We were once again guests at a Manz wedding this past weekend--Matt Manz and Rachel Smedy--and it lived up to expectations. After work on Thursday we headed for Jericho, VT and stayed at the Tuscany B&B (Gail Tuscany's home in case you haven't travelled to this part of New England). Gail was waiting up for us and we spent some time visiting and having a little bit of sweet tea vodka with lemonade.
Early the next morning Dan picked me up to head out for a round of golf with some members of the wedding party. Since there were other activities for the wedding party that day we did limit the outing to nine holes. Regardless we had a great time and it was enjoyable to gather around the last hole and watch the big hitters of the final team play up--Mikko, Kyle, Cameron--and then proceeded to fall apart attempting a four foot putt. It could have happened to anyone...
Dan dropped me back off at Gail's house and I managed to spend some of the afternoon making up for a few lost days of napping. Cheri and Gail spent the time doing some gardening around the house (which really meant choosing what plants they would dig up and send back with us to Connecticut).
Gail needed to work that evening so we sent her off and then headed out to meet with James and Stephanie Morris for dinner. We went to The Hungry Lion--what use to be Emma's when we lived in Underhill--and we were able to enjoy a nice meal 'al fresco'. Following dinner we headed to the Jim and Lois Nassau's house--where James and Stephanie were staying--to visit with them and enjoy a berry pie that Stephanie had made for dessert. Then back to Gail's for a fairly early evening.
Saturday morning we had plenty of time before the 2 pm wedding, so we hopped on our bikes and headed out Pleasant Valley Road. If you have been to Underhill you know that this is a fairly smooth and level road for the first few miles and then by Casey's Hill you start climbing up. Cheri pushed herself and kept saying, "I'm going to make it just a little further," and before we knew it we were at the top. Cheri said, "if we're this far we might as well ride down the other side of the hill and go as far as the Manz house,"...which we did...and they weren't there. So we climbed back up the hill and then had a great ride back down into Underhill. All in all a 16 mile ride that included some interval training (Cheri is getting ready for another triathlon) and some hill work--which I always like.
Since we were in Jericho...and had to have lunch someplace...we decided to go to Joe's Snack Bar and see if the sandwiches and grinders were as good as we remembered...and they were. As we got ready to leave we ran into Robert Morris, Thomas Morris, and Amanda Ruggerio just showing up with the same idea of re-living time at Joe's.
Then it was time for the wedding. We were just about to go inside when I realized that I left my camera in the car. I made do with my iPhone, but you know that those photos can be hit-or-miss...particularly with the delay that happens between hitting the shutter and when it actually decides to take the picture. Here is what I was able to get after some cropping (to get some reflective heads out of the pictures) and light adjustments.
I did retrieve my camera from the car for the light refreshment time on the front lawn of the church and I was able to get a nice photo of the newly married Mr. & Mrs. Manz.
Then we were off to South Burlington and Charlotte for our hotel rooms and the reception, respectively. The reception was held at the Old Lantern Inn and it was a very nice setting in a large post-and-beam building. There was plenty of food...great toasts and speeches...cake cutting...and then dancing. A little too much motion and I should have turned on the flash, but you can see that people were having a good time.
The next morning it was back to Underhill for a post-wedding brunch at the Niles' Farm--you may recall that they also hosted a brunch following David and Heather's wedding and likewise following Ken and Sarah's wedding. It was fun having more time to visit before getting on the road to head back to Connecticut.
Another adventure for us...and the start of Great Adventures for Matt and Rachel Manz!
