A Hot Time in Conroe

Late one night, when the teasips were in bed,
Old Sul Ross took a lantern in the shed.
The Aggie kicked it over, he winked and then he said,
“There’ll be a hot time in Austin tonight.”
--one of several Texas A&M fight songs (I think)

Took a drive down to Conroe, TX, on Saturday. Stopped at one of the finest rest stops in Oklahoma to partake of a turkey sandwich and some low fat Cape Cod chips. A longer drive than expected (13 hours), but only because we underestimated the travel time. The traffic was relatively light, and the weather was mostly clear. We had stocked in plenty of Pepsi, Diet Coke, and snacky foods, so the extra car time was not a hardship. We were on our way to meet Smitawich and Rossawich and to attend the nuptials of JPB and Doctor Fiancee on Sunday. We got in about 8:30pm, and immediately went to meet the couple of honor at a local for some drinks. At 1:30, after some shotgunned cans of Lone Star Light and a few broken chairs, Monkey and I were abed, sleeping off the road weariness (and the beer).

The morning brought ominous skies over the lake, which was problematic, since the wedding was to be held on a paddlewheel riverboat in the lake. But that wasn't until 7pm, so, Smitawich, Rossawich, Monkey, and I proceeded to IHOP for some breakfast and then to the Grand Theatre for a matinee of XMen III: The Last Stand. Not the best breakfast, nor movie, but entertaining nonetheless.

Back at the "resort," we watched a little NCAA softball, then prepared for the wedding. Smitawich's pants were a bit tight, I forgot my belt, but, all in all, we looked good. Monkey was especially smashing in her green dress, which matched my shirt. The prom-like ensemble (matching shirt with dress) was especially fitting for what we had deemed "High School Wedding Weekend". This moniker was arrived at after the beer episode of the night before (i.e., shotgunning cans of cheap beer that we brought to the bar ourselves (don't ask me how we got away with that), as well as the fact that someone (not in our small party, but connected with the wedding) peed off a fifteenth story balcony the prior evening. These two events, coupled with the "Senior Week" feel of the "resort" (four in a room, screaming kids, drunken spats involving security (witnessed, not engaged in)) led us to the name for the weekend's festivities.

The wedding was a blast. The ceremony, presided over by a friend of the groom's, was short and meaningful. The food was good, the tres leches groom's cake was great, the DJ was an interesting blend of musician and disc spinner (he sang and played sax and clarinet to some karaoke tracks), and the power outage was a minor, temporary inconvenience that gave everyone the opportunity to sing the continuation of the song that was playing when the lights went out. The weather held off and actually cleared up as the sun went down, and the general ambience of the riverboat was unique. Some of the pics of the boat itself didn't turn out due to the high humidity--the camera lens was just too fogged up. But here we have Rossawich, Smitawich, MerMaid, Fiddler Crab, Monkey and I enjoying the grub inside on the First Deck.

The post-wedding party was skipped by all but Smitawich. We were pretty partied out, and Monk and I had a long drive ahead of us Monday. That was a small adventure in itself. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.