guns, wedding gowns, cold beerSaturday, John and I spent most of the afternoon walking around downtown Detroit. This is not quite as dangerous as you might think, and can actually be boring. There are many more really tall buildings in Detroit than there are in Phoenix, and about 75% of them are vacant and in disrepair. It’s kind of sad when you think about it.

Went back to the hotel, changed out of regular clothes and into suits and ties, then got a cab to the wedding. Our cab driver was very vocal, pointing out abandoned buildings and talking about how they should all be torn down and new stuff put up in that location. Problem is, no one wants to do that because it’d cost a lot and there’s no guarantee of making any profit at all. Until there are investment opportunities that don’t scare the crap out of rich people, Detroit will remain half-abandoned.

The wedding was at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial, and they had spared no expense. It was outside, near a garden which bordered Lake St. Clair. The ceremony didn’t start on time (nothing complicated ever starts on time) but that was OK since Marcus and Elaina were late. The ceremony was short, probably because Dan was as sick as a dog. The reception was immediately afterwards in the war memorial itself, which was kind of nice. They had put 11 tables into a couple of rooms that would’ve fit 10 tables more easily, but oh well.

I was at a table with a bunch of Dan’s old college buddies. Several of Dan’s other old college buddies including Pizza Ben and Merchant Marine Mark were at another table. It looked like the rest of the tables were Sara’s family and friends. But we had bacon-wrapped scallops, shrimp, fried wontons, and bruschetta, and the open bar had large amounts of decent beer. There was also food, which was pretty good. Pizza Ben said, “Don’t live in New Jersey. It’s just not worth it. I love my job but I hate living there.” Graham was working as an archaeologist in Corktown (Irish suburb of Detroit) and he told us all about that. Clay is working for the government in some sort of capacity where he has to routinely qualify with firearms. This is not something I would’ve expected, but whatever. Dan S (one of Dan’s friends from Grand Rapids) and I had a lively discussion about various beers, and he said something about how the unemployment rate in Muskegon is almost 24%. Yikes.

At some point during the course of dinner, Marcus, Elaina, Graham, and Clay obtained a dinner roll, some toothpicks, some olives, a lime wedge, and a cherry. They then assembled these things into something that looked a lot like Jar-Jar Binks. We finally managed to give this impromptu food art to Dan. I think this was meant to recall Melvin the Frozen Undead Deer Head, or something like that. According to Graham, John and I look a lot like the Blues Brothers when we’re wearing suits and hanging out together.

The party went on for quite a while, and they eventually had music and dancing in another room. It was way too small for the number of people we had on hand. Whatever. I got out on the floor and shook a tail feather anyway. We eventually left around 12am after saying goodbye and good luck to Dan, mostly because Elaina had to work on Sunday. Marcus drove us to the hotel, which was nice of him since we saved cab fare.