NC Visit, Part Three: Jackie Bachelorette

Editor’s Note: Video Monday will return next week. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Two Saturday nights ago, I was in Wilmington, North Carolina for Jackie’s bachelorette party. We hosted her bridal shower earlier that morning, painted pottery in the afternoon, and then the real fun started at dinner that evening. There were about 20 of us at K-38 Baja Grill, and the staff wisely put us in our own little separate room just off the entrance.

 

We did, naturally, get a little loud and rowdy at times.

Benny and Davis took care of us, and after a rocky start (Benny brought me the worst top shelf frozen margarita I have ever tasted in my life, but he remedied the situation with a really good on-the-rocks version), we ended up having a great time. Jackie had her first shot of the night (tequila, of course) pretty early on, and I promise it wasn’t her last.

 

Jackie’s mom Sheila and Pat’s mom Karen even got in on the fun with TWO pitchers of sangria.

And then Pat’s Aunt Shirley decided I needed to take home my fun margarita glass (with no prompting from me at all), so she stole it for me. Shirley is crazy, and I love her. (The glass was already safely stashed in Jackie’s purse when we decided to document the moment.)

This is Colleen and (fellow bridesmaid) Katie. I am proud to call them friends now. You girls are awesome!

The bridesmaids decided to give Jackie a few special gifts at dinner, but I can only show a few pictures (this may become a pattern as we go through the night’s recap). I’m sure you understand. Rest assured, we did not embarrass the bride-to-be too much, and she handled all of the silliness quite well.

And of course, before we left we had to take a picture with Benny, and a moms-with-the-bride picture, and a bridesmaid picture. Of course.

After dinner, we made a quick stop at Jackie’s house….for jello shots….

….and then we were headed downtown to really party. All of Pat’s family hung with us for quite a while, and everyone loved all of the aunts getting out on the dance floor and shakin’ what they got. I also believe they bought three rounds of shots for everyone before they decided to call it a night. We were certainly impressed with their stamina, and we thanked them profusely for their liquid gifts.

We changed locations after the fam left us, and Francie decided Jackie needed to break out the card game she gave her at dinner. After yet another round of shots, we entertained ourselves with those cards for the rest of the night. The game was called “Find a Man,” and we had to find a guy that fit the card’s description (red hair, doctor, vegetarian, drives a Harley, etc.). Some were really easy, some were funny, some were really hard, some were ridiculous.

Yes, I got in a picture with Jackie and Jeremy, an Alabama fan who also happened to drive a Harley. It was not my proudest moment, but I did it for the bride.

My favorite card was the one that said, “Find a man who is talking on a phone.” It was very easy for Jackie to find the man, but then he passed her the phone. He was talking to his brand-new wife, who did not appreciate being handed to some strange girl her new husband was cavorting with in a bar on a Saturday night. Jackie did her best to draw this mystery woman out of her shell, but she apparently remained stone cold silent for their whole conversation. I guess I can’t really blame her. Too funny.

I’d say the entire weekend was one huge, rousing success. I loved seeing so much of my far-away friend. I loved meeting her fiancé. I loved meeting her friends. I loved letting loose for a few days. I loved being in North Carolina again.

But I also loved coming home to my boys.

Tomorrow I’ll post the pics of Riley that I received while I was away. It sure didn’t seem like he had time to miss me, though; he was a busy boy!