2 countries. 5
States. 10 days. That’s how I roll.
I was elated to be asked to be a bridesmaid in a dear
friend’s wedding. It took place a few
weeks ago in Vermont, where I’ve never been before but had heard was
beautiful. I figured if I was going to
go all the way up to the Northeast, I was going to make a good, long trip out
of it, not just a weekend dash. Planning
ensued.
Crazily enough, it was the tiniest bit cheaper to fly into
Montreal, Canada versus other nearby destinations. Plus, the bus ride was a good 2 hours shorter
to get to Burlington from Vermont, so Montreal was my first stop! I stayed in a funky hostel, immediately meeting
some guys getting high right outside and then two very sweet French young
ladies with whom I was sharing a room.
The French girls were studying abroad and graciously shared their dinner
with me. In return, I suppose, I helped
them practice their English.
I woke up early to catch the bus, on which I sat next to a
nice girl who had been visiting her boyfriend in Montreal and was heading back
to start school at the University of Vermont.
We talked about majors, families, passions, dreams, and more to pass the
time during the longer-than-expected bus ride.
We’d both point out something funny or cute as we drove along our merry
little way, and we were both also equally shocked by how rude the border patrol
personnel were and how long it took to get through. I enjoyed meeting her (and the French girls,
too, since a lot of my travels are solo) and wished her all the best.
Once in Burlington, I was picked up by a family member of
the bride and ushered off to the nail salon where all the ladies were enjoying
manicures and/or pedicures. It was a
mini reunion right then and there! Once
done getting slightly woozy on the smell of chemicals, everyone went to change
for the rehearsal. Let me say now that
Vermont is very pretty and, so, lived up to the hype. I snapped a postcard-like picture of the
church before going in to see the groom and more familiar faces.
Now then, the best part of the rehearsal was when the floor
was opened at dinner to share stories about the bride and groom, most of which
were quite funny. I loved hearing the
stories from family members and friends to see how others see them, to know
what they were like growing up, and to see that their qualities and
characteristics have stayed with them.
The actually day of the wedding was relaxing and joyous! Everyone leisurely got ready for the ceremony
and thoroughly enjoyed it. I especially
liked when the bride’s father read a letter of encouragement and charge to the
bride and groom. Afterwards, everyone celebrated
well at the reception with yummy breakfast-for-dinner, dancing, and a Nerf gun
[war] send-off.
Another early morning bus ride was on the itinerary to see
to my friend in Connecticut, which is another state I’ve never been to. My friend is from the area and moved back to
attend Yale of all schools for graduate work. I tell her she’s such a smarty (she truly is
and humble about it, too!), and I said “…and that’s why you’re at Yale” a
lot.
Despite her busy schedule with classes starting basically as
soon as I arrived, she was an amazing host and we got some good talks in while
doing some fun things. I also finally
got to meet her husband, who is a really awesome guy! (I feel like a lot of my friends married well,
and I’m so happy for them!) I got to
feel like a Yalie for a day as I toured campus and attended her class
convocation. I totally faked being a
Yale student while on the campus bus going to her convocation but, for whatever
reason, didn’t think to keep the act up while meeting her classmates. My friend and I thought it would have been an
hilarious joke but oh well.
The next day, we grabbed some munkins at Dunkin’ Donuts and
then split ways at the train station.
She went to class, while I went to Providence, Rhode Island. Yep, another state I’ve never visited
before! My first stop was the State
House, which housed a visitor’s center. There
was an older gentleman sitting in the visitor’s center, and I picked his brain
for things to do or see since I only had the day there. He gave me some good tips and set me up for a
personal tour of the State House with a Johnson and Wales student. I found the tour quite interesting and even
got to ask about J&W’s culinary program.
Hmm, can I stand the winters up there long enough to go to
culinary school? Probably not, but it’d
be cool. I at least tried to see J&W’s
campus but didn’t have any luck. I
toured Brown University instead.
I was wearing a shirt from my alma mater, yet still got
asked by the tour guide if I was a senior.
“Um, no. I’ve graduated.” I think I motioned to the shirt but didn’t
dare say that I’d finished both undergrad and grad school. Granted, I was
surrounded by perspective students *cough* high schoolers *cough* with their parents, so I can’t blame her too much. Anyway, it was a nice campus, and it was fun
to learn about the school’s history, quirks, and unique offerings.
Touring both Yale and Brown made me think of a lot of
things, though. I thought about the fact that I
didn’t explore options for college. I visited
two state schools and applied to three of them, since I knew in-state tuition
was a good idea since I was going to be paying for some of my education and
didn’t know how much scholarship monies I would receive. Yet, I wonder where I would have gone if I
had looked and applied elsewhere. Don’t
get me wrong, I absolutely LOVED my time as an undergrad and as a grad student
and honestly wouldn’t change where I went.
It just got me thinking that I’d like to go on campus tours with my kids
and encourage them to go big, if that’s what they want.
^ Vermont and the wedding ^
^ My friends, New Haven, and Yale ^
^ Providence and Brown University ^
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