Gerry and I had a wonderful six-day vacation in Illinois in June!
Main purpose of the trip was the wedding ceremony. Gerry's youngest brother Phil and his girlfriend Penny got married on Saturday, June 14th. It was the second marriage for both of them; 63-year-olds who were divorced several years ago. They met four years ago and fell in love. Very sweet. I met Penny a few years ago and when I saw her and Phil together, it was obvious they were enamored and in love.
We flew into St. Louis on Friday the 13th. There was a family gathering with his siblings and nieces and nephews at the Global Brew Barrel Room in Edwardsville at 6:00 pm. We didn't arrive until 7:00 pm, due to our flight schedule. No problem. We stayed and mingled with Phil and Penny and others until 9:00 pm. Great company, conversations, and delicious beer and food!
We stayed at the Country Hearth Inn in Edwardsville Friday and Saturday night. It was a convenient location to the wedding in nearby Troy, Il. It was also convenient to SIUE (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville).
Late Saturday morning we went to SIUE and hiked 3.75 miles on the Nature Preserve Loop. Lovely, and we had the trail all to ourselves. Loved seeing this box turtle:
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| a gorgeous box turtle |
The wedding gathering began at 3:00 pm at the Tri-Township Park Community Center in Troy with cocktails and appetizers.
The very short wedding ceremony was at 4:30 pm (when I say short, I mean it - like 10 minutes, or 12 minutes tops). Gerry's brother Don was the best man.
After they say "I Do" (with Don in the background)
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| a little celebration dance! |
All of Gerry's siblings attended, which was extra-special. Gerry's older sister Ginny was diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer several months before the wedding. We were very fortunate she was able to attend the wedding. (She died a month hence on July 24th)
I took a photo of the four older Hans siblings. Dave is the oldest, then Ginny, then Gerry and then Jane.
from left to right: Ginny, Jane, Gerry and Dave
And I love this photo that Gerry took of Jane's family with her son and two daughters and all of their children. So much fun when we are together with them!
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| Quite the wonderful family we don't see very often |
The wedding get-together was fantastic.
Then we moved onward to the second part of our Illinois trip - a hiking / nature experience in southern Illinois, including Giant City State Park, Shawnee National Forest, and other excursions.
We headed toward Giant City State Park, about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Edwardsville. We stopped off at Harbaugh's Cafe for lunch, a nice local restaurant in Carbondale, a small college town.
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