This Memorial Day weekend, Grace and I traveled home to Michigan for the wedding of Charlotte Garry and Ryan Carne. After picking up Grace, who was flying in from business in Atlanta, we headed straight to Ann Arbor. Grace was craving a Chipati, so we went to Pizza House. Like nerds, we spent most of the time calculating the number of Chipati’s sold during their 19 year history. Grace’s initial market sizing proved to be low, though the over-under on 1 million is still up in the air.

We visited a number of places on our tour that afternoon. Notably, No Thai, which was recently opened by several friends from camp. Big Brian was manning the wok when we stopped by. The place looked great – good luck! We also stopped by “the house” at Hill and Oxford. I haven’t been inside in years and on this trip, it looked neither inviting nor safe. Hopefully, we can do something to turn things around.

Many may not know that Grace coincidentally lived in “the house” next door (former A-O-Pi house) from about age 3 to 5, when both the Park and Hur clans bought up houses from the failing Greek system in the 1970’s and lived in them while renting them out to students. Grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins called the Triangle, DKE, A-Chi-O, and “the Taco Bell” houses home during those years. Later, when the Greek System was revived, they sold them back and moved on.

We also drove past several other landmarks, like my beloved Mosher-Jordan Hall, where I lived for three of my five years during college. I read that major renovations are planned. Hopefully they preserve the quintessential charm of living on “the Hill,” though the room in which I lived as an RA during my 5th year is unlikely to be saved. We drove past the ever-expanding hospital where I worked, past Grace’s parents’ first rental property on Fuller, and made a stop at Eureka Cleaners to visit her aunt and uncle.

On Friday night, we met up with Greg, Andi, Morgan and Fritz at Vinology, which opened just several weeks ago and is just one of many projects Jon and Greg have in the works. I’m no connoisseur of wine, but the food, design, and ambiance were fantastic and we’re sure it will quickly become an Ann Arbor institution. Afterwards, we met up with the rest of the wedding crew at Eve, where Charlotte and Ryan held their rehearsal dinner. Char had already turned into a pumpkin, but many of the usual suspects remained. It was great to catch up with friends who had come in from all over.

Saturday, Grace and I met her cousin Jea and his wife, Min Hwa, for lunch at Zola’s. Afterwards, we stopped by Greg and Andi’s beautiful new home in the Burns Park neighborhood of Ann Arbor. It is a wonderful home with lots of space, especially for their baby girl due next month. This was also the first time we got to meet Morgan and Greg’s baby, Kendall Reese. I admit that I’m usually not a hit with the babies, but Kendall and I made fast friends.

The wedding was held at Barton Hills Country Club, across the Huron River from Ann Arbor. Though the weather, setting, and even the groom were lovely, all paled in comparison to Charlotte. Classically beautiful and elegant on any day, she was a stunning bride.

The wedding brought together many old friends, some of whom I have not seen in years. We were excited to see Kreston Canada, with whom I lived in “Penthouse” with Jeffrey, Matthew S-H, and Fritz our first year in the house. Rheuben, Greg, Jon, Fritz and I rounded out the rest of the Fall ’89 team.

I met Ryan over 15 years ago and we connected immediately. He ended up as my little brother in the house and I’ve thought of him as such ever since. We were very happy that Ryan and Char came all the way to California for our wedding last year and we were very honored to celebrate with them on their big day. They are a couple who all know were meant to be and we wish them the best in their new life together. Great wedding!