Avila Beach and the Madonna Inn

Julie and I were elated to receive an invitation to attend our nephew Brad's wedding to his longtime love Tegan.

While we have watched him grow over the years, Bradley for years was frozen in our minds as the little guy who, when complimented on his red hair, would say, "It's not red.  It's orange."

We also had the privilege of getting to know his college sweetheart Tegan over the last eight years or so.  

Brad, Tegan and John at Rehearsal Dinner

Our original plan was us to go directly from the train depot to our hotel in San Luis Obispo, about a half mile from the wedding venue.  

However, Julie's brother John and his wife Toren invited us to take an otherwise unused bedroom in a huge, modern duplex in Avila Beach they rented.  We tried to pay at least what we had committed to the SLO hotel, but they would not hear of it.

John and Toren, Our Hosts at the Rehearsal Dinner

So, we ended up staying in a beautiful, essentially brand-new house just a short walk from the beach for an extended sunny weekend.

There was plenty of room for everyone, including their oldest son Brett and his girlfriend Paola, Toren's brother Scott and their friend Debbie.

Paola and Brett

Bree and her boyfriend Hayden opted to book a room in a separate hotel in San Luis Obispo to be closer to the wedding venue.

They nonetheless spent most of the waking hours with the rest of us over in Avila Beach.

Similarly, Brad and Tegan stayed in SLO but came to Avila Beach to spend time with us and Tegan's family, who were in a spacious home a few houses over from where we stayed.

Bree and Hayden

Julie's sister Jacque with her husband Mike stayed at the Avila Beach Hotel, an old-style California place on the beach about a half mile away.

Mike and Jacque

Being in close proximity with the rest of the family made it easy to reunite.

Unfortunately, Julie's sister Cheryl passed away three years ago.

Cheryl, Julie, John and Jacque, maybe around 30 years ago?

The first evening in Avila Beach, we made a grocery run, in which John and Toren stocked up on snacks, beer, Diet Coke and a bottle of tequila.  Those were very good calls, as were the pizzas they had delivered.  The wedding party was well-fed, happy and perhaps a bit tipsy from nearly finishing the tequila.  

Before 7 AM the next morning, John was searching channels to find the Broncos-Jets game being played in England, hence the unusually early game time.  John's family lives in Colorado, where they're avid Broncos fans.  

Unable to find the game on the rental house's Roku TV, John turned to Scott, his globe-trotting brother-in-law, who brought his Amazon Firestick to the rescue.

Toren's brother Scott at Rehearsal Dinner

Broncos won!

Post-game, we walked over to the beachfront village.

The others ate breakfast and lunch together at restaurants there, while Julie and I walked along the shore.

Julie, John, Brett, Mike, Jacque, Bree, Paola and Scott

On our first-night shopping run, I'd bought our usual vanilla nut coffee, turkey lunch meat, bread, mayo, tortillas, cheese and wine, allowing Julie and me to eat like we do at home. We probably should have skipped the usual groceries and simply ate out as well.

Once in town, I tried to tempt Julie daily to have a meal with the family, but to no avail.

When not traveling, we eat at home 99% of the time.  Having dined out a lot during the prior ten days in SoCal, we were swayed toward simple, homemade sandwiches over what were purportedly delicious meals in town.

I should acknowledge that Julie and I enjoyed our daily strolls or hikes with others as well as when they were dining.

Avila Beach is a beautiful little cove, with just enough development in the small village to make for a pleasant mini vacation.

Our niece Bree and I were the first to see seals, and then dolphins, swim by in the waves.

We had walked across the beach to dip our feet in the water.

The ocean was a few degrees cooler than it had been in Santa Monica two days earlier, which is afterall the norm heading north up the coast.

A big Sunday project tackled by the ladies was to trim red and pink long-stem roses and white flowers and arrange them in cubic vases in the kitchen on our side of the duplex.

I pitched in a little by making trash runs, but mostly I just observed the efficient assembly line artists.

Mike, Jacque, Julie, Toren, Debbie and Bree

The beautiful flower arrangements along with candles were used as centerpieces for dinner tables for the rehearsal dinner and wedding-day cocktail tables.

Sunday afternoon, we all headed over to the wedding venue, the vintage Madonna Inn, for photos.  

Tegan and her mother arrange big corporate events, so they know how to organize everything to a tee.  Everything was on schedule and budding perfectly.  The photographer was quite proficient.

While Julie had commented on her childhood memories of the Madonna Inn over the years when we drove past on the freeway, I had never been inside.

Wes & Julie at Rehearsal Dinner

The decor reminded me of the poshest sets from the 1960's TV show, Wild Wild West.  That show was set in the era when Ulysses S. Grant was President (1869-1877) and railroads were cutting edge transportation.  I liked this western spy show a lot, so I naturally found the hotel quite charming.

I must say, the Madonna Inn exceeded my expectations in every way.

To be clear, the Inn opened on Christmas Eve, 1958, when Lyndon B. Johnson, not U.S. Grant, was President.

According to Bing's AI, there is no specific evidence that the TV show creators visited the Madonna Inn.  "The inn's design and ambiance may have influenced the show's production, but it is not confirmed that the creators specifically sought inspiration from it."

Bree, Jacque, John, Brad, Tegan, Toren, Brett & Julie (Megas By DNA or Marriage)

On Sunday night, John and Toren hosted a rehearsal dinner at the Madonna Inn, which all of the wedding guests (43?) attended.  It was a semi-formal affair.

The bride loves pink, and she said that she knew she had made the right decision on who to marry when her strapping young fiancé Brad agreed to wear a pink suit for the rehearsal dinner.

Brad, Tegan (Back Row), John and Toren (Front Row)

The entree choices were Chicken Parmesan or Filet Mignon.

With apologies to John and Toren for splurging, Julie and I both chose Filet Mignon, a favorite dish we usually only have on cruises.

I think almost everyone had steaks, and they were delicious.

Jacque and Mike at Rehearsal Dinner

My steak must have weighed at least a half pound, larger than any Filet Mignon that I have ever eaten, and good to the last bite, with no discernable fat.  Really delicious!  Seared perfectly!  It was too much for one person, but I did finish everything on my plate.  I might have been unique in that aspect.

The weather once again proved to be perfect on Monday.  We all went to the beach, similar to the prior day.

The group headed over to the Madonna Inn at about 2 PM for more photos, with the ceremony scheduled to begin a couple of hours later.

The women were all lovely in formal attire and carefully perfected hair and makeup.  All the men wore suits.  Not at all like our usual nonchalant approach to appearance.

Wes and Julie

That weekend was the first time I can remember seeing my brother-in-law John in a suit since the tuxedo he wore at his wedding.  He's a very casual guy who attained the habit of wearing flipflops when he lived in Hawaii.  He wears them often in his beautiful Colorado home, even on snowy days.  So, it was a big deal for him to get dressed up.

I don't think I'm revealing any big secret by saying it was a wonderful ceremony and reception, start to finish.  The beautiful bride and handsome groom sparkled throughout as the stars of the occasion.

The wedding ceremony itself took place in a gorgeous garden area outdoors.

Tegan and Brad

Unexpected rain meant the reception had to be relocated to an upstairs room rather than outdoors as planned. The spacious second-story room reminded me of a banquet hall you might find along the Rhine River, on a street of timbered houses.  I don't know how outdoors could have been any lovelier.

We enjoyed another fantastic dinner.  I particularly liked the fish in a cream sauce.

As per tradition, our nephew Brett stood and approached the featured couple to deliver his Best Man's speech.  Holding up his champagne glass, Brett called for a spotlight, which after a pause he acknowledged wouldn't be happening.

Then he said, "Music."  Like magic, beautiful piano notes unfolded in a melody.  That was courtesy of his girlfriend Paola, who plays piano in her church back home.  She played lilting background music while Brett delivered a nice extended toast.  Well done!

All of the formalities unfolded perfectly, including the cutting of the cake (no smearing on each other's faces), first dance for the couple, father-daughter dance, etc.

Cutting the Cake...Pink, Of Course!

It was a joyous event.  I had the opportunity to make the acquaintance of many wonderful folks, including the bride's brothers, Dane and Cole, and our generous wedding hosts, her parents Karen and Don.  I particularly enjoyed speaking with Don about his drag racing pastime.

After a lot of dancing and silliness, the party came to a close.  It seemed to have been a fun time for one and all.

The next day, we saw the bride and groom off on their honeymoon that would take them to various stops in California on their way home.  They will soon be off to Hawaii for the rest of their honeymoon.

The others headed to drive dune buggies on the beach, but Julie and I couldn't quite fit that into our schedule with our train tickets to Los Angeles.

Julie and I considered taking a taxi that night to a hotel by LAX but instead went from Union Station to a hotel in Santa Monica.  We didn't get to our hotel until 10 PM, but Jay had been at a concert for a Universal Music act he represents for advertising, so he came by to spend some time with us that night.

The next morning, we took Owen to a park one more time, dropping him off at school before heading back to the hotel to check out and Uber to the airport.

Between Santa Monica, San Diego, Avila Beach and San Luis Obispo, it had been a fabulous fortnight of fun in California.  Thanks to everyone.