So Nice to See You Again!

It's always disappointing to lose touch with good friends. At Butler, I had two best girlfriends, Amy and Lisa, who were my partners-in-crime. Lisa and I were roommates at the Theta house, and Amy lived just across the hall. It was great! Over the last few years, though, keeping connected has been more difficult. Amy lives in Madison, Indiana, while Lisa is in Crown Point. Living in Indianapolis, I'm right in the middle...an almost equidistant 2 hours from either one of them. One might think that we would reunite more, but busy schedules and growing families make it tough. So, when we received an invitation a couple of months ago to Amy's wedding, I told Marc that we had to go, even though we hadn't been in contact for so long.

We thought it was a wonderful opportunity to travel to Southern Indiana during the best part of the year, while the leaves are turning and the air is crisp. So we dropped Barkley at doggy-camp, shipped Kelso off to his grandparents' house, and headed out Saturday morning. Marc expressed some doubt at the directions I provided (thinking that they took us an entirely backwards way to Madison); and as we made our way through the rolling countryside, he even commented on how he truly believed we were seeing pieces of Indiana that he had never seen before during his 29 years living in the state. It wasn't until we hit a detour outside a tiny town named Osgood that I started to get a little worried. First we passed the road we were supposed to take for the detour. Then, once we made it onto the right road, we drove for miles before we saw any signs indicating that we were still on the right track. Finally, we managed to finagle our way through the entire detour and were rewarded with the "Golden Arches"...lunch break! Marc and I really don't eat McDonald's very often, but road trips always seem to bring out the fast-food lovers in us. The best part was when we were getting ready to leave, and every trash container was either full or the waste basket had been removed for dumping. We chased this little old lady around the restaurant until she finally slowed down long enough for us to dump our trays. When she saw us, she kindly took our garbage and said, "Y'all come back and see us again!" Marc commented on how he loved her "Southern Hospitality."

Once Marc and I finally made it to Madison, we first drove to the historic district to find the church and reception hall, lest we get lost and arrive late for the ceremony. The road leading into downtown actually has a warning sign reading, "Long, steep road ahead with hairpin turns." We were intrigued. As you can see from the pictures...they weren't lying.

Downtown Madison is a quaint little area that sits directly on the Ohio River. It is filled with antique stores and a variety of other independently owned cafes and shops. It was the perfect setting for Amy's beautiful wedding, which took place in an old Presbyterian Church. The church had amazing stained glass windows. The picture I took doesn't do them justice, but you'll get the idea.

Amy & Casey's wedding was the perfect Autumn wedding. Her bridesmaids wore chocolate brown dresses with cappucino colored sashes. The steps leading up to the church were adorned with hurricane lamps filled with potpourri that looked like dried cranberries, and the tables at the reception were scattered with "leaves" and cinnamon sticks. One of the best things about the reception was how wonderfully it smelled. It was the perfect mix of cinnamon, spice, and vanilla...the kind of smells that make you feel warm and cozy. I told Marc that I wished our house smelled like that all of the time!

The next morning, Marc and I decided to take a lap around Historic Madison to walk off our breakfast. Most of the shops were closed, but we managed to find a few shops to wander into. One shop, in particular, caught our eye due to their lovely signage. As Marc said, "Thanks for the warning!"

Finally, we stopped in to the Madison Coffee & Tea Company for a quick pick-me-up before we hit the road. (Check out Marc enjoying his chai tea...I'm not quite sure what the girl on the sidewalk is doing.) Someone at the reception confirmed Marc's suspicion that we took the longest way possible to Madison and offered and alternative route back. All things considered...it was a pretty good trip.