…land of the bucolic pastures, autumn splendor, oblivious college student crossing the street without looking, nonagenarian leafpeeping grand marquis driver, the world’s best pad thai (ok fine, america’s, for the eph palette), ridiculous private estates and freezing temperatures.
So we had a relatively productive day today. We drove in around lunchtime, behind the aforementioned nonagenarian, grabbed our favorite meal of pad thai (it’s so sweet and perfect!) and prik pow seafood fried brown rice at Sushi Thai Garden and dove into our appointments.
First on the schedule was a lovely private estate. Run by a Williams ‘06 alum! He is living with his partner and their 17-month old child on what must be a several several million dollar property. Oh, you know, it was just Cole Porter’s country estate here in town. (You know you need that link to “remind” you who he was; just as I needed it to remind me…) Lovely, lovely spot. I’d like to be a few years out of college and living on such a property. For those of you with big bucks to spare, check out the photos and stay here during our wedding. Definitely super lovely, but also super pricey and not particularly… je ne sais quoi.
Slightly let down and slightly chilled to the bone later, we drove around town checking out the startlingly high number of properties that had “for sale” signs in front. One can dream, right? We want to have our own country estate at which to pen pieces of musical theatre - don’t you think these blog entries set to song would be just fantastic? Particularly the one about the shoes.
We talked to a few other folks about venues, but alas, area museums are off limits because MassMoCA doesn’t do private events in October, and the Clark Art Institute doesn’t do private events, period. Perhaps those are not quite dead ends, but for now we move onwards in the search.
At 4:30 pm we had a meeting with the amazing Rick S.; Williams College Chaplain, soul soother, inspiring mentor, social justice beacon, you name it. Following in the steps of our good friends Mark R. and Anna B. (which, you will soon see, is a pretty prevalent trend in our plans), we would be honored if Rick could be our officiant on The Big Day. It was lovely to catch up with Rick, introduce Joe to him, tell him a bit more about us as a couple and talk in the comfort of his office and presence.
Before the sun went down, we swung by Sheep Hill (OMG, what a coincidence: Mark & Anna’s ceremony spot!) Those of you Williams-types might know this as the big ass sledding hill frequented during winter study. Some of you may have been lucky enough to attend or even star in a very special wedding ceremony there earlier this summer; and there’s currently a decent chance more of you will get to check out the spot for yourself in, oh, about 12 months’ time. Because, despite the sun disappearing quickly behind the mountains and us showing up really late, we were shown around and we loved it! I’m not adept enough at tumblr to attach photos within posts… apologies for that, but check out the following pic. Doesn’t that just make you smile?? And get over the fact that perhaps portapotties (fancy ones, for sure, but still..) could feature as an amenity at a wedding??
We’ll check out more options tomorrow; and begin looking into renting tents to keep us warm and portable bathrooms that will not cause too much distress. The day begins at 8 am - so I’d better be off.
Now I get to snuggle up with my fiancé in this comfy little twin bed (it’s as if we were in college!) in the “girls’ room” of the lovely Casa Schivs on Keep Hill and look forward to what tomorrow will bring!
