Sullivan, Clinton and Broadhead Trail 1779

Day 21: September 23rd, 2000 Pittsburgh (Wedding)

I start my day as usual at the Bob Evans. Most of the servers already know me. I am finished around ten and I think about what I can do until I will be picked up. Best is to get some stuff for my car to fix the painting and to do some maintenance things.

But first I drive over to my friends to get my suit for the wedding which I left there before I set off for my trail. Then I drive to Wal–Mart and buy my car stuff. I also want to check for some CDs. This way it is easy to kill the remaining time.

My friends pick me up in time and we drive to church. Compared to Germany there is also a real singer hired who does sing even other songs than just church songs. The rest is very similar to Germany. I only have a hard time with the english prayers, so I just keep my lips moving…

Then it’s time for the wedding dinner. In church is only a small group compared to the big party. But before we can leave, the pretty wedding pictures will be taken. Then we also drive over to the hall. The hall is a special hall for big events with own kitchen and everything necessary. Around 400 guests will be here today.

On the table with the apetizers is also an ice sculpture which shows a beautiful swan. The wedding cake is a little bit to the side as dessert. It is built with several stories and the wedding couple on top.

When the dinner starts I realize again how perfectly organized the Americans are for things like that. Every table will be called to the buffet when it is time for them. This way there is no big run to the buffet like in Germany where everyone stands in line forever. But it takes a while until all of the 400 guests have something to eat. The first ones are already finished when the last ones receive their dinner. But it is really amazing how perfectly everything runs here!

Dancing starts after dinner. From time to time some games are added. There is also a different version for dancing with the wedding couple compared to Germany: A small hay trailer will be moved in with schnapps and a lot of glasses loaded. Everyone who pays five dollar is allowed to take one shot and have a dance with the couple. The collected money will be an additional wedding gift for the couple. Almost every guest takes his chance. At least the ones who are still around at this time. All in all it is a real great wedding!

But I am pretty surprised when the DJ announced the end around midnight. For me it looks more like a party up to two or three in the morning. Ok, a bunch of people have already left, but maybe it is not usual to dance the night through…

I help to clean up a little bit. The rest will be done by the cleaning stuff next day. They are included in the rental price. Otherwise it would probably take a couple of days until everything is cleaned up again after a big event like that.

My friends take me back to the motel. We agree on a time for tomorrow, so I can start working on my car.