Our Wedding Reception

Here I go with another long blog post. First off I want to let you know that if you click on any photo you get to see a larger version of it.


So,,,back in January Mike and I eloped, in our own living room no less. Since then all we have heard from lots of people are questions as to why they were not invited. In a effort to appease the masses we decided to have a belated wedding reception and invite a lot of people. Invitations went out to about 80 people, close to 50 attended. God granted us a lovely day with no rain and acceptable temperatures.

We wanted flowers all over the place and used our antique Mason jars. A family at the farmers' market made all the arrangements for us. I made the bows.

We bought little bottles of bubbles and made labels with our names, wedding date and a saying on them.

I made chair signs.

Going with a rustic/redneck/country theme we used Mason jars for glasses. The sign on the rack reads:
Beer and wine are mighty fine.
Take a glass and say "its mine"
Write your name really neat
Then place the glass at your seat

My dear friend Nan came down from Sugar Mountain to spend a few days and helped me get things set up. Don't know what I would have done without her help.

The Tyler Millard Band showed up and worked on getting ready to play for us.

We hired our neighbor's daughter who is in school to be a pastry chef to bake our cupcakes for us. She did a great job. We had fun looking at paper baking cupcake liners together.

Here is a close up of one of her creations.

We hired Ricky Moore, chef and owner of Up North Caterings. This is one of the dishes he made for us. Cucumber rounds topped with smoked salmon & dill.

Mike made signs for the front fence. He did a great job.

After a beer the band got going. They were great!

Our neighbors, Shelton, Cheryl and their daughter Shannon.

Terry and Dana

Jordan and Megan. We get to attend their wedding this October.

Mike with James and Heidi

We had our "First Dance". It really was the first time we had danced together since we got married. The song the band played is Forever More and was written by Tyler Millard himself. Its a beautiful love song.

I quietly sang the chorus to Mike.
,,,and when I see your eyes,
its something that I can't ignore
'cause the heart never lies,
so its you and me in love forever more,,

He told me what I owed him for throwing such a wonderful party.

My former in-laws, Bunny and Joe came. Bunny enjoyed the bubbles.

The chef brought out a plate of food just for Mike and I to share.

Instead of a wedding cake we opted for cupcakes. We had promised not to mash the cupcake into each others face as is seen at some weddings. Here I daintily fed Mike a bite of our cupcake.

He fed me very gently.

Then we got to share a cupcake kiss, so sweet.

It was a wonderful day and we really enjoyed seeing everyone who was able to come and help us celebrate our marriage.

The Triad Highland Games

Since we had been dating I had related stories to Mike about the time spent at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. When we saw that the Triad Highland Games we coming up we bought our tickets and made plans to go.

They started out Saturday morning with a Border Collie herding demonstration, which we missed. But we got there in time for the Color Guard and the military appreciation.

These games were small, I'm talking maybe 15-20 clan tents in total. But they did have ladies participating in the caber toss. Here they are getting the caber out.

A moment of contemplation before her toss. Unfortunately she couldn't control the caber and it fell before she got to throw it.

While watching the ladies we spied this father and son all dressed up for the occasion.

The NC State Bagpipe Band was there performing. Made me wish I had worn an FSU shirt or hat instead of my Scottish plaid.

Here is the 2nd contestant for the ladies caber toss. She actually was able to pick it up and throw it. The caber made a complete flip as required by the rules before hitting the ground

We watched a few men do the hammer throw. The metal block weighs 50 lbs.

Another hammer throw contestant.

Scottish flags snapping in the breeze over a food vendor's tent.

My beloved husband, Mike hanging out in the shade of the band tent while we listen to Barley Juice perform.

As the day was nearing the end I spotted this gentleman's shield.

Here is his front side.

Our last photo of the day is of a piper. I cannot remember which band he plays for.

It was a nice day and we found out the the Adkins name falls under Clan Gordon. I now have to re-do my Highland Games attire so I honor my husband's clan while still showing my district tartan. Research on the horizon.

A Virginia Road Trip

Get something to sip on and get comfortable, we're going on a road trip to Virginia. The first part of the trip was boring, I-40 to I-85 northbound. Once we got onto I-85 Mike started telling me stories of when he would camp & fish at parks along the way. Eventually we got off the highway and headed down the 2 lane roads. I love to stop and read the historical markers and Mike lets me do just that.

I loved this sign when we crossed into Brunswick County. Once I had seen it, I had to make a u-turn, backtrack and then make another u-turn to get this shot.

Our first historical marker was for Mabry's Chapel. I wonder if this guy is any relation to the Mabry who had the mill on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Next up were 3 markers on the same spot. I was in such a hurry that I did not realize they signs were not properly framed in the view finder. At least they are still legible. This is the marker telling about the Brunswick Stew.

Meherrin Indians.

Greensville County. When Cornwallis passed through I hope it was on his way back to England.

After a bit more time on the main roads, Mike had me turn off onto some side roads. We passed where lumber mills used to be that he had worked at, and passed prisons where they got men to work the sawmills from. There were lovely old homes that were in great shape or in great dis-repair. When we got here Mike had me pull off the road into a vacant field and we played guess what this building was. He did give me a few hints and I got close but never got the true purpose. Mike told me it was used as solitary confinement for a prison that used to be down the road a bit, hence the bars on the windows. I had thought it was a small sheriff's office or a jail.

We eventually got to our hotel and rested. The next day we went on a tour of Suffolk, Old Suffolk and other quaint towns. We passed a Smithfield smokehouse and also a packing plant. For lunch we stopped at Edward's in Surry. They make the most incredible sandwiches.

The little shop is also a gift shop and you can buy refrigerated sausages and ham steaks. Not seen in the photo is the curing and packing warehouse behind this place. During the peak of summer they offer tours of the facility.

After a wonderful lunch we hustled back to our hotel to get freshened up and get stuff for the main event, The Chuckatuck Ruritan Oyster Roast! The oyster roast was one of the main reasons for this road trip. When we got down to the field there was already a good crowd going. The beer was flowing freely and all the tables has been staked out by groups of people who came for the food.

The oysters were trucked in from North Carolina.

Once the fire is roaring a crew of men work to get the concrete form covered with steel plates.

Once the steel plates are hot the oysters start coming off the truck. They are rinsed off and then shoveled onto the steel plates.

The older men spend time teaching the younger guys how to do it.

When the oysters are ready they are loaded into wheelbarrows and shoveled into piles all along the very long tables. Everyone gets their knives and gloves and gets to work.

With your ticket you are entitled to all the oysters you can eat, beer, clam chowder and baskets of roasted Virginia peanuts. Also included is quality time with long time friends of Mike's.

Ah, this was really worth the drive.

We already have our knives and gloves ready for the 2015 oyster roast and are working in a list of stuff to bring to make it an even better experience for us.