Texas - January 2017

Christine and Graham

Christine and Graham planned their wedding for MLK weekend so we decided to attend that event and wrap in a visit to the Austin gang who we had wanted to see for quite a while.

Shawna was in Hartford the week before so we coordinated flights to arrive at Houston Hobby at the same time.  Shawna met Keith at his gate and we immediately drove to the Hotel Granduca where we were staying for two nights.  The hotel has an Italian aesthetic with really nice rooms.  After quickly getting sorted in the room, we walked across the road to meet the rest of the out-of-towners for cocktails at The Tasting Room.  The British contingent was there, as were Keith's parents who had driven in with Frank earlier that day.

Dodds Family Selfie at Memorial Park

On Saturday morning, we first met Keith's parents for breakfast at Starbucks.  We then went to the gym for an hour before going for a walk around the 3-mile loop at Memorial Park.  It was a gorgeous day so there were heaps of people at the park with us.  We had a couple of great salads at Local Foods before heading back to the hotel to catch up on some work items.

The wedding kicked off at 4:30pm with a bagpiper meeting guests at the front of the property as they arrived.  The ceremony was in a really cozy room and was quite quick - then we all departed for pre-dinner drinks.  We were able to chat with Clayton for a little while before the doors opened for dinner.  The meal was a multiple course event with wine pairings, followed by a few speeches.  Clayton in particular did a really good job on his toast.  We did a little dancing before we retired for the night.

We can dress up - no shorts!

On Sunday, we met Keith's parents again for Starbucks before hitting the road to Austin at 9:30.  There was torrential rain in some spots but we made it to Tracy and Dave's before 1pm.  We chatted with them for a couple of hours while helping Dave make a dent in his beer tap, and Hall and Nancy stopped by as well (they only live 2 doors down from Tracy and Dave).  We all went out for dinner to Eberly where we also met Jeff and Nina.  Dinner was delicious.  We then decided to return to Tracy and Dave's house, where we all went upstairs and sang karaoke on Dave's incredible sound system he has set up for Anna.  It was a battle of awesome adults vs crappy kids.  Kids being cute and way more talented won in the end!

Austin Gang

Keith had a 9:15am flight and Shawna's was at 11:15 back to Hartford, so it was an early morning back to the airport.  It was great to see the Austin gang and vowed that it should not be another 10 years before we see each other again!