Erynn's little sister, Amy, got married in Austin, Texas a couple days after Christmas. Amy and Chris met in Chicago while they were both in school and working at the Home Depot. Their wedding was a small affair at a really cute place called Hamilton Twelve just outside of Austin. Chris and his family are from Austin, which made it a great place to have the wedding. Plus, it was warm.
Erynn and I were very excited to be heading back to Austin. I had spent both my spring breaks down there for a rowing camp while I was in b-school. Erynn went down my second year to help with the rowing team, and we both fell in love with the atmosphere and food. More on the food later.
Here are a couple of the posed wedding photos outside of the reception hall. The picture on the left is of Amy with her parents and siblings. The photo on the right is with Chris and his family.
The proud father got to give his daughter away.
Their ceremony was small and very intimate. Their friend Kevin presided over the wedding.
Everyone but Amy was nervous before the wedding. You can see her here posing with her two sisters and mother. She also had a few minutes to listen to her favorite wedding present from Erynn and I: a 6GB red iPod nano.
Before the wedding the Pearsons and Rathburns posed for their own photos.
The actual place where the wedding was held, Hamilton Twelve,
was exceedingly beautiful. It was purpose built to hold wedding ceremonies and receptions. The owner claimed they
could host over 200 people, which seemed a bit tight, but it was perfect for Amy's wedding. Above are photos
of the seating for the outdoor ceremony (remember this was December) and the reception hall.
GPS Coordinates: N30 17.093 W98 03.780
| I took a few photos of the reception setup. Calla lilies were the theme for the wedding with the girls' bouquets made from them and the wedding cake incorporating them. Very classy and very beautiful. The food was also very good and was cooked and prepared by the Hamilton Twelve staff. Chris' mom also had the cool idea to make a plate that everyone could sign with a porcelain pen so that Amy and Chris could further remember the day. |
Here are a couple photos of Amy and Chris cutting their wedding cake and their first dance.
Throughout the evening I took a number of more candid photos during the reception. Amy and Erynn were getting some advice from their Uncle Mark. Mark and Carole came down from Canada to take part in the festivities, and she couldn't get enough of the souvenir chocolate bars.
Aly was playing with her new camera, which kicked butt. Caleb was depressed because his 4 days/week (no wait, 5) at the gym weren't working for the ladies. He was so depressed that I caught him staring at the Shiner Bock.
Disclaimer: Caleb did not drink beer at any time during the evening! I was just having fun with the camera.
I have no idea what's going on here.
Kevin was sad that Amy was no longer available, and Amy was getting some last minute advice from her parents before the honeymoon.
Amy and Chris left the reception a bit early to catch some sleep before their early morning flight. They were going to honeymoon in Vancouver, Canada! Yes, it was December! Only Amy and Chris.
| When we arrived in town the entire family went for lunch at the County Line on the Hill for some BBQ. This was also where Erynn and Amy discovered they had the same taste in shoes. Erynn took the photo of the rooster with antlers. In Texas it's apparently neat to create new species of animals by putting antlers on them. Of course, there's the famous jackalope but I think I also saw a fish with antlers too. |
Mercifully, the men on the trip were not obliged to take part in everything related to the wedding. Therefore, we headed down to the University of Texas campus for a little site seeing. In the left photo are Caleb and Seth, Amy's brothers, and Kris, Aly's husband. The night after the wedding Erynn and I were able to eat at one of our favorite restaurants called the Boiling Pot. GPS Coordinates: N30 15.975 W97 44.163) The food isn't the absolute best, but any excuse for Erynn to get dirty is a bonus and puts it at the top of the list. You basically order a pot of seafood of various types with corn, sausage and potatoes. They then dump it onto the table and you just dig in armed with only a wooden mallet.
Before the wedding Kevin and I accompanied Amy, her sisters, and mother to the hair stylist. Veronica Balderas at
Grapevine Salons took great care of them.
Of course, I had to include the "before" photo of Amy! I'm sure she appreciates it and would expect
nothing less of her brother-in-law...
I also took some photos of Erynn with the spray mask while Veronica was working. Kevin even got into the act, because
he never has had the need for hairspray and wanted to see how it worked.
Erynn and I had a free day after the wedding so we decided to head down to San Antonio. On the previous two trips we hadn't had the opportunity to visit the city and we saw this as our chance. The first stop in San Antonio is obviously The Alamo. (N29 25.547 W98 29.192) The picture on the right shows Erynn with a bunch of her Hawekye brethren.
As of this writing, we live in Iowa but didn't grow up here. She's getting her MSN/MPH at the University of Iowa, but is definitely NOT a Hawkeye fan for any number of reasons. When we pulled into town, we saw a few Iowa license plates and thought it was pretty odd. By the time we made the short walk to the Alamo we passed a whole bunch of people in Hawkeye garb and thought something must be wrong. Apparently we had chosen the one day when the entire state or Iowa decided to jump in the GM cars (Pontiac has about a 40% market share) and drive to Texas for the Alamo Bowl against the University of Texas!!! Thousands of people that have eaten too much cheese and haven't seen sunlight in about 6 months.
One of the other things San Antonio is known for is the River Walk. It's a little bit touristy, but still really cool. The walk way is one level below the street and follows a little river through town. There are a ton of bars and restaurants lining the route. We decided to get a snack at the Republic of Texas.
After lunch we headed back to the car, but stopped in a mall first. One of the sporting goods stores had prepared for the upcoming football game by stocking some Hawkeye garb. Erynn indulged me and put on this Hawkeye foam hat. I should have taken a shot from the side, because it was priceless. She wouldn't let me buy it...
© 2006 Doug Rathburn