The dinner was held at Tom (the groom)'s parents' house. They have a lovely house in Harwich with their own private beach. It was truly a special event that I'm lucky that I got to attend. But, what I really want to talk about is the dinner itself. The food--incredible. It was a backyard barbecue complete with chicken, pulled pork, and some of the best macaroni and cheese that I've ever had in my entire life. The actual people that catered it--new to catering.
I walked up to this conversation between the groom and the bartender:
Tom: Could I have a Long Trail please?
Bartender: Sorry?
Tom: A Long Trail
Bartender (pointing to rum): This?
Tom: No, the beer.
Bartender: (Looks blank)
Tom (pointing to the bottle of beer on the table): A Long Trail
Bartender (picking up the beer and looking at it with confusion): Oh. Sorry.
The groom's father had to provide a lesson to the bartender on how not to skimp on the alcohol. I think that this is all partly because the bartender was 18 years old and maybe not as schooled in wine and beer as the rest of us.
But, perhaps my favorite part of the night was what was on Pescatarian Julia's plate. See, for an appetizer, we had this delicious smoked fish. Sally had mentioned to Julia that she ordered scallops for Julia's meal (even though Julia was perfectly happy with the mac and cheese). When we get to the grill...there are no scallops. The barbecuer, who was dressed in a sailor's outfit with a captain's hat, looked at us like his crew had just sent him out to sea on a raft. He said that he didn't have scallops, but he did have some fish, if we would just give him a few minutes to get it ready. A few minutes later, Julia returns to the table with a piece of the smoked fish appetizer warmed up on the barbecue grill. Got to hand it to the captain though. He's an improviser!
After the dinner was over, we headed back to Orleans to the Lost Dog Pub. Coincidentally, Sally had planned a night at the Lost Dog on the wedding itinerary without knowing that Julia's friend's brother's band was playing there that night. The result...we brought about a crowd of 25-30 people, in addition to the ones that were already there. It may be true that Orleans had never seen this many people in one place. I passed a lot of time amusedly watching people walk through the entrance, see the crowd, roll their eyes, and walk back out again. The rest of the time, I passed watching Patrick. A lot of Sally's wedding guests decided that this would be a good weekend to try a dirty martini. Most of them didn't like it. Most of it ended up in Patrick's glass. The upside is that he had 8 or 9 dirty martinis and didn't spend a dime. The downside is that he had 8 or 9 dirty martinis. By the end of the night, he was "I love you. You're my best friend." drunk.
On his way home, he and Becky, decided to lie in a field on the side of the road and exclaim (quite loudly) how beautiful the stars were. How do I know that they exclaimed loudly when I wasn't there, you ask? Because according to Pat, after about ten minutes of star-gazing exclamations, a nearby neighbor yelled out of his window, "END THIS NOW!!!" So, they did. On their way home, for some reason that I've yet to understand, Becky went one way and Patrick went the other. While Becky was walking, a police officer pulled over to her and asked, "Have you seen two drunks wandering around?" Of course, to which Becky convincingly replied, "Noooo". Let this be a lesson to you. Always split up after someone yells to you from a neighboring window when you're lying in a field looking at stars. The cops can't be far behind.
Meanwhile, I was having my own adventure. After saying goodbye to Patrick (Me: I'll see you back at the house. P: Ok, I love you. You are one of my best friends. I love you so much. Me: I love you too. I'll see you in a bit. P: I'm totally serious. I love you. I think I'm going to cry I love you so much. Me: Don't cry.), I went back to the Cove House and got ready for bed.
As I mentioned before, I have issues. All I could smell was camp. All I could think of was that the bed was too soft. All I could hear was a drip drip drip coming from somewhere and it sounded like it was getting closer. But, I said to myself, "Mel, you can do this. Just close your eyes. Go to sleep. You'll be fine in the morning." I don't like to indulge myself in my crazies. Just as I was about to close my eyes, a beetle flew around my head and landed right next to my face on the pillow. I freaked out like someone had told me to put the lotion in the basket. I murdered the beetle. Then, after a half hour of lying there and not being able to sleep. I packed up, texted Pat what had happened, and drove 50 minutes to my mom's house to sleep there.
Just to tell you how perfect my friends are: the next day when I returned, Sally and the bridesmaids had left to get ready for the big day. Pat was still at the Cove House. Pat told me, "Sally heard what happened and left you a present on your bed." I said, "Oh! That is really sweet!" You know that saying, "A good friend helps you up when you fall. A best friend laughs at you and says, 'Walk much, dumbass'"? Here's my present from Sally:
Next up, the WEDDING DAY!
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