Provincetown Wedding Recap: Part 1

Alternate blog title: "The dunes of the Cape"

Do you ever have one of those weekends where you are SO sad to see it end?  When you almost get sad before it even ends, because you know it has to at some point?  One of those weekends that leaves your heart feeling so full and you just feel blessed and grateful for everything around you with your whole body?  A weekend that energizes you, makes you want to take risks and try new things, and excited to be alive?

This past weekend was all of those things for me.

After the really lovely day I had with friends in Saratoga, I came home, packed up and drove the 2.5 hours to my mom's in Rhode Island.  It was just a quick visit that really only involved me sleeping the night and then being up bright and early to be in Providence at 6:30 a.m. to pick up my brother.  We hit the road, having a full on dance party in the car for most of the way as we drove out to Provincetown, Massachusetts to begin celebrating a very special wedding.

The wedding was for two of my favorite people in the world.  My mom's youngest brother, Steve, and his now husband, Colin.  Steve has long been the "cool uncle" as he is the youngest of my parents siblings, so much so that I attended both his high school and college graduations.  My grandmother used to give me his old T-shirts from the musicals he was in that I would wear all the time and I loved them.

Colin, his partner of more than 10 years now, has been a part of the family since the moment we met him.  He fit in perfectly with our goofy, over the top gang, and so perfectly suited Steve it was hard not to love him when you saw how happy he made him.  They were only dating for a few months when Steve brought him to our family gathering at Lake Waukewan for the first time.  It's true love when you don't run away from those shenanigans after such a short period of time of dating!

Their two year anniversary of dating coincided with when I was studying abroad in Florence, Italy and the two of them included coming to visit me as part of their anniversary trip.  It was an experience that was so memorable to me and the first time in my life that I truly saw my uncles as not just uncles, but friends.  We bonded so much and the following year when my friends went to beach towns and exotic locations for spring break, I jumped on a plane to San Francisco and spent a week staying with my uncles in their home in the Castro.  

My uncles are two of the most generous and open-hearted people I have ever met in my entire life.  They are so incredibly open and sharing and have come to be great friends, confidants, advice-givers, career advisors, dating coaches, and drinking buddies of mine, as well as incredible uncles.  They are so giving and caring, especially to their families, and I am so lucky to have them in my life.

As soon as I arrived in P-Town and said hello to some family, I went out on a run along the bike path that weaved through the dunes of the Cape.  It was a gorgeous and hilly run but I was happy to get 7-miles in before what I knew would be a tough weekend foodwise.  The path was beautiful and I enjoyed the run, stopping for some pictures and showing off with the sign for the hills that I totally conquered.

After the run, I spent the afternoon getting some sandwiches with my family and sitting outside enjoying the absolutely perfect weather we had.  It was a warm and sunny enough that you could be in shorts and t-shirts or a sundress but not hot enough that you were sweating.  There was a perfect beach breeze and just seriously could not have been a greater weather day -- which is something that stuck with us the whole weekend! 

My family was staying in all different locations along Commercial Street in Provincetown.  I specifically was at the Red Inn, and my uncles stayed at one of the most unique and beautiful rental properties I have ever seen -- Captain Jack's Wharf.  Everywhere had incredible water views and set ups that made you never want to leave.  I now know why my uncles have loved it so much in P-Town over the years!

After enjoying a lazy afternoon, all the wedding attendees, which were my whole family (pretty big!), Colin's family, and a handful of their friends from San Francisco, all met up to start the festivities.  This began with private dune tours throughout the sandy beaches.  Cars aren't allowed on the sand and the only people authorized to drive on the dunes, which are protected by the National Seashore, is this one company.  They explained the history of the dunes, and the private artist bungalows that people wait years to be able to stay in.

After a tour, we stopped for a while in the middle of the dunes and had the opportunity to take some pictures and walk around a bit.  The younger kids (nieces and nephews on Colin's side) enjoying running around and rolling around in the sand, where the rest of us I think just took in the beauty of everything.  Okay, and hiked around in the dunes a bit and may have jumped and played in the sand too.

After exploring the dunes for a bit, we piled back into the vans, and then drove to a location right by the water, where we stopped for dinner.  We'd previously picked out what we wanted for meal options, which ranged from a lobster and clam bake to BBQ chicken to sushi.  There was a bonfire, blankets, lawn chairs, a kettle drum player guy named Magic, coolers full of a beer and wine, oh, and a beautiful sunset.

The bonfire ended and we packed back into the car to head home with full bellies and happy hearts.  Steve and Colin have been together for 10 years, during which all of their nieces and nephews on Colin's side were  born, who we've watched grow up through photos (his family all lives on the West Coast.)  I've been Facebook friends with his family members and met some of their friends years ago, and it was so great to have everyone there together and get to spend quality time with the new people, as well as my family.

Happiness and love were in the air throughout the whole evening and it was such a special night.  Including a moment that my uncle Steve and I witnessed that made me say to him, "Did you just fall in love all over again?" -- to which his response was, "Yup."

When we got back from the bonfire, a group of people headed straight to the hotel bar, which I joined briefly, and then headed out with a big group to experience Provincetown nightlife for the first time.  And boy, was it a sloppy fun night!  

I had a blast with my brother, cousins, uncles, their friends, and some new ones we made.  It is such a high to meet people who are friendly and interesting and nice and FUN all in one!

It was an awesome first day to the wedding weekend that ended in a pedi cab ride home from a lovely Bulgarian bike rider who confidently carried my brother, cousin and I behind him.  I bet he also wished I had been better that day about eating healthy.

It's getting late for me so I am going to wrap up for tonight and will finish recapping the wedding weekend later on!  Happy Hump Day everyone!