The Big Trip

Massachusetts was great. Green and beautiful. Thursday was the first wedding day. We met the Arizona boys on the beach in Sandwich and they were dressed perfectly for a beach wedding: Madras beach shorts, polo shirts, even a white hat. We stood on a rock jetty and they exchanged simple vows, no doubt these were two of the few weddings ever where the ceremony was read from an iPhone screen! It was delightful! Afterward we celebrated at Seafood Sam's, a local spot that hands out those coaster thingies that buzz and flash lights when your table is ready, only theirs were shaped like lobsters. It was a wonderful morning. That afternoon the twins and I went out to Provincetown (or "P-town") at the very tip of Cape Cod. It's like Castro Street only bigger, a bit less in-your-face, with a seashore and buildings all centuries old. Charming! I can see why people love to visit and live there.

Friday we drove to Boston and enjoyed a guided walking tour of the Freedom Trail, saw Boston Common, the cemetery where Sam Adams and Paul Revere and John Hancock are buried, the old State House where the Declaration of Independence was first read in public, and the site of the Boston Massacre. Then out to Cambridge to walk around Harvard Law School where twin daughter wants to go someday. Then back to Sandwich. Next day spent slumming around locally, searching for dress shoes and a belt for him, and we lucked out! Found an outlet mall with a Bass shoe store running a "buy one get two free" sale, so we all got new shoes. Sweet. Call it another OGT to get excited about an impromptu shopping trip. Saturday evening dinner with the two families at Cafe Chew, which served a passable imitation of a "California" BLT with avocado. Sandwich is a beautiful town full of history and atmosphere, and in some ways I felt a lot more at home there than I do out West. The twins and I even talked about what it might be like to live in the Northeast in future years, in a place where Dan and Michael said being gay or straight was just never an issue. "SO nice," they said. As opposed to the homophobic cultural pressure-cooker called Utah.

Sunday was Dan & Michael's wedding. I won't steal their thunder except to say that it was beautiful, went flawlessly. It was so fun to stand up close right next to them and see the tears welling up in their eyes as they gazed and smiled at each other while I said the words of commitment and pronounced them married. My own eyes were more than a little wet too, I can tell you. Afterward while most everyone else went to their hotel rooms to relax, we headed back to the boardwalk and beach to do the last of the Massachusetts weddings, this one with Brandon & Michael. It was delightful, of course. Then to Seafood Sam's again for lunch at the twins' insistence to indulge their craving for popcorn shrimp. Then we went back to our cottage and I actually took a nap! Turns out I wasn't the only one. Sandwich is a charming, quiet village founded in 1639, and later that afternoon we took a stroll round to enjoy the cool fresh air and the quiet and the atmosphere. And met Dan & Michael on the street doing the same thing! Back to the Inn by 6:30 all dressed up again for the reception, which was a great party. I danced with my beautiful daughter who felt a bit self-conscious about it, especially when her brother took to the floor during one of the faster numbers and displayed his dancing prowess, which is considerable. Dat kid got da moves. Party broke up near 11 pm.

Monday morning we met Dan & Michael at the town clerk's office to record the marriage, which took only a few minutes. Said our goodbyes with big hugs and promises to meet again soon. Then Rob & Twins headed south and were in New York by 1:30 pm, to find it was the hottest day of the year so far. By 10 pm it had finally cooled down to below 80 degrees. Still, we had a great time walking from Lincoln Center to Sheep Meadow for a rest on the grass, then down 5th a ways and over to Times Square where the twins were wide-eyed to see such a barrage of light,
then took the train home again. Empire State Building, SoHo and Chelsea tomorrow, I think. I love this town.