Gearhart, OR wedding

Gearhart, OR

SMS and I headed to Oregon for the wedding of one of my really good college friends.  She met her husband, a fellow ’02 alum, at the 10th Williams reunion, which I missed due to the USNS Mercy experience.  After a flight delay and extra time at the car rental counters, SMS and I headed out for the Oregon coast shortly after midnight on Friday night/Saturday morning.  We got slightly lost but made it to Gearhart, OR relatively unscathed by 2:15.  We slept in until 10 and then went out to breakfast with our friends who made it in the previous day.  We were sharing the condo with several friends of mine from college. Even though we might seem a little old to maximize the occupency in condos and sleep on pull-out couches, it’s the best way to maximize hanging out time with my friends, whom I see way too infrequently.

Karen 'n' I with Lewis 'n' Clark after Pig 'n' Pancake

Brian and Karen were vocal supporters of breakfast at Pig ‘N’ Pancake, a restaurant in the nearby town of Seaside.  It is a diner-type restaurant that has an awesome gift shop attached to both the waiting area and one side of the restaurant.  Now, one person’s “awesome” might be another person’s “tacky” but we were all pretty happy with our breakfast spot selection.  I had the clam and eggs, which consisted of two fried razor clams with 2 eggs any style.  I was slightly taken aback since I thought clam and eggs (clam ‘n’ eggs?) would be mixed together kind of like a clam marinara sauce but nope, I was wrong.  The clams were on the side and seemed to be two large clam fillets.  It was pretty good even though I thought it would be different.  SMS had Pigs in a Blanket made with pecan pancakes and those were pretty phenomenal.  

After breakfast, we walked down to the beach and took pictures at the Lewis ‘n’ Clark statue, which marks the end of the Oregon trail.  I didn’t realize how long their journey took, 1804-1806.  At some point I’m sure I knew since I remember reading a book about it when I was a kid but I had forgotten.  

Then, we headed back to Gearhart where we went to the beach again.  Brian and I went into the water, which was kind of dirty.  I told Karen before she went in that it was full of seagull feathers, which the rest of the group made fun of me.  For some reason, they thought it was ridiculous way to explain why I thought the water was dirty.  I say that one, seagull feathers are dirty and two, maybe I was thinking in a synecdoche-type of way.  No one appreciates me, boo hoo!  I went for a three mile run before heading inside to say hi to Gisele, shower and get ready for the wedding.  

After the wedding

The wedding was held on the lawn of a family friend’s home that overlooked the coast and ocean.  I haven’t mentioned it until this point but it was absolutely the most gorgeous day, weather-wise.  Laddie looked amazing and beautiful and both the bride and groom had so much love for each other.  After the ceremony, we paraded down the street behind the bagpiper to the reception-site which was in a barn.  I have always wanted to go to a wedding in a barn since I’ve seen so many beautiful ones in Martha Stewart and Style Me Pretty.  This one definitely could have been in either- it was so beautiful and well-done.  We had a great dinner at a fun table, we danced and I caught up with some other friends whom I hadn’t seen in years apart from random Facebook updates.  It was a great night and finished off with a bonfire.  SMS and I walked home alongside the dunes and met up with everyone back at the condo.  We really had the best time.

  

The barn the next day, still standing

The next morning, we slept in, packed up and left.  We headed over to Laddie’s family’s house where we talked to Laddie for awhile and scored some VooDoo Donuts, even thoguh we had missed the brunch.  It ended at 10, we had thought 11...oops.  We all said our good-byes since SMS and I were staying on the Coast for the day while everyone else was heading back.  It’s always bittersweet saying goodbye to my friends and I sort of hate it but I’m so happy I had that time with them.  We missed Hillary and Marissa who couldn’t make it but someday soon, we’ll all get together again.  Even if soon is a year from now, which is sort of what we’ve been averaging.