A Virginia Wedding

Stories from the Road
Alexandria, VA.
October 25, 2014

It is 50 degrees at 8:00 AM in Alexandria, Virginia. Soon we will head out to walk around the area before getting some breakfast. The wedding festivities begin with a boat ride on the Potomac at noon followed by a rehearsal dinner at 5:00.

I just returned from the journey on the Potomac. It was a sunny, warm day-perfect for cruising the river.  It is fun to talk with young people in the front end of their careers. Andrew Smith told me about his trips to Afghanistan and Iraq in recent months. I asked him, if he suffered any psychological fall out from being in these dangerous places with limited protection. He said he didn’t think so. He found the Afgan people very friendly, and he wouldn’t mind going back. Iraq was less friendly and more dangerous.

Both Andrew and Krissy had bachelor and bachelorette parties in New Orleans this summer. I followed the festivities on Facebook, and I told one of Andrew’s friends that I was ready to take a plane to Nolo, since they seemed to be having so much fun. Vic’s youngest daughter is married to a documentary filmmaker. He just returned from Alaska, where he was doing a special on crab fishermen. Both daughters have married creative, adventurous men.

Alexandria is a very cool place. On the main street through the old town there are many shops and trendy restaurants. Tonight we are all going there to eat at a fish house. We checked the menu out this afternoon, and it looked very good. This morning our bellman gave us a great breakfast recommendation at a place around the corner from out hotel. It was an “old school” kind of place with lots of eggs and potatoes at 1970 prices.

Tonight we went to the rehearsal dinner, which was a lot of fun. Krissy’s friends are all in the news business, and it was interesting to talk with them. The dinner was at a restaurant on King Street, the main thoroughfare for fine dining and shopping. We had crab soup and crab cakes, which were very good. Krissy, who will honeymoon in Sorrento, Capri, and Rome, looked elegant and spoke eloquently to us all.