Places to Go, People to Meet: Coeur d'Alene: Katy and Greg

the Coeur d'Alene Resort

Since Cheryl has been newly ordained by the Church of the Internet, she offered to officiate another wedding this summer. This time for co-worker and good friend, Greg and his intended, Katy. I'd heard about Greg off and on for years but hadn't met him until a quick and random five minute meeting on the street a few months ago. Katy was there too and while pretty and friendly, it was difficult to get any real impression of either them during that quick introduction. A few weeks later when Cheryl told me she was officiating Greg's wedding, she told me she asked if she could bring a "date," and did I want to go. Greg is from Spokane and the wedding was going to be at his family's cabin on Lake Coeur d'Alene in Idaho, and while I had sworn I'd never again cross the border into a state noted for potatoes and bigots after my last time there (years ago; snowboarding Schweitzer; got tired of being looked at and hearing things that made me think I'd entered the racist version of the Twilight Zone), I had already broken that vow on a recent trip to Spokane with Gary when his father and his lady-friend took us to Coeur d'Alene for dinner one evening. If I hadn't already crossed into Idaho that time for dinner, I certainly would have for this event; tagging along with Cheryl sounded like fun and I was game to go.

It was going to be a small wedding, just family and very close family friends, but Cheryl told me that Katy and Greg were delighted that I was coming. This was reinforced when we got to the rehearsal dinner last Thursday night when they both stood up from their table to greet us (we were a little late arriving) and they both hugged Cheryl (of course) and then me (nice) and told me with all sincerity how glad they were that I could come too. Cheryl and I then sat down at the two seats they had saved for us right across from them at the "parents" table, and we proceeded to have a lovely time and lovely dinner at the stunning B&B where much of the family was staying.

B&B where the pre-wedding dinner took place

After the dinner party, Cheryl and I drove into Coeur d'Alene (the dinner was on the outskirts of town in a wooded, rural area) to our Airbnb accommodation which Greg's mom had generously secured for us. It was a cute little house, and the business cards left by the owner indicated that she was a professional dream interpreter, so there was that. The wedding was on Friday afternoon so we got up and went to the Coeur d'Alene Resort for breakfast. the Resort is pretty much the only game in town for accommodations that aren't private homes or small motels. It's huge, luxurious, and right on the lake, and the owner appears to have successfully kept any other hotel from opening along the miles of waterfront. We ran into Greg in the lobby looking a little bleary, he said he'd been up until 2am; he was on his way to the cabin by car to get ready and would be meeting us back at the hotel's boat launch at 2pm to set out for the cabin with the rest of the guests; we were all to cruise up the lake to the cabin where Katy would be waiting.

Cheryl in front of our transportation for the day

We boarded the party boat, had some lovely snacks and drinks, and got to chit-chat more with the folks we had met at the dinner the night before. During the trip I volunteered to wrangle the flower girls and get the rings secured to the pillow that the ring-bearer was going to hand to Cheryl during the ceremony. So once we docked at the cabin, the girls went with me and we got one of the first looks at the bride, stunning in her gown (seriously, girlfriend looked like a super-model), and then I proceeded to run back and forth across the yard, prepping the rings, telling the young ring-bearer (Katy's nephew) to guard them with his life, running back to the cabin to smooth out the girls' hair, and sending them down the aisle with their baskets of flower petals. As a tagging-along guest, it was great to be useful and I had a lot of fun. It was a lovely event and Greg and Katy are two of the nicest, warmest people I've ever met, and Cheryl and I had so much fun together. Once we got back to shore after the short ceremony there was a casual dinner at a nearby restaurant where we got to rehash the day's festivities with a very happy-looking couple, and Cheryl and I flew home from Spokane the next day. I guess Idaho isn't so bad.