room.
The reception itself was great. There was dancing, food, music, more dancing. I even got G to do the Sher (which I mistakenly called the Horah during the dance). This is a dance often performed at Jewish celebrations. All of the dancers form a circle and two dancers move to the middle. They lock arms and circle one another. Then they break the lock, lock their other arms, and circle in the opposite direction. One or both of the dancers then goes back to the circle and another dancer or pair of dancers moves to the middle.
G and I had danced this dance at my wedding during which time I spun him so fast that he fell down. This isn’t as mean as it seems. G and I have a running gag where I do something and he performs a pratfall. If I recall correctly, he even met L when he tripped and fell onto her lap. In any event, I decided not to repeat the G-Toss. G had other ideas, though and intentionally broke the lock and went flying.
In a nice moment of cultural spillover, there was a Sudden Outbreak of Sher. Everyone was doing it including an elderly Italian couple. Due to my participation, I didn’t get any Sudden Outbreak of Sher photos, but I did get these:
I also took a video of my friend doing some rather embarassing dance moves. Unfortunately, that came out so dark that you can’t see anything. The blackmail qualities of the video are gone!
All too soon, I realized that I should be getting back to my room. I had an early flight the next morning and needed to pack my things. I said my goodbyes and some final congratulations. Then I got a ride back to my room. I quickly changed out of my costume, packed my things up as best I could at the time, and went to sleep.
The next morning, I woke up at 3am. I got ready, packed up my remaining belongings, did a few sweeps of the room to make sure nothing was left behind, and then headed out. It was pitch black outside and I was barely able to guide myself to the spot where the van was going to meet me to drive me to the airport. At 4:30am, I met up with the van and got driven to the airport. At 6am, my flight took off from Charleston, SC to Atlanta, Georgia.
While in Atlanta, I continued a tradition that I started on my trip down: I picked up some postcards for NHL to add to his photo album. (He later requested some prints from my trip and has filled up one whole photo album.) The trip was nice and I didn’t regret not having my wife and kids there. I missed them, of course, but I don’t think they would have enjoyed themselves as much as I did. By the time I landed at our airport, I was itching to see my kids. I had taken a small photo album with me with a few 4×6’s of my wife and kids. As we neared the airport, I found myself taking out the album more and more.
After getting off the plane, I headed for the security gate where my wife, kids, and in-laws were waiting for me. It’s a good thing my in-laws were there. They held JSL and NHL back. Otherwise, they would have charged past the security line to run to me. I don’t think airport security would have appreciated that. Once I got past the security line, though, all bets were off and I was charged by two boys who had missed their daddy. I gave them both big hugs and we headed home. It’s fitting that this is being posted on Thanksgiving. While I had a blast on my trip and would love to go back there one day, I was extremely thankful to be home hugging both of my boys.
When we arrived at the grounds, the setup was nearing completion and there was a half hour before any guests arrived. We wandered around for awhile and I took a bunch more photos. (Yes, I know. Shocking, isn’t it?)
