Ely Part II

Picture it, December 2011, Austin, Texas, nearly time for school to let out for the holidays. What were my plans? Well, I could go to El Paso and risk causing my family more grief about my single "situation". I could go to my brother's house in Colorado and do the same up there. Hmmmmm, no thanks! I did something completely different and went up to Saratoga Springs, New York to visit my beloved Judy and her family. Judy moved to New York the previous summer, to my heart's demise. Still, all considered, it was a good move considering her husband's cool new job and the beautiful community they moved to.
Once the arrangements were made I began to feel giddy. Judy has a way of inspiring such feelings no matter what is going on but this time we had a HUGE reason to feel excited. NYNY!!! AHHHHH!!!!! I'd never been and I was walking on air just thinking about it. The architecture, the food, the lights, the Christmas decorations, the shopping, the cathedrals, the park, EVERYTHING!!! I can't explain my anticipation.
One night while I was catching up on all things Facebook I noticed a familiar name. Friend request from, AH!! Ely Allington? Oh, my! I responded in the affirmative to his friend request, of course. I must admit, I was very curious about how he was doing. Was he married? In a relationship? Was it "complicated"? Was he still a practicing Mormon? Children? Was he still hot? Was he "interested in women" or men? I'd been surprised before on Facebook with how different people had changed in unexpected ways. The goth chick turned attorney, the super jock turned club kid, the preppy turned tattoo artist, the drug addict turned religious fanatic, the drop out turned business tycoon. Ely's sexuality was never in question but stranger things have happened.
Anyway, all things looked good as I glanced over his info. Not that many pictures but still very hot. Hotter than ever, actually. I dropped him a quick line, something like "Hey, you! How's life?" He responded, "Pretty good. How is life for Kristin?" We started a dialogue, thusly. At first it was all via Facebook. Then it spilled into an online game called Words With Friends, kind of a Scrabble game played between opponents over their smart phones. It often lasts for days, if not weeks. Suffice it to say Ely was kicking my trash which led me to my next move. I wanted to talk on the phone. I now knew he was smart enough to want to talk to. Shallow as it seems, I really did think exactly that way.
By this time I was already in New York. On the train, oh so early in the morning, heading from upstate to the city, Judy and I were talking all about school and our friends and chatting about our goals for the new year when I received a little message from Words With Friends.
"Ely beat me AGAIN!! Blast that guy!"
"Who's Ely?"
"Oh, he's, um, just an old friend. We play Words With Friends and he's always beating me. It's infuriating."
Maybe it's a false memory, I'm not really sure, but as I reflect on it I see Judy's face aglow with a knowing smile.
The city was more interesting, beautiful, and exciting than I could have dreamed. I feel like I need to spend a month or so there to really appreciate it on a meaningful level. But our day there was SO much fun. I will have to write a separate piece on that trip. For the purposes of this entry I will focus on Ely.
So he texted me on New Year's eve, two days before our trip into the city, to say happy New Year. I returned the wishes. We talked about maybe talking on the phone. I was excited to do just that but I thought it would be better to wait until I got home so as not to disturb the little sleepers in the bedrooms around me.
I got home in what one could call one piece even though I felt a little like I'd left a piece of my heart in New York with Judy and company. It was fun to be back with Megan. We exchanged holiday stories and talked about goals as well. I told her about Ely, just a little bit, seeing as how I wasn't sure what talking would yield.
We scheduled a night to talk. I sent him my phone number. He called. I was scared.
"Hello?" said his familiar and sweet voice.
"Hi!" said my excited voice, trying to mask nervousness.
I can't really remember everything we talked about, all I know is once we hung up I had a very large smile on my face and a giggle in my throat and butterflies in my tummy. As I tried to shake it it just wouldn't be shook. So I stopped shaking.
At school among the teachers we referred to him as "the suitor". It was half a joke half dead serious. It sounded funny but that's really what he was, a suitor. That's what he had already made plain in week two of our phone conversations when he admitted having feelings.
"So, we should take a trip for Spring Break. Seattle maybe?" I asked.
"Hmmm, how about I come out to Austin?" he suggested
"Oh! Okay. When?" I asked.
"What about next week? MLK weekend?" he asked.
"Sure! I'll take Friday off and we have Monday off already," I said.
"Great!"

And there it was. I'd be seeing him, face to face, again, after all those years. I was beside myself with nervous energy.

I went to pick him up that Friday morning from the airport. Did my hair look okay? Was I wearing the right thing? Too much make up? Not enough? Did I look too fat? Ugh. Scared. Just scared. Then there he was, walking toward me from the luggage carousel, nervous half smile. So, so cute. We embraced, finally. We collected his bags and went to the car.
The long weekend yielded many things; kisses, new brakes (a la Ely), wonderful meals, even better conversations, and that thing that happens so often in stories but never in real life where you just KNOW. He said so first. And it was funny because I thought it before he'd ever said it.
"Let's go to the jewelry store." he said.
"Seriously?" I asked.
"Seriously. It'll be fun." he said.

So we went. I tried on some pretty dreamy things. Ely bought be a gorgeous band with diamonds and emeralds on a white gold band. It was a "promise ring". When I went back to pick it up after it had been sized they gave me two rings. He had purchased the matching engagement ring also. And that, as they say, was that. We started planning a wedding.

We met in El Paso and went to my parents' for Presidents Day weekend. Ely asked my parents for their blessing and they lovingly agreed, after a long lecture about deference, commitment, God, religion, family, and compromise. YEAH!! We celebrated at Cattleman's famous Steak House with my parents, little brother and his family, too. It was so wonderful to have the approval of my parents. I'd never felt that from them before, as it relates to someone I was dating seriously. It felt amazing. Everyone was so happy for us!

We spent the rest of the weekend finding Ely's ring, suit, shoes, tie, etc. After scouring the city we found everything in the last place we checked. Thank you, Burlington Coat Factory! Who knew they sold titanium rings? Size 8, no less!! We were pretty excited.

The next day we went to Las Cruces, New Mexico to celebrate our engagement yet again at my dear friend Angie's home. Ely's old high school friends were gathering there. It was so fun. We ate Lebanese food to our hearts' content. It was awesome catching up and seeing Ely's friends so happy for us.

So....we went to our separate homes. OPERATION: WEDDING.

Stay tuned.

NOLA

I know some of you will want to have my head for this but Ely Part II will have to wait. Judging by some of your eager emails I know you will be puzzled about why I've chosen to skip entry 2 in order to celebrate my honeymoon in New Orleans. I assure you, I am as eager to write Part Two as you are to read it. Still, as a writer, I must disappoint you, I hope not too much, dear reader, for I do so in order to properly document my amazing journey into the heart of the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. I feel blessed to have made this journey with my very favorite person in this world, my sweet Ely.
Our journey had been a stormy one. We married at 11:00am on March 10th in Austin, Texas. The rain was coming down in the proverbial sheets. Miraculously, the Botanical Gardens situated us into the Green Room; a beautiful windowed room resembling a chapel of sorts. There were pretty garden chairs fashioned with jade green cushions on either side of an aisle. The rain showered down on the large windows. We took charming pictures outside with our bride and groom umbrellas, me in my black and white striped rain boots. Made for some cute pictures.
We stayed in Houston that night. Our drive was punctuated with thunder and lightning. It slowed enough for us to walk from our hotel to a sushi restaurant.
The next day we drove to Lake Charles. The water was relentless that night. Cars stalling, roads closing. By the time we made it to New Orleans the streets of the French Quarter were still wet but the skies were finally clearing. We noticed the streets, how crowded and narrow they were. It was just about dusk and there was already a buzz of nighttime magic in the air. I thought, And this is just Monday! We made it to our Chateau and brought up all our luggage. The lady at the front desk was kind but also a little lacking in the usual patronizing glee you get at most American hotels. She bore an air of pride as if to say You are so lucky to be staying here without really being eager to prove it. I liked her. She told us that a film was being shot this week and that we needed to park our cars in the public lot around the corner. "What film?" we asked excitedly. "I really have no idea. Ahem, you will be charged $19.95 for the internet this week, alright?" "Of course."
We found the parking lot. It seemed well watched and safe. A driver took our car to an upper level. Ely paid the $80 for the four days we'd be leaving our car there. We knew we wouldn't be needing a car. Nearly everything we wanted to do and see was to be found on foot or by street car. We were in the center of what many explorers call the most interesting city in America.
Once our car was safely stowed we ventured to find food.
We noticed two long lines developing outside two adjacent oyster bars. Ely suggested we join the longer line, taking it as a sign of food quality and popularity. I keenly agreed. We waited in line for nearly a hour. People in line were assuring us we were about to experience a culinary wonder. We were certainly hoping that would be the case and indeed it was. We immediately ordered a half dozen char grilled oysters. They were sublime. Still hungry, we ordered a soft shell crab po-boy and fries and shared them. Cokes in hand we toasted sea food, New Orleans, and young love. It was delicious.
With insatiable desire to explore the French Quarter we set off. We saw incredible sights; Jazz on every corner, tipsy college kids by the hundreds on their spring break, mimes, palm readers, elderly couples in tight groups walking with simultaneous caution and awe, dancers, singers, voodoo enthusiasts, shop owners shouting the praises of their various wares, people in masks, costumes, and on stilts. Almost everyone carried a drink in hand. We looked up and finally saw the street sign: BOURBON STREET. No wonder.
Somehow we made it into a gorgeous hotel and followed the music to a little dinner club. It looked rather exclusive and we didn't know if we'd be invited in but we were, and gladly. We sat in the back of the dark, velvety room and listened to the trumpet, trombone, upright base, piano, drums, and voices make fools of us, turn us into mush, make us fall in love a little more deeply, not just with each other but with the music itself, the other people in the room, the people outside to room, all of New Orleans. The magic was thick and rich and dark. Charming is too trite a word for it. It was luscious. That's what it was; luscious.
After that we ventured to a few other luxury hotels, just to look around. The art, flowers, statues, antiques, silken heavy drapes, and thick carpets were impressive.
On the walk home we saw a few galleries that I became excited to visit the next day. We made it back to the Chateau in a state of awe that made it hard to feel tired.
The next day was Adventure Deu. We found Jackson Square and all it's wonders including great shops, interesting galleries, and Cafe Du Monde, best beignets in NOLA. We found charming cafe after cafe. We enjoyed rich desserts and delicious seafood. We went into a casino to use the facilities and explored the floors a bit. Colorful, alight with brilliance in both sight and sound, we played a slot machine, lost good spiritedly, and walked over to the pier. We explored the riverside mall for a little while, bought a few gifts for the folks back home, and made our way over to the Creole Queen Dinner Boat.
A photographer took our picture in front of the boat. I insisted we pose like I had for a play I was in in 1996, Showboat, where me and my partner were supposed to be "looking out to sea". I just looked directly into the camera while Eddie looked off into some unknown distance. Once the shot came out in the papers Eddie was mad because I made him look stupid. "Why didn't you look out to sea, Kristin?!!" I'm sorry, where was the sea, exactly? I don't remember the photographer being very specific about that locale. Anyhoo, the cruise was lovely, romantic, and very very chilly. We were downright COLD before we knew it. We tried to take shelter inside the middle level of the three story boat but we didn't warm up much. The AC was blaring and no one on the boat seemed willing to change that. The band was playing jazz hits from the last century in all the verve a trio of white 50 somethings possibly can. It was really quite sweet. The sweet bartender, a slight blond woman in her early sixties, made us hot chocolate. We found a place to hide, the King's Room. It was dark, abounding in dinner tables, an empty bar, and a pretty good view of the red wooden boat propellers. We wrapped ourselves in black linen table cloths, looked out the window, sighed, and then made out like teenagers.
The next day we went to Huck Finn's for brunch. It was really good food! We tried their beignets but were disappointed. We made it over to the New Orleans Aquarium and saw all she had to offer. We saw so many incredible creatures! Sharks, fish of all shapes and sizes, alligators, snakes, exotic birds, jellyfish, frogs, and rays. We watched an IMAX movie about elephant and orangutan preservation. (More making out during that.) We did some more shopping, this time for ourselves. We went to the Croc store where I got my first pair of Crocs. Ely swears by them and so I was curious. I used to refer to them as the birth control shoes, they being so unsightly, but I must admit they have come a long way as far as attractiveness goes and I bought a pair of lovely slender blue ones. Wow, are they comfortable! I got a couple glimmering little charms to clip in the holes. Ely got a pair of Croc tennis shoes. Our feet were happy little venturers once more.
We were off to dinner at the Crazy Lobster. I convinced Ely we should order the lobster bucket for two. It says lobster bucket but it comes with King Crab legs, lobster tails, mussels, scallops, clams and corn and potatoes all in a shiny little pail! How extraordinary! Well, we waited and waited and waited and the waitress was not altogether kind to us. As my stomach grumbled I made a decision. It was time to high tail it and go go go. So we did. I'm not sure what ever happened to our lobster bucket. The world may never know. But we found ourselves a fabulous Lebanese place and I had my first Middle Eastern seafood. It was great!
Down the street a bit we saw an old gypsy with her tarot card table set up in front of her. We had discussed wanting to have our cards read earlier that night. Here she was! She worked for donations so we were happy about that. Elizabeth sat us down, had us shuffle and break, concentrate on our birthdays, then she told us all about our favorite topic: us. To make a long reading short she told us we were going to have a long, happy life together; children, grandchildren, the works. She gave us some insight into our work lives that we found exciting and warned us about some of our tendencies, etc. She advised us in a number of ways to be calm and let life happen. Some of the things she said were so right on that it made us feel spooky. It was pretty cool, I must admit.
The next morning we were determined to get to the famous Garden District but first we just had to stop in at The Court of the Two Sisters for their famous brunch. It was nothing short of miraculous. All the food! And all you want. Fresh fruit in all its varieties, sweets that could make straight hair go curly, and eggs made to make your mouth's wishes some true! We indulged. Turtle soup, omelets, crab cakes, coconut cake, we had it all. And the place was just gorgeous. Canopies of purple flowers hung over our heads as we enjoyed one of the best meals of our lives. The shade of the table's umbrella made it just cool enough to feel perfect outside. Of course, a jazz band played while we ate in a lull of delight.
We took a street car to get to the Garden District. The street cars look a lot like trolleys with open windows, charming polished wooden seats, red or green and gold on the outside, all brassy accents and as cute as a mode of transportation could possibly be. We enjoyed it thoroughly.
Once we set foot in the Garden District we noticed all the beautiful homes. All of them looked Victorian. Some had amazing glass and wood work. All the yards were groomed in delightful ways. Porches were laden with blossomed pots and graced with a rocking chair or two. I noticed the cars along the streets wore Mercedes or BMW branding. We were in the ritzy part of the city now. Many of the homes bore plaques of historical significance. Generals, Diplomats, and Famous entertainers had once lived in some of these stately domiciles. We talked about what we liked about each of the homes we passed. It was fun to just see it all.
We saw a cemetery and sought to enter. Alas, we were met with disappointment. It was closed for the day. Who knew cemeteries closed at night? Just when the potential fun begins, too. Oh, well.
We ventured further and found a little cafe to rest our feet and get a drink. We walked on and found a bookstore. We asked the cashier if she knew where the gardens were in the illustrious Garden District. She explained that the architecture and yards in front of the homes was all there was to see in the Garden District. We laughed, as we felt like such ignorant tourists.
We rode back on the street car, I think it was named Desire, and got back to our beloved French Quarter. Ely suggested we try the oyster bar across the street from the one we had enjoyed that first night. We ordered a half dozen Rockefellers and fries. We had to admit that the first night's oysters put these to shame.
We were so pooped that night we opted to order pizza instead of venturing out. We were pretty much vacationed out. Making it to the zoo had proven more than we could handle this trip. The insectarium had to be missed also. But, all in all, we felt like we had covered a lot of ground, both figuratively and literally.
The next morning we left New Orleans, a little forlorn but a lot satisfied. I really love New Orleans. Everybody calls you sweetie or baby and everyone seems giddy and alive. People love dancing and singing and jazz is its own religion down there. It's really something. I'll never forget it. They say New Orleans is the Jazz Capital of the World. I know that it's the place I shared my honeymoon with the most lovable man on earth! And when the saints go marching in, he and I will be marching in with them, hand in hand.