Wedding at the Beach - Song on the Sand!

(Amy takes an artistic shot!)

So I have now lived in the New York City area for almost 20 years and in all that time I have never been to Coney Island.  Of course, the first thing I was confused about was the fact that it was not an island.  That was cleared up by this bit of information;
"Coney Island is the westernmost part of the barrier islands of Long Island, about 4 miles (6.4 km) long and 0.5 miles (0.80 km) wide. Formerly it was an island, separated from the main part of Brooklyn by Coney Island Creek, which was partially tidal mudflats, but it has since been developed into a peninsula. There were plans early in the 20th century to dredge and straighten the creek as a ship canal, but they were abandoned, and the center of the creek was filled in for construction of the Belt Parkway before World War II. The western and eastern ends are now peninsulas."

Okay, that settles that.  If you want to read more about how it got its name and all you can read here.  Of course, back in the day

Coney Island was one of THE places to go.  The beaches would look something like this;


(Has anyone seen my car keys?)

Although today it looked a little bit more like this;

(Oh, there they are, under this bucket!)

To say it is no longer the hippest place to go (although I did see quite a few hipsters) would be an understatement.  Or it could have just been the weather forcast that kept the attendance down.

However, we weren't really there for the beach anyway (although we would have packed for it if the forecast was better).  We were here for Pat and Stephen's Final (?) Wedding!!!!!!!

We were incredibly excited but I personally was a bit nervous since Stephen had planned a special surprise for Pat.  Certain of the wedding guests would create a verbal Flash Mob and begin singing a section of a song from La Cage Aux Folles called "Song on the Sand".   For those of you who don't know it, it sounds like this;



Once I realized it wasn't going to be all of the guests singing I was feeling very conflicting things.  On the one hand I was incredibly honored and humbled that I would be asked to do this (although Amy and I only three solo words), and scared to death since I would be doing it in front of people who were still in the business and making their living at it!  I mean I haven't done an equity show in how many years?  But I do think my voice is better now than it was when I was performing, simply because I have done some shows and I have been trying to sing and do open mics when I can;

(okay, I'm just grimacing musically at this point)

But we managed to work on it (just a bit) and be (somewhat) prepared for singing.  We all dressed in flowy white and tan clothing to sort of fit into the entire beach theme and we headed out for Coney Island!  Now I had never been although we pass it almost every time we travel back from visiting Angela and Per in Philajersia.  The kids were excited out of their minds and for one the traffic wasn't bad.

We made our way towards the boardwalk and as we got close we were greeted by the sites of The ORIGINAL Nathan's Hot Dog Stand;

(Uhhhh, I don't think I can eat 62!)

and the famous parachute drop;

(Geronimooooooooooooooooo!)

and the cyclone;

(Say what you like - I like wood!)

And the oh so intriguing Soaring Eagle;

(Oh yes, flipping upside down while riding on your belly - yeeehawwwww!)

Unfortunately the only thing we did get to visit of those attractions was Nathan's - but more on that later!

We finally made it to Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park;

(Ahhhhh, childlike Mecca awaits!)

And the kids were wild with anticipation.  Of course we had to explain to them that we couldn't go on all the roller coasters because we were: a) here for the wedding, and b) only able to go on what was in Deno's Amusement Park.  That's okay, fun was in the future!  Next we came to this incredible sight!





(Aunt Laura's Coulrophobia would definitely kick in here!)

You see, the kids have been viewing this icon for years as we pass by in the car and they were so close to actually being able to ride it that they were besides themselves.  (I guess in here I should mention that we couldn't find the sheet music for "Song on the Sand" although I had gone back to the car to get it so I was a bit nonplussed and beside myself because I thought for sure that everyone else would know their parts, be flawless and I would sound like a crow with a lymph node problem).
While on line for the Wonder Wheel we happened to see the gorgeous Pat Dwyer - one of the grooms for the day - who gave us each bracelets giving us unlimited access to the rides at Deno's Amusement Park - now the kids were in total heaven!  We made the FIRST of our forays on the Wonder Wheel to be greeted by this site;

(James: The people look like tiny ants!)

Although the "rocking car" was a little unsettling to some, no one lost their lunch and we headed to the bumper cars (Mama's favorite);
 

(Auntie Laurelle and James!)

(In only a few years she'll be driving for real - SCARY!!!!!)

And then we reconnected with old friends while we ate some lunch.  We then managed to get some more ride time in, including James and I going through the haunted house.  Right before the end of the ride he asks, "Is this supposed to be scary?"  You have to love the honesty of children.

We then had a quickly improvised vocal rehearsal after walking up and down the boardwalk to find a quiet place.  I was so relieved to find out that I wasn't the only one who needed the words and that we didn't sound bad at all - it was a very nice vocal arrangement skillfully directed by fellow Texan Ricky Pope!  We were ready for the surprise (and the eventual tears)!

Finally it was time to head to the beach for the ceremony!  We all walked out to the beach and surrounded the happy couple, the best people and the officiant.  It was beautiful!  I only have one picture from the actual ceremeony to share'

(Not the most flattering of photos but it'shows the bystanders in the background which was sort of humorous)

(however by following this link to a trailer for their documentary "Married and Counting" and if you look closely at :42 you can see William cavorting on the sand behind them!).  But despite the fact that we don't have any pictures of the actual ceremony it will be forever etched in the minds of everyone in attendance - including the bystanders who just happened upon us.  It reminded of my own wedding to Amy and that magical day when only she existed and all I could remember of the ceremony was her eyes.  The chance to actually participate in the wedding of these two beautiful souls was such a rejuvenation to our lives and do be able to sing the line from the song "something about sharing" made it even more poignant!  As Stephen says in the trailer, "How can anybody object to love?" and it was such an important lesson for us to share with our children - that love is love!  This is the second of their weddings that we had the honor to take part in and we were/are so very grateful!!!!!

After the ceremony everyone threw rose petals at the happy couple and then we were finally able to take some wonderful pictures of everyone enjoying the sands of Coney Island;

(Like Movie Stars, right?)

(Two childlike souls celebrating like - and with - children!)

(Its so amazing when they actually play together!)

(Almost there!!!!)



(The finished masterpiece!!!!)

And mama finally got the picture of the family dressed in our summer finery!

(Our happy family!!!!)

It was about htis time that received word from some of the locals that we shouldn't be out on the beach once the sun went down since that's when the gangs start coming out.  Now, of course the only thing I knew of gangs and Coney Island came from the movie Warriors so of course I was expecting something like this;

So I was on the lookout for any wildly painted hearses.  On a side note, the psycho leader of the Warriors' rival gang later played Feste in the Lincoln Center production of Twelfth Night starring Helen Hunt.  So to avoid any possible flight back to Long Island, we reentererd the sanctuary of Deno's where the kids once again had a field day;

(Sarah enjoying her Carousel)

By the time they had enjoyed the rides it started getting dark and we said our goodbyes to the newly married couple then we started to head out.  We had three very tired youngsters by this point - too tired to even fight with each other!



(Peace at last - for now)

But we had time for one last ride before we left - not the look of abject terror unadulterated joy on William's face;

(Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!)

We then headed to Nathan's Original Hot Dog stand for a late night snack because after all, how can we go to Coney Island and not have a hot dog?



Finally it was time to pack up our little wedding warriors and take them home in our non-customized Subaru!  And as we finally pulled into our driveway after a day of fun and love, this is the sight that greeted us in the back seat;

 

And that is what happens when love takes hold!

 

So I didn't talk about riding or Connor's Army this time but sometimes more important things take over, things like love and family and friends, and isn't that what life is all about?