The Most Patriotic Wedding in the History of Our Fine Country

A very good friend got married in Boston on Friday. Yes, this past Friday was the 4th of July. Yes, our boisterous Irish neighbors of the North take their patriotic Federal holidays very seriously. Yes, they decided to get married on this date in at least small part due to the facts that there would definitely be fireworks at their wedding and that they would be less likely to forget their anniversary down the road when they become old, crotchety, and forgetful.

The Maestro was the best man, so he drove up to be a part of the week-long pre-wedding festivities. Troy and I, however, opted to fly up the day of. The airport wasn't as full as I thought it would be... I guess gas prices really are keeping people home (???).

At any rate, when we got up to Boston, The Maestro picked us up and then went off to continue his groomsman responsibilities. The groom's sister and husband picked us up from the hotel, and we then went off to Salem to explore. While known the world over for the witch trials, Salem has a whole lot more history than that little piece. There's a historic wharf, and some pretty old houses and gardens that we found.











As you see, there are some witches there if that's your bag.

There were some funny things we encountered in Salem as well. A liquor store with a funny name channeling Beavis and Butthead, and a seemingly strong senior population. See below:








The wedding was beautiful. Good music, blah blah blah.

The reception was at the Nahant Country Club, where (apparently) some Eisenhowers or Roosevelts got married a long time ago. The food was delicious, the fireworks were beautiful, the dancing was festive. Below is a brief pictorial summary:












Finally, the night of the wedding, we stayed at a house in Rockport. It was a lovely historic house that was built in the middle 1800s. It's been completely restored. Some of the fun touches included a fireplace in the ginormous kitchen, original stained glass and leaded windows, and a fantastic garden in the backyard. Apparently Rockport is a great summer vacation town. I'd love to go back and spend a whole week there some time.









And that last shot? Yeah, that's the cat that belongs to the house's owner. She shaves him for the summer when it gets "hot" up there. I thought he was adorable, for the record.

And even though I was ripped out of Baltimore, I did feel just a little bit of Baltimore when we drove past this on the way to the reception site:



And I guess there's one of these in every city, not just New York and Baltimore: