Sorry it's been awhile since I posted, but I didn't have any time during our whirlwind tour of Cincinnati with Thanksgiving, Kelsey's wedding and trying to see everyone else. It was definitely fun to get back, but a little weird at the same time since streets, stores and just the general look of things are less familiar to me now. It's an odd feeling going back to the place you lived for 26 years and not recognizing certain things.
Since so much happened while we were back I'll divide the time up into days (starting the weekend before Thanksgiving) so we can keep things straight.
Saturday - bachelor party details not for the faint of heart
Arrival in Chicago after a miserable overnight flight filled with weird dreams fueled by Ambien and Tanqueray. A quick nap at the Country Inn and Suites followed by dinner with the guys for Tom's bachelor party. Things started out pretty slow and then Big Den took Chase back to the hotel. The drinking ramped up pretty quickly with shots of Jagermeister, Patron, Jack, etc. We went to several bars and Tom managed to find an extra 13 bucks in his pocket toward the end of the night (ask him how). All of us were managing pretty well until we tried to find a cab and in doing so I tripped over the curb into the street in full view of 6 cops. They must have had better things to do because I picked myself up, smiled and they just laughed. We finally got a cab and hauled Tom back to his room. I think by that time he'd gotten rid of his last few beers/shots in one of the bar bathrooms. I thought he was doing OK until the girls got back from the bachelorette party and told us he was in bad shape in his room. Of course we needed to investigate. What we found was quite entertaining - Tom, passed out on his belly, with a nice cascade of puke over the side of the bed into Kelsey's shoes. For some unknown reason, they left me with him to further defile the bachelor. I unrolled 2 rolls of TP, covered Tom with it and stuck some pink bachelorette party stickers on his head. By that time the girls had arrived back, so we took some pictures of the lucky guy. I forgot to mention that in the meantime Jesse had set the new kicking distance record for elevator light panels in the hotel hallway. Bedtime 4:45 EST.
Sunday - Terrible
We woke up at 8:45 EST in order to make it back to Cincy on time for the awful Bengals game and Dominic's birthday party. I'm pretty sure that my heart was still pumping pure Jagermeister at that point and my head felt like Jesse had place-kicked it. Chicago to Cincy in the back of Mike's minivan - Terrible. I'm sure I looked great when I walked into Laura and Paul's to see my family for the first time in 4 months. Tina cried when she saw me probably because I looked like a drunken bum. Dominic was cute as ever and managed to tear into a few 1 year birthday presents. Then we headed back to my parents' house for our first decent night of sleep in over 48 hours.
Monday - The Comet and Poker
Uneventful day of sleeping late and recovering from the weekend's festivities. Went to the Comet with a select few for excellent burritos, salsa and beers and then on to Essen's for poker. We had a great showing, so great that I didn't even get to hang with a couple guys since we had to split into 2 tables. We went to the disgusting Wagon Wheel for a beer and a carton's worth of secondhand smoke. At least you can still get your nicotine fix at the Wheel.
Tuesday - Girls Night for Em
She said there was a tight group of friends there and they had a delightful evening talking about makeup and boys or whatever. Paul, Dominic and I went for a short hike at Miami Whitewater. I spent the majority of the evening just hanging out and talking with my Mom which was a nice relaxing break from going everywhere trying to see everyone.
Wednesday - Gebhardt Traditional Pre-Thanksgiving Celebration
We headed to Grandma and Grandpa G's for a the traditional German Thanksgiving meal of ham crepes. Unbeatable. I count myself lucky to still have so many grandparents and enjoy every second of this time that I spend with them. We finished up there and went to Tim's because he was kind enough (or unkind enough) to get a 1/6 barrel of Great Lakes Christmas Ale for the crew ( http://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/beerProfile.php?beer_id=00000009) . If you've ever had about a dozen mugs of Christmas brew, you'll understand why I said this might be unkind. We spent the night talking and laughing, mostly about Todd and his friend the ottoman. Laura, Paul and I formed a family band to the XM radio in Cathy's Escalade while I performed the requisite drunken, head through the sunroof, neighborhood wakeup at who knows what time.
Thursday - Thanksgiving at Grandma T's
Em's parents gave us a reprieve from Thanksgiving with them since we were going to spend the majority of the next couple days with wedding festivities. This made for a very pleasant, relaxing Thanksgiving day instead of running from place to place trying to see everyone. Grandma T kicks some serious butt in the kitchen, especially for an 82 year old - preparing full Thanksgiving dinner for about 20 people every year ever since I've been around. Delicious as always.
Friday - Black Friday and the Rehearsal Dinner
I spent Black Friday playing paintball for bachelor party number 2. I'd never played before, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun it was to try to shoot some of your good friends in the (helmeted) face with a CO2 powered rifle. Everyone survived and came home with a few nice welts to prove we'd been there. Tom looked much better after bachelor party #2 than he did after #1. The reahearsal dinner was at the original Montgomery Inn and enjoyed some classic Cinncinnati Ribs King fare. It's been awhile and I'd forgotten how good those ribs are.
Saturday - The Big Day for Kelsey and Tom
Guys went to the hotel, drank a few beers and got dressed for the wedding while the girls went to the salon and spa to have their hair done in ways that defy the laws of gravity in order to look nothing like they do in real life. For the next wedding, I'm getting my hair done in dread-locks. In any case, I managed to forget my tux coat at home (moron). Tragedy was averted when the photographers brought it along. The wedding went off without a hitch and we headed to the reception on the trolley, coolers in tow. I couldn't even convince Em to have a drink for her sister's wedding. We did the traditional Jagermeister shot outside the reception and filed in to hang out with family and friends we hadn't seen in quite awhile. I tried to make the rounds and see as many people as possible. It was a fun time, but I was about partied out by then. Despite this, we still had't made a trip to Rootie's, the neighborhood pub. Onward to more beers. Rootie's was unremarkable until Hilary got totally wasted and then left her dinner on Jen and Jesse's driveway. Bedtime 3:45 EST - again.
Sunday - The Sad Task of Leaving
Goodbyes were painful, as always. Understandably so for our parents, Em and me since the parents are going to miss some of the fun of Garyetta's birth. We weathered the flight home relatively well since we had an exit row for the Atlanta to Honolulu leg. Em nearly ran her pregnant butt off making the connection to Lihue in less than 20 minutes from a different terminal.
When we finally made it home, I felt like crap from too much drinking and not enough sleep and Em was just generally exhausted, but we enjoyed seeing everyone (though for too short a time). I'm just starting to feel better from my cold and Em's in tip-top shape for pushing Garyetta out in the not too distant future. Scary! Thanks to everyone who made our trip home tremendous.
Please email me pictures from the week so I can post them. 'Til next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment