Trip to the US Part 1: The Wedding!

I could probably break down the last week or so into many blog posts, probably one on the various chips and salsas I enjoyed alone, but I'll spare you those ridiculous minute details and hope to have more of an overview record of this trip.  Last Thursday morning I got up at 4am and had a car pick me up at 4:30 to head to the airport...gross.  I had carefully booked my flights from Vienna through Amsterdam to Atlanta and finally on to Pensacola, FL to line up with my friends flying to Pensacola from NYC so we could then rent a car and drive to where the wedding was in Alabama.  I had all of my fingers crossed that these connections would work out ok...and thankfully they did. 

Finally arriving at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear, Alabama, right on the Mobile Bay.  The wedding weekend began with an informal evening of drinks and food outside at the hotel around several fire pits.  It was a great way to see everyone and begin the festivities as we watched the sun set over the bay. 

The girls all catching up.  The bride is originally from Alabama, but I met her while living in NYC, which is where she also met the groom, although he actually hails from England, and they currently both reside in London, so the wedding guests were a mixture of Brits, Southerners, and several New Yorkers...which made for an awesome weekend.

Our lovely room

The view from the rocking chairs on our little terrace.

Friday during most of the day my old roommate and I spent enjoying the pool and walking along the beach hanging out and catching up.  We lucked out with beautiful warm sunny weather in the 80s all weekend.

Random hammocks all around

The rehearsal dinner was at a place called Big Daddy's, and is right on the river.  They basically serve everything imaginable in some fried form.  Our table started with fried pickles, fried okra, and fried crab legs to share...then we all got baskets for dinner which included fries, onion rings, hush puppies, cole slaw, and some sort of fish (I opted for blackened instead of fried...not that it makes it any better...)

The food was super delicious, although most of us aren't used to eating this food, and these baskets surely didn't get finished, but they were incredibly good. 

Lots and lots of laughs.  So good to see these people.

The girls. Lots of life lived with these 5, so awesome to be able to celebrate these big life events together as well.

Saturday morning 4 of us got up to run some errands and explore downtown Fairhope nearby.  Kiersten and I decided coffee would be a good idea...so we stopped at Sonic to get some quickly...Medium? sure...that sounds great...less than $2?...super! except that what comes is larger than your head...I'm sad my hand is covering the bottom half of my cup...

mmmm brunch.  fresh hot beignets...excellent.

Now it's time to get these two married!  The ceremony was outside under a beautiful large tree with a view out to the water.

The beautiful bride walking down the aisle

The bride and groom!

After the ceremony we all moved down the water a bit to where a lovely outdoor cocktail reception had been set up...complete with a fresh fruit mojito bar and mini fish and chips!

former roomies! 

After the cocktail portion of the evening we all moved inside for a delicious dinner and lots of dancing

On the dance floor!

The next morning the 4 of us who had driven from Pensacola initially all piled back in our car so they could catch their flight.  My sister had driven down from Nashville to Pensacola to pick me up, so we decided to get up extra early and include a proper southern Cracker Barrel breakfast into our trip. 

I love how every single one looks and smells the same.

And of course no trip to Cracker Barrel is complete without testing out some rocking chairs!

The entire wedding weekend was fantastic...it was so so great to be around all of these people, not only my friends from New York, but all the other friends and family of both Sarah Beth and Tim who came in for the weekend.  After this it was a 7 hour drive with Lexi back to Nashville where we tried to cram in as much as physically possible in my remaining few days in the States!