Saturday, October 22, 2011
A grand day out
[The following entries are being written a month after the fact. I have no excuse, other than laziness and a severe case of procrastination; story of my life. So, without further ado … ]
Bunny and I awoke early today, for she had some last minute shopping to do before the wedding. We had planned on going to the Oakland Mall, but we were informed that a much better option was the Summerset Collection Shopping Center. It also had the distinction of being closer to the hotel we were staying in.
I haven't experiened many three-story malls in my time, much less a mall that sprawled across the street with a pedestrian cross-walk above the road. Not only do they serve real Coke (cane surgar, none of that corn-syrup stuff) but the mall had a Lego Store!
How does some two-bit mall in Michigan rate a Lego Store! The closest one to me, here in Boca Raton, Florida no less! is three freaking hours away in Orlando!
No wonder Joshua has an entire room devoted to Lego in his house! He has a steady supply of the stuff, less than fifteen minutes from where he lives!
The lucky bastard.
Anyway, I asked one of the clerks inside how this mall rated a Lego Store, when the closest one to me is three hours away in Orlando.
“Ah,” the clerk said, “that's why. Disney placed a restriction on Lego, limiting them to how many stores and how close they could be in Florida.” Disney. Figures.
I took little solace in the fact that the Town Center Mall in Boca Raton has a bigger Apple store, as the one there had people lined up halfway down the mall.
We had some small difficulty in reaching the church on time. I left the invitation back at Chez Boca, and when I asked for the address of the church, I was told 581 West Fourteen Mile Rd when it really was 581 East Fourteen Mile Rd. We lost a few crutial minutes sorting that out, and we barely made the church on time.
What can I say about the wedding ceremony? The bride was beautiful. The groom hansome. The ceremony moving. Vows and rings exchanged. Kisses. Crying. Cheering. Photos. It was great!
Between the wedding and the reception, Kay, Dale, Jan and Ed decided that Bunny and I needed to try the Grand Traverse Pie Company, which is exactly what it sounds like, a pie company. Over a few hours, we all got caught up on our lives, and had some of the best pie I've ever had in my life. Wonderful stuff.
Pie. Pizza. Why does this area of Detroit have such good food? Why can't we have this goodness down here in South Florida?
Bunny and I were curious as to where we would be sitting at the reception. The table with Kay and Dale's family was filled. It was simiar with Jan and Ed's table. We found ourselves sitting with Audrey's family from Indianna. There, we met Tim, Audrey's brother-in-law, who hailed from Blackpool, England. It was very weird meeting a European who liked American football. It was also weird to learn that American football was actually rather popular over in Europe. Tim, on the other hand, found it weird to think that Bunny and I drove over 1,300 miles and never left the country, while he once drive over 1,300 miles and ended up going through four countries.
But like all receptions, the booze was flowing, the music was playing, and people dancing. It was odd to see a pizza delivery man show up with a stack of pies, but we were told that people, including the groom, were still hungry and thus, an order for delivery was placed. That's something I haven't seen.
Afterwards, Bunny and I followed Kay and Dale over to Joshua's house. Kay and Dale had baby-sitting duty (of Aiden and Ashley) and we decided to follow along. This was also a chance for me to see Joshua's Room O' Lego.
And a Room O' Lego it was, although earlier in the day Aiden and Ashley (around two or three years of age) had gained entry to the room and well … I felt for Josh. The Room O' Lego was too painful to view for very long. Accidents happen and well … ick … too painful to talk about …
Sob!
