A Trip to Fredericksburg

(Diana, guess where I am?)

Today, Kristin, Clara, and I piled in the car for a quick drive down south to Fredericksburg to attend my third cousin's wedding. What should have been a 70-90 minute drive ended up taking 2+ hours, thanks to some wonderful traffic on 95 south. At one point we went 8 miles in an hour. Pretty impressive, eh?

Charles is marrying a delightful girl named Jessie. We had the opportunity to meet her at a dinner for the family and wedding party at her parent's home. Before we get to that, though, we check into our hotel and ran into some family members. Michael, Charles' brother, might well be the tallest in the group, Evan, Charles' other brother, is rightfully bitter about this (he's only got you by an inch, don't sweat it), and Jeanne Marie, sister, is perfectly poised, tall, and striking. They are quite the bunch. We also ran into Charles' grandmother, dear Auntie Frances, see at right with Clara.

Jessie's parents had a nice pavilion area where they had tables and chairs set up. We had a great time meeting and talking with Jessie's Aunt Judy, as well as visiting with Rachel & Joe, last mentioned on this blog here, and talking to Charles' father, Uncle George, and his sister Mary and their mother. There weren't too many bugs and we endured the humidity with good humor. It's been quite some time since we've seen this crowd, and it was great to be able to catch up with them.

We arrived back at our hotel safely and gave Clara a head-to-toe inspection. Nary a bug bite, tick or other strange mark in sight. Got to be careful in the woods, which surrounded Jessie's parents' lovely home. First time parents, nervous, yeah.

Oh, one more thing. Though Fredericksburg is now commonly considered part of Northern Virginia, I must take issue with the sign as we entered Jessie's parents' community. In my mind, any sign like this, is Part II to this post.