Brunch at Allium - a belated anniversary celebration

It is hard for me to believe that over four years ago I was standing barefoot on the beach at Honeymoon Island... I was worried because it rained for the first time in four days that afternoon. But at 8:00, the sun was just about to set, there was a brilliant rainbow in the sky and there were dolphins putting on our own private show by jumping in and out of the water just behind us... But most importantly of all there was us.

It was almost surreal marrying him in that setting. The waning sunlight sparkled on the water and waves were practically dancing as they softly washed on the shore. We picked a spot with a single palm tree and a weathered picnic table. We sprinkled a few flower petals around on the ground to stand on for good measure although with the natural beauty of the place it was completely unnecessary. There were just five of us, the minister, Amber, Sven, my German and me.

There was no playing of “Here Comes the Bride” or anything by Wagner. Instead we opted for the lyrical sound of the gently lapping surf and the occasional bird. Standing there about to begin I was the kind of anxious that verges on nervous and was glad for the warm, gentle breeze that would blow to take the edge off of the hot July evening. I had nothing to be scared of because I was about to marry my soul mate, my lover, my best friend. I remember trying to not choke up but doing so none the less as my emotions got the better of me and a few stray tears trickled down my cheeks. Happy tears. It was magical to be holding hands and listening to him say to me "with this ring, I thee wed”.


I remember when we were pronounced husband and wife and the first thing I did was exclaim (and loudly) "Oh my God, we're married". Thankfully I managed to shut myself up so as not to ruin the moment. Instead I concentrated on more important things like kissing my husband for the first time as his bride.

We profusely thanked the minister as he made his was to another little oasis on the beach to marry yet another couple that beautiful summer evening. So it was time for a few photos to capture the moment for not only us but for those whom we love who were not able to join us. Amber is an excellent photographer and she had us posing up and down the beach and managed to depict what it was we wanted memorialized.

There was real champagne. And beautiful flutes to drink it with... A wedding gift from Amber and Sven. There were more exclamations of "Oh my God, we are married". I must have said it 10 times. I heard it when I watched the video. We just set the camera down and let it roll and you can hear me pipe in every so often with my little declaration.

Back at Amber and Sven's home there was a celebration with their friends and neighbors. There was cake and fireworks. There were phone calls to parents, mine in Tennessee and his in Germany. There were more toasts. And even without the benefit of music, there was dancing. The sound of the water kept the beat. Perfect.

Today we finally made it out to celebrate.  We were fortunate that a new friend gave us a Groupon for Allium.  We decided that brunch was the way to go and have a relaxing way to wrap up the weekend.  We started with the warm, complimentary cinammon sugar beignets.  There was a delightful strawberry butter to slather on them.  The beignets were fabulous on their own; however, how are we to resist strawberry butter?

We sipped our lovely cocktails as we perused the menu.  (Truth be told, I had already decided what I wanted long before having drooled at a couple of things while reading the menu online.  Don't tell Ingo I cheated, please.)  Ingo had a Bloody Mary with house-made mixer.  It had just the right peppery spice to it.  Neither of us care much for Tabasco overkill.  Unfortunately, he beat me to the olive....  I had the luscious French Mimosa with fresh squeezed orange juice on the side to add at my discretion.  What made it French you ask?  It was the addition of one of my new favorites....  St. Germain....

Anyone who knows us knows that we enjoy food and eating well.  And when it is good we can really eat.  With that being said we both decided upon appetizers.  Ingo had the warm trout salad over spinach with beluga lentils and a walnut vinaigrette.

Due to my passionate obessession with all things cheese, I opted for red onion goat cheese tart.  Either of our appetizers easily could be a nice sized meal by itself; however, did I mention we love to eat?

Neither of us are quitters. Of course that means that we need to move along to a main course! Ingo is a German National. So when he saw sliced Black Forest ham as an ingredient on the Allium Benedict, he had to try it. Not to mention that he is also a total sucker for hollendaise...

 

I mentioned previously, I had already made my choice.  I wanted Shrimp Benedict and I wanted it immediately! 

I must admit that although we both have a "go big or go home" mentally, we hit the wall and could not even think about getting dessert.  We left relaxed, happy and very full. 

We enjoyed our belated anniversary celebration and look forward to what our fifth year anniversary holds for us.  We also send a thank you "shout out" to my new friend for the gracious gift of the Groupon.  Ingo and I are very grateful to you for helping us to celebrate.  The next time I see you out, I owe you a cocktail.