Wedding Weekend in Washington, D.C.

Posting will be reduced this weekend.  Tomorrow morning Barry and I are headed to Washington, D.C., for our wedding.   It's an event that not too many years ago neither of us would ever have dreamed would be possible.  For me, after a coming out process that at times verged on a living Hell, its the culmination of the image in my mind of what I sought at the end of the journey: a legally recognized, committed relationship to a wonderful man.  All the plans are in place and family members who cannot attend will be staying at the house and other family members will be dog sitting the "furry children" as Barry calls the two Chihuahuas.

A wedding commissioner for the District of Columbia will be officiating the ceremony,but Barry's dad - a retired Southern Baptist pastor - will be participating in the ceremony.  The actual ceremony will be conducted on the southeast corner of the top terrace of the John F. Kennedy Center for the performing Arts (pictured above).  With a forecast of good weather, the image below shows the view that will be the back drop for the ceremony (in the background is Virginia where our marriage still will not be recognized).

 Following the ceremony, we will dine in the Terrace Restaurant on the top level of the complex which is pictured below.

 

The group in Washington will be small and intimate and later in the year when my oldest daughter and my grandson have returned from Washington State we will have the first of several receptions for family and friends.  Tonight we had dinner at the Hampton Yacht Club where we received congratulations and hugs from other members and the staff.  Living one's life openly and honestly does change hearts and minds.  We will take plenty of photos and there will be some updates as the weekend progresses.

Main floor atrium - Kennedy Center

For those who would like to do something in honor of our wedding, we will be setting up a page at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation where tax deductible donations can be made to the Hamar/HRBOR Scholarship that the Foundation manages for HRBOR.  Details will follow.

Key West Vacation - Day 4

We continue to have lucked out weather wise and today Sunday was gorgeous and sunny.  Much like New Orleans, eating and drinking are among the main pastimes in Key West.  After lazing by the pool we went to brunch with our former neighbors at Cafe Sole where there were some unique twists on standard brunch fare and great drinks.   After brunch, it was back to the Equator Resort to relax before heading to tea dance at La Te Da at 4:00PM (our main form of exercise is walking between restaurants and bars).  Once again, La Te Da did not disappoint and there was a lively crowd of gays, lesbians and an array of open minded straight folk.  The DJ - DJ Rude Girl, a/k/a Dominatrix of Disco - was terrific as well and the dance floor was packed!

As is always our experience here in Key West, we met a number of great people including a woman from Charlottesville, Virginia who joined us for dinner at Square One - New American Table.   We have had a similar wonderful experience at The Equator where we have met many nice guys.

 

This morning I have spent 3 hours on office work and then at 11:00AM we will head down to the Westin to catch the launch to Latitudes on Sunset Key for lunch with one of the boyfriend's clients who has been wintering on Marathon Key.