Last month I attended my friend Kevin's wedding in Denton, TX. It had been 6 years since I last visited Kevin, just a few years after he moved out to Denton to attend the University of North Texas. Kevin and I had spent most of our post-college days hanging out while he was still living in Tucson. Bowling, clubbing, Madden...these were our weekly routines.
Kevin's one of those guys who even if I don't see or talk to him in years, it's like nothings really changed. Our friendship bond is pretty strong and those kind of relationships only strengthen with time, regardless of distance. I was very excited to attend his wedding, although I was a little saddened that he didn't feel close enough to any of our mutual friends from Tucson and the University of Arizona. In fact, I was the only one from AZ to attend the wedding.
I got into Dallas on a Thursday afternoon. I'm love having Gold membership status with Hertz though IBM. You literally just walk to the rental car area, pick a vehicle you like, then drive off (after a very quick check-in at the exit). The first thing I had to do when I arrived in Texas was get Freebirds World Burrito! I found the closest one and ordered my burrito. I told the guy over the counter how excited I was for Freebirds since we don't have them in AZ and at the end, he decided to give me the burrito on the house! I gave him a fat tip and it was already a great start to the trip!
The drive to Denton is about 30 minutes, but can be extended to 45 with rush hour traffic. I arrived in Denton in the evening, checked into my discounted Marriott room (thanks Anthony!), then met Kevin and his friends for food and drinks at Hoochies. I had only met one of Kevin's friends before this (at least those in attendance for his wedding), so I had to be pretty social and extroverted to befriend everyone. The first night was pretty chill, mostly just guys in his wedding and I finally got to meet Peyton (his now wife) as well. Yep, that's how long it had been since I visited him...he was dating someone else the last time I was out there. :P
On Friday a few of us gathered to play some disc golf. Kevin had introduced me to the game the last time I was out here, so it was only fitting we'd play a round this weekend. While Kevin is a talented disc golfer in his own right, one of his friends, Eric, was extremely good. He could drive the disc 400ft+ (no joke). I've never seen anyone through a disc that straight and far before, I was simply in awe. We only played about 10 holes since we had to make it to the rehearsal dinner later that night.
The rehearsal dinner was quaint, taking place at the Denton's Women's Club. Several people went out for drinks afterwards, but many called it an early night due to the early wedding activities they had to partake in the next day. Since I wasn't actually in this wedding (for a change), I decided to stick around the bar scene for a little longer. This one bar had ping pong tables outside and I had just finished playing. A cute little brunette came up and asked if anyone was on it, and I said no. She asked if I wanted to play since she was by herself and waiting on friends, so I obviously I wasn't gonna say no to a pretty face. She was really good at ping pong; beat me the first game 21-13 and I'm no slouch, although I may have been a little drunk at the time. She challenged me to a rematch, but again she did me in, another 21-13 ass-whooping. After two games, her friends had arrived, so I figured that was my cue to depart, but she asked if I wanted to meet them. When I did, I figured everything was going really well and I might have a good chance with this one. But then the funny part of the story (or is it sad?), when she was talking to someone at the table, she said "well I like girls." At that point, I knew what was up and was like, of course, that's typically Andy-luck right there. I decided to call it a night shortly after, saving myself from further embarrassment of hitting on a lesbian.
The wedding was on Saturday and was at The Grove, a good 20-minutes outside of Denton. Good thing I had that rental vehicle. It was a nice, countryside wedding. Fortunately, I had made plenty of friends I could talk to at this point, so I never felt too alone.
It was a great opportunity for me to visit my friend Kevin and meet his lovely wife Peyton. I'm really glad I made it out there. Congratulations you two! Until next time.
