Dirty Dancing, Wedding Planning, and other Joyousness

Messer, Stephanie, me, Tiff at the outdoor movie screening.

Messer, Steph and Me dancing on a rock.

I hadn't seen Stephanie since my last birthday when I met her at her place to go to the Dirty Dancing festival together.  Both our lives are busy and we haven't been the best about keeping in touch, but this was the event to bring us together.  Her friend Messer from Miami also joined us (as she was with us the first time we went to Lake Lure together 2 years ago).  On the ride there we caught up on each other's lives and the time flew by.  Before we knew it we were checking into the Lake Lure Inn which was built in the 1920s and is so quaint and lovely.  They were very accommodating, letting us check in early and change before we headed to Chimney Rock (only a few miles away).  At Chimney Rock we got lunch over the river and then walked along the "River Walk."  On some lovely rocks, we did an impromptu photo shoot with dancing poses (of course) and then went to a coffee shop where Messer and I took Dirty Dancing tests which we both scored 100% on and were therefore entitled to free coffee.  I gave mine to Stephanie.  Every story had a poster in the window about the festival.  Several people had on t-shirts with phrases from the movie like "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" and "I carried a watermelon??" 

Posing on the rocks.

That evening, we set up blankets at the Moorse Park where the outdoor movie screening would take place.  Tiffany and Mitch (her new fiance!) met us there.  We had a little picnic and waited for it to get dark enough for the movie to start. When it began, everyone clapped and throughout the movie, you could hear people saying lines along with the characters and there was lots of "oohing" and "aaahing" over Johnny (Patrick Swayze).  It was a lovely evening, even though it got rather cold, and we had such a blast.  Tiff and Mitch left afterward, but Messer, Steph and I went to a bar very close to our hotel for karaoke night. What we saw there came as a bit of a shock.

Imagine a room full of the most back-woods, hillbilly people you can imagine.  Now imagine them drunk and singing.  Not a pretty picture.  Messer literally sat at the bar staring at the crowd with her mouth open most of the night.  Stephanie and I were being continually talked up by the local clientele and everyone had to deal with the insufferable singing stylings of this couple who thought they were the best thing since sliced bread, but were really just revolting.  Mostly because they were so obnoxious.  When the husband sang, he wore dark glasses and a hat and did crazy Matrix moves with his hands.  It was just bizarre.  The woman thought she was just amazing and later when Stephanie and I got up to sing "Ice Ice Baby," she came and stole the mike from me because she thought she could do it better.  It was ridiculous.  

At karaoke.

I did get to sing my old standby, "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and everyone high-fived me afterward and said I did an amazing job and it was the best song of the night.  Stephanie just looked at me and said, "I had no idea you could sing like that and where did that woman voice come from?" After that, we left before the locals got too rowdy or too friendly.  Stephanie was already having to repeat again and again, "I'm MARRIED."

The next morning we got back to the festival site about 10 a.m. for a Charleston lesson.  At the end of the lesson, they started teaching the chorus dance from the end of the movie.  We learned the rest of it later after the mambo lesson (which was taught totally wrong).  It was so exciting to learn the dance from the movie and they said we'd get to do it that night at the outdoor concert. 

Carrying watermelons.

The day was spent eating free watermelon, dancing and listening to the live bands.  Stephanie had to leave for a while to go do an errand for her family, so Messer and I hung out. At one point, a swing band was playing and I really wanted to swing, but Messer didn't really know how and did not want to go up in front of everyone so she grabbed some random bald guy and asked if he could swing.  He said yes, so she asked him to dance with me and he did.  He was actually really good and I had such a good time.  Later his wife saw me by the docks and said "Oh, you're the dancer who danced with my husband.  He was the bald guy." lol

When Stephanie returned, we all got in the car and drove to various locations where the movie was filmed including where the lake lift happened, the steps Baby danced on, the ruins of the old dace room/Kellerman's stage room, and a hotel where the floor from that old dance room had been installed.  That may have been my favorite place.  We came in and the hotel manager was very nice, letting us take off our shoes, traipse around taking pictures and even lying on the floor to "soak up Patrick's essence" as Messer put it.  We had ice cream in Chimney Rock and then went to the resort where the outdoor live band concert would take place that evening.

Dancing on the steps.

In between classic bands like The Clovers and The Embers, the Asheville Ballet performed dances to all the songs from the movie and then did the final "Johnny and Baby" dance.  At the end, everyone who had learned the chorus got up and danced it.  It was so much fun.  Afterward, everyone was dancing on the floor when the guy who played Johnny came up and asked me to dance. We had such a good time and grooved really well together.  The last move we did was a lift/spin and everyone had backed up and was watching us.  It was totally my "Baby" moment.

The next morning Tiffany met the three of us at Chimney Rock State Park to hike around and we had a really nice time.  She left after that and the three of us went back to the Lake Lure Inn to get a tour of Jennifer Gray's suite where she stayed during filming.  Patrick Swayze's was unfortunately occupied.  From there we drove to Hendersonville where we went apple picking and had a great time with my camera and it's 'color selection' tool.  (Refer to photos to see what I mean). 

Sitting on the floor Patrick danced on.

The following Thursday I drove up to Asheville to go see wedding sites with Tiffany, Mitch and her parents (since I'm going to be the Maid of Honor).  First we went to the Biltmore which was very beautiful and would offer a fantastic view if they got married at the Diana statue on top of the hill overlooking both house and mountains.  That evening there was a wedding festival where vendors from all over came to try and suggest their services to future bridal parties.  It gave us a few good ideas, but overall, was a bit disappointing.  That night we went to dinner at Olive Garden and then watched "Something Borrowed" together.

The next day we checked out a really cool venue not far from Tiff and Mitch's house that offered beautiful views and a nice indoor space for the reception at a much lower cost than the Biltmore.  Mitch and I liked that place best.  Next we saw the Grovepark Inn's venue which Tiffany seemed to favor, but which I didn't like as much due to the dated architecture and decor of the indoor space (though the view from the outdoor ceremony spot was lovely).  We had Mexican for lunch and overall it was a great couple days with Mitch and the Carusos. 

Tiff and me climbing a tree in Chimney Rock.

Back at home, I have been learning some really cool new moves in silk class lately, though one of them (a drop move called Foosball), left a big bruise under my left arm - but only b/c I was scared when I first did it and favored one side when I dropped over the other. 

Otherwise, I've been writing up a storm for the paper and wondering when I'm going to have time to finish my graduate school writing sample and start/finish my applications.  Once I get that over with, I'll feel better. 

Apple picking with my "color detection" camera.