A Dear Friend Gets Hitched in E-Town

[Tannerman]

Over the weekend, Amy & I drove 6 hours down to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, to take part in the wedding of our friend, Jessica Filkins. Jess is a childhood friend of Amy's -- and stood in our wedding as a bridesmaid back in 2002.

Jessica & Amy, with Amy as a bridesmaid...


... just as Jess was a bridesmaid in our 2002 wedding

To make the long trip a little more interesting, we decided to conduct a "GPS test" using two GPS receivers. We used the Magellan RoadMate 800 which we've had for many years and ran it next to Amy's work-issued GPS, a TomTom.

The Happy Couple: Jessica & Jesse

For the most part, they were pretty similar. But in many situations their recommended directions were in opposite directions. The TomTom is a newer, slicker unit, but the user interface leaves much to be desired.

Not 1, but 2 GPS units!

Our Magellan unit is old and reliable, but the internal maps are definitely showing age and the processing power/speed is lacking compared to newer GPS products.

Quite the beautiful setting for a wedding

With a November wedding planned outside, we were quite worried about the weather and temperatures. However, it proved to be a beautiful, sunny day with amazingly warm weather. You couldn't ask for much better for an outdoor wedding.

The wedding party

The ceremony took place at the Brown-Pusey House in Elizabethtown. This house had a historical marker out front that displayed the following: "This Georgian mansion was built in 1825 by John Y. Hill. It is known as "Hill House" and as "Aunt Beck Hill's Boarding House."

Wedding was at a historical mansion

Jenny Lind sang here in 1851 and General George Armstrong Custer and wife boarded here, 1871-73. Doctors Willliam Allen and Robert Brown Pusey gave the house to Elizabethtown in 1923 for a Community House and library."

Amy was glad we had warm weather!

Amy stood as a bridesmaid in the wedding... and was thankful for the warm weather! There was quite a large wedding party, including Jessica's brother Zach.

Zach Filkins is Jess' brother

Time for a little name dropping... Zach Filkins is a guitarist and co-founder of the band OneRepublic. So, "Jess' little brother" has been getting some success with millions of singles sold worldwide and increased visibility in the media, including appearances on Smallville, American Idol, and other shows. Who would have thought?

He played guitar at the wedding

Zach played flamenco guitar selections as part of the wedding recessional. The Filkins family lived in Spain for many years as missionaries -- which is where Zach studied guitar -- and Amy learned how to do long-distance communication with her friend Jess.

Guess what... I was here too!

We had a fun time participating in the rehearsal dinner, meeting some of Jessica's friends (or in Amy's case, getting reacquainted after many years), getting a chance to get to know her new husband Jesse (who is also in the counseling field, so he & Amy hit it off), and just taking part in an exciting day.

One final fun photo before we all head our separate ways

Before you knew it, it was time for us to hit the road and drive back to Chicago. We had to book out of there because Amy had an adoption conference to attend early Sunday morning, thus it was a pretty late night driving. Thankfully, not only did we gain an hour moving from Eastern to Central Time Zones, but we also gained in the shift from Daylight Savings to Standard Time.

That cut 2 hours off our trip right there! It was like we were driving a DeLorean going 88 m.p.h.!