I spent the weekend with the family in C-Ville for Scott’s graduation from law school, which was a nice, if brief, little family reunion under sunny skies and a little rain. After some unusually crummy transit luck at Logan and Dulles, I got into CHO about two hours late. Scott was there in Sarah’s Honda, which sounded about like mine did a year or so ago, before I replaced the axle boots and exhaust pipe. They do have five speeds in theirs, though, so each car has its advantages.
Scott dropped me off at the hotel where Mom and Dad were waiting, and I gave him his graduation present, a Syldavia Neighborhoodie. We modeled our warring, Balkan-esque set:
The next morning, Dad and I had a nice run up Observatory Hill, after which we rewarded ourselves with a trip to Charlottesville’s only Krispy Kreme. This factory store, which sat in the parking lot of our hotel, was the first Krispy Kreme I’d been to when I visited Scott a number of years ago, and was in the middle of its last full day of operation. We got a couple of hot ones right off the conveyor belt, and said our goodbyes without buying any half-off memorabilia.
Scott had a bar review class to attend, so the rest of us wandered the Downtown Mall, and I stopped in at Baggby’s to say hi to Aimee’s cousin’s boyfriend Jason. After meeting up with Mom and Dad, I brought them back there and we all had lunch with Nell, who had shown up in the meantime, which was an unexpected and great surprise. I’m slowly but surely increasing the number of familiar faces for my folks at the wedding… After a well-deserved nap, we headed to the Law School for a reception, where met Sarah’s family and toured the buildings. Mother’s Day (observed) at home was next up, and then our annual dinner (at the same table) at Hamiltons’ (their site can’t decide on the number of Hamiltons involved), which was tremendous. After dropping people off at their respective places, Scott and I headed out for engagement-celebration drinks at D?rty Nelly’s, not far from Scott’s place. (There sure are a lot of Durty Nelly’s pubs and bars out there, but perhaps C-Ville’s is the only one with an umlaut…and an X-Files pinball game in the back). Their music selection was great – a mix of old punk from the DIY Compilations and the entire length of Blur’s Think Tank.
Sunday brought graduation proper, after a breakfast of bagels and mimosas. We skipped the main ceremony in favor of the Law School-only festivities, and we were fortunate enough to find seats in the shaded tent, as it got pretty steamy outside. We traded coolth for the ability to hear only about thirty percent of the speakers’ speeches, but it wasn’t too bad.
Scott’s Jefferson Cup, in its Mini-Me version:
After pizza and Scott’s graduation presents (including a trip to Costa Rica from Sarah, effective today), Scott took me to the airport, and I headed back home. Aimee picked me up, after her own law-school-graduation-Sunday, for Abby at B.U., and we headed back to Cambridge. We arrived in Central Square around twenty to midnight, and parked the car with just enough time to hustle to City Hall at the stroke of midnight to join the cheering throng witnessing the first couples emerge from City Hall with their marriage licenses. It was a breathtaking scene, with thousands of people (mostly thirty-something and under, admittedly) applauding as men and women, sometimes sheepish, sometimes demonstrative, walked down the steps as flashbulbs went off, news cameras rolled, and police in full riot gear escorted them into the street. The whole scene, especially the overwhelming cheering as each couple came into view, was an amazing thing to witness and be a part of, and I’m proud to say it happened in my neighborhood.
