Attending the wedding of Ooma’s close friends Peter and Ashley was the raison d’etre for the trip to Texas. Ooma had the honor of accompanying Peter down the aisle and joining him for the mother/son dance – his mother was unable to attend as she was caring for her mother in PA.
They were married by Peter’s brother Paul. Ashley was given away by her father Jesse.
The reception included a delicious meal and an open bar. A good time was had by all, including Ooma who had a few of the signature drinks.
It was a beautiful, informal wedding.
The wedding was Sunday night. We arrived in Austin Friday night at 7pm. We had a lovely dinner that night at Cafe Malta, owned by my nephew Nick. I introduced Ooma to my sister-in-law Christine and Nick’s wife Jessica. As always, it was a wonderful dinner and Ooma was very delighted to be welcomed by Jett’s family.
Saturday afternoon and evening were devoted to the rehearsal, hosted by Ashley’s mother. Very informal with a nice BBQ dinner. It was a chance to meet all of the lovely young people in the wedding party.
We had breakfast both Saturday and Sunday mornings at the Stars Cafe which provided good food, good service and a congenial clientele. Good place!
We wandered around Austin a bit on Monday afternoon (after having some much-needed down time Monday morning), We tried to find the venue for Austin City Limits and eventually did so, but the result was not worth the effort – it is a rather nondescript building. We also wandered Rainey Street, a funky night area of Austin that is pretty subdued in the daytime. We got a take-out pizza at Salvation Pizza on Rainey. Very good pizza. While waiting for the pizza Ooma and I played two games of pool and I am proud to say that I took $10 from her. Take that, Ooma!
Our home in Austin was an AirBnB rental – my first encounter with AirBnB. It was impressive. There was absolutely nothing that wasn’t provided. Coffee cups, coffee, champagne glasses, beach towels, corkscrew, snacks… the list goes on. And we had use of the beautiful backyard and gazebo. Ooma said the place was so clean that it seemed like we were the “first ever” renters.
All in all, it was a very pleasant 4 days in Austin. Now we begin the long trek back to Ft Myers.