One Blessed Week
Wow, what a blast of a week (actually 10 days, but who's counting? Certainly not me!) we had in Salem, MA. That one ranked right up there my friends. I could probably end this blog post with those two statements but let's give you guys some filler so you can get the gist.
The main event of the week was the marriage of my sister Sue and Bill Dumont and what a fine wedding it was. A Salem harborside venue with all of our closest family members and friends in attendance to witness the vows exchanged between two of the best people I know. But, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself...the wedding was this past Saturday evening and we arrived in Salem over a week ago so let's back up a bit...more on the nuptuals later.
We had reserved a camp spot on Winter Island at the entrance to Salem harbor back in February. At that time we were not sure if C-19 would thwart our plans or if Debbie's knee rehab would be OK. So we rolled the dice, made the reservation and damned if we didn't make the scene!
Debbie stated before her knee surgery back in February that her rehab goal was to dance at Sue's June wedding and that she did! Stud!
Earlier that week my niece Lauren (Sue's middle daughter) gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Daniel so this visit was extra special.
They live in Boston so Sue kept busy helping the new parents out, spoiling the new grand baby, putting finishing touches on wedding plans, and still had time to hang with us. I honestly don't know how she does it...and, she has done this her entire life.
As busy as she was raising 3 kids and working ungodly nursing hours she always had the time to help out her younger brothers and sisters. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the best big sister a guy could ask for.
So in keeping with her fast pace, she invites us over to their place for a lovely dinner the first night and we had a surprise visit from her youngest daughter Sarah who drove up from her home in NYC to visit her new nephew Daniel. It was great to see everyone and spend some time catching up and having some laughs.
During the week leading up to the wedding the rest of our family and Bill's family started rolling into town. Bill has 6 brothers and sisters who mostly live nearby and Sue has 4 brothers and sisters who traveled in from all over. My sister Holly and husband Glenn arrived in their RV and camped at Winter Island in a spot near us; sister Amy and husband Mark flew in from Sunset Beach, NC and brother Mark and wife Kim flew in from San Diego and stayed at the hotel next to the wedding venue.
Now Debbie has been jonesing for a hotel stay the whole trip and my standard response has been 'we've got an RV, we don't need any stinkin' hotels'. But this was the best thing to do, able to enjoy the wedding with the family, all within walking distance of our hotel. Perfect.
Sue and Bill set up a fun Friday afternoon and chartered 2 ships for the wedding attendees. The guys boat was a replica of an early 1800's schooner and the gals had the party boat complete with a full bar which they were quite happy about and rubbed it in a little bit as our bar just had a cooler of beers.
But our boat did have a fully functioning cannon midship so a plan was hatched to take her along broadsides to the gals boat, spray their deck with a cannon fusilade, board her with swords unsheathed and abscond with their booze.
But our boat Captain said 'easy lads, this ain't 1800' when privateering was not only legal but encouraged (provided you pirated boats of enemy nations) and practiced by many in this Salem area up to and during the War of 1812.
Can you imagine a bunch of bro's from Salem, MA building a schooner on the weekends over some beers and then taking it to the high seas to plunder a British ship? Not only legal but encouraged, yet gnarly as hell!
A fine day on the briny was had by all.
Afterwards Sue's daughters hosted a sunset cocktail hour on the beach in Swampscott, MA (a stones throw away from Salem) and Sue and Bill's friends put on a lavish spread for dinner up the beach at the Swampscott Yacht Club. It was really a great day and evening with an opportunity for the families and friends to get together and get to know one another.
Speaking of which, these two families, the Dumonts and the Arnolds, man o man did we hit it off! Both large families with big hearts and fun loving personalities, it was a pleasure to get to know everyone.
It's easy to see how these families hit it off so well because both Sue and Bill are such fine people and, my theory anyway, is that they both come from good stock. A true lady and a fine gentleman in every sense of the word.
The next evening on Saturday the wedding was held at 5 PM at a spectacular restaurant on the Salem waterfront. The wedding party's private room with a deck overlooking the harbor was absolutely perfect!
Sue and Bill exchanged touching vows (yes, the tears were flowing from all) and a fabulous dinner with party followed. Everyone is so happy for the two of them, their union could not have happened to two better people!
The woman to the left of Sue is Bill's niece Maura who along with her friend and Sue's daughter Megan were responsible for getting these two introduced in the first place. Maura performed the ceremonial rites and did an excellent job.
After taking each others hands, they are now taking each other off to their loving home...Godspeed Sue and Bill and may your cup runneth over!
The next morning Holly, Amy, Mark, me and our spouses hosted a brunch for the families and friends who attended the wedding. Kudos to our sister Holly for setting this up, and as always with my sister Holly, it was carefully and tastefully planned and executed to perfection!
I could go on and on with all of the fun things and shenanigans we pulled off over the past 10 days but this blog entry would last for pages upon pages and, me thinks, would detract from the memories we all have of the wedding.
So, I'll put a wrap on this truly blessed week.
Currently writing this from Sebago Lake, Maine, about an hour or so west of Portland, ME. We'll be here on the deepest lake in Maine thru the July 4th holiday and off to Acadia NP in Bar Harbor, ME next week. Next post should come mid next week from Acadia NP so stay tuned loyal followers.
Incidentally, Bar Harbor is about as far east as you can get in the USA without falling off into the Atlantic Ocean, so after Bar Harbor we will be heading back west towards home.
It's been a fantastic trip so far, much much more to come, we are loving every minute of it and as always miss and love every one of you.
Peace out, Deb and Howard
What a beautiful write up Howard! We are all truly blessed, especially me, with all of you wonderful loving people in my life
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