The obvious Bowie song link would be wildly inappropriate here, but don’t think I wasn’t tempted.
Five years ago last Friday, Nicole and I were married. It was both a blessing, in that we got to have a party with a lot of great friends, and a formality, in that we’d been permanently bonded in an informal sense long before the event. Thanks to all of you who were there and those who wished us well from a distance as it wasn’t the largest affair. It was a lovely day and commemorating its anniversary is the most important holiday on my calendar.
Of course, he seems to have been well-protected…
This year, I took a week off (mostly, because you never really leave work these days) and we got as far off the grid as we can and still remain near enough to visit the kitten because what kind of a person doesn’t go visit kittens?
Nicole found a place in Fentress, Texas and, if you’ve never heard of Fentress, you’re not alone. It’s only 30 miles from here, but it might as well be on another planet. It’s a little resort/camping place called Wahwahtaysee on the banks of the San Marcos river on a big patch of farmland in the middle of absolutely nowhere.
That it to say, it suited our needs perfectly.
Our room was an absurdly large “tent” well worthy of the quotation marks as the walls were wooden and only the top was three layers of canvas. Gorgeous bathroom with a big tub and bigger shower, galley kitchen, comfy bed, living room area, and one of the most over-the-top grilling patios I’ve ever seen, featuring both a gas and charcoal grill.
There ought to be a word for “glamorous camping” but I can’t think of anything that doesn’t sound douchy AF.
Freed from having to interact with any other humans, either in person or online, we did what came naturally: We relaxed.
We grilled, obviously, drank a little, napped a lot, read, chilled, and, of course, missed the kitten. We also saw stars, although not as many as we had expected as the full moon was pretty greedy with regards to the light.
The tents came with golf carts which, well, the percentage of the grounds where the carts could go was awfully small. The interesting bits down by the river required navigating trails that were off-limits for the carts, or at least for drivers with my skill. . We made due with taking it off the trail and into a recently plowed field and sitting on the back bench as the sun went down
The second-best sunset we saw. We were a little too enthralled with the first to pull out our cameras.
What else do people of our age and maturity do when on vacation in the middle of nowhere? Nicole brought bubbles and they were magnificent.
What else? Well, the outdoor shower was fantastic. There was more wildlife than we expected. We assumed we’d see deer, armadillos, spiders (oh so many spiders), and birds. What we did not expect was to be awakened in the wee hours by a mountain lion. We only heard it, and if you’ve never heard one, I can assure you that there is no mistaking it. Wooden walls were very, very welcome at that point.
Friday was our anniversary night and decided to celebrate it with…lobster rolls, which seemed appropriate as we had a lobster roll truck at our wedding. We hit up Little Em’s in San Antonio which has an extremely limited menu but it also had exactly what we wanted. It’s been years since we’ve been to a fancy restaurant, but they had a lovely patio and it didn’t seem particularly risky.
If it was risky, it was worth it. Holy smokes, the lobster rolls were fantastic, just absolutely fresh and loaded with, well, lobster. The tuna appetizer was perfect, and the service was great. Oh, and the people watching? It’s in the King William district of San Antonio, so the people watching was very on point and I’m not just saying that because a dude tried to parallel park his sports car across the street from us and gave up after trying for literally ten minutes.
So, wow. Five years that flew by like minutes. Ten years together now, which also seems impossibly long considering how short it seems. My big takeaway here? Find yourself someone you really love being with and make sure you have chances to have some quality, uninterrupted time with them because, from my point of view, there’s nothing better.
-RK