We drove to Mississippi for our niece’s wedding with a few stops along the way to and from. Our trip was about 1,700 miles. We had fun because of the wedding even before we left, as one of our sons came to the house on his way down to Mississippi. We were able to celebrate his birthday and spend some time with him and his dog.

Our second niece was married near the campus of the University of Mississippi, (where she met her husband) known as “Ole Miss.” We were here for her older sister’s wedding three years earlier.  The ceremony was well done and the couple looked radiant together as they exchanged vows. For us, it was great to have the family together.

I was happy to learn that a rehearsal dinner could double as the reception for family and friends. The dinner was fun and all the traditional speeches that normally accompany the wedding reception were made at that time. This made the speeches more intimate as most of us in attendance knew details about the speakers or the ones they were speaking about. I would like it if more weddings I attend in the future took up this tradition.

Our big surprise was after the rehearsal dinner: seeing our daughter and son-in-law at the hotel! We did not know they were coming. For Father’s Day weekend, I was able to see three kids. Pretty special.

We enjoyed the reception. It flowed with the introduction of the newlyweds right into dinner and dancing. We could just chat with the other guests, dance, eat and celebrate with family and friends and the newlywed couple.

Lessons learned

Like our other niece, they combined the wedding speeches and rehearsal dinners, and it was enjoyable. For the family and friends not involved in the wedding directly, the opportunity for a family reunion hit me while we were at the rehearsal dinner and even more so after we were surprised that our daughter and son-in-law were also in town for the wedding. It is important to enjoy these moments.  

Other fun

We enjoyed our stroll after walking to the Square in Oxford. This is a cool college town, and we see how exciting it is to visit Oxford with the whole family.

I went for a run on the Ole Miss campus with three of my kids! Apparently, it is a thing to run through campus, especially near the football stadium. It was a hot, rainy morning for a run, prior to the wedding; we saw several others running as well.

We were able to hang out with family and friends between events. On the way to celebrate our niece’s wedding, we stopped south of Nashville to visit a college friend of mine. It was a good visit, and I needed to catch-up with him. I need to get out and visit more of my friends.

After our first niece was married at Ole Miss, I wanted to see Shiloh National Military Park. I had it all planned out for this trip, and we did go. However, we did not stay that long as it began to rain and looked like it would continue raining for the rest of the time we had to spend at the park. I am glad to have viewed the visitor’s center and explore a little of the park. Since we passed through on our way to a wedding, we will have to arrange for another time to explore this park.

After the wedding, we stopped and spent the night at Hot Springs National Park. I do not recall being at this National Park before. I asked my mom and she did not remember going either. Hot Springs at one time was the most popular park because the water was said to have tremendous health benefits. Several major league baseball players spent time here, presumably, healing to get ready for the next season. The history of the bathhouses was interesting to read about, and you can see the former glory of the area, well preserved by the National Park Service.

We took a hike on the National Park grounds. The scenery was good, and along the route we read the park service stories making the hike much better. The story of how the water was bottled and sold all over America was interesting and may account for some of the area’s popularity.

In town they have a couple of natural springs that are not part of the bathhouses. They felt hot (I think they were over 130 degrees) and even the cave where the water ran from was warm.

After Hot Springs, I was able to spend the afternoon with my mom and see that she is doing well. I also saw one of my sisters.

We also stopped in St. Louis to see some of the sights. I am retired. I did get to visit the Econ Museum at the St. Louis Federal Reserve and the Gateway Arch.

We even tried to see Lincoln’s boyhood home (on a Tuesday) and found that it is closed on Monday and Tuesday. We stopped by nearby Santa Claus and enjoyed a quick visit. We plan to come back as it is on our normal route to and from St. Louis.   

No bike rides this trip—just here for the wedding.