Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it all… “It took too long”, “It’s about time”, “What were you thinking?”. I don’t have answers to any of those, but I can only say that this day was always a foregone conclusion to me. We were both just having fun and building our lives together.
I had been seriously thinking about proposing for at least 3 years, but I am frankly a procrastinator. I also had a $50 bet with my friend Tim that he would get married before I did, a bet I cashed in on in April 2017 (although it still sits in the accounts receivable department) so I clearly had to outlast him. One day, I was sitting around and thinking about how we hadn’t had a “vacation” in a while and also had some free weekends in June coming up. I asked Rebe if she would be “ok” if I booked a weekend away, but where we were going was going to be a surprise. She agreed, and then badgered me for the next 5 weeks about where we were going.
On June 14th, 2018, we set off on a road trip to an unknown location. Rebe’s friends had all told her this was the weekend it would happen (but come on, how many times had that had of happened already?), and one particular friend, Justine, was beyond curious where we were headed. As we slowly hit the highways from I-691 to I-91N to I-84E, Justine was being relayed the information to research potential destinations. Rebecca right up front admitted her #1 guess was that we were headed South towards NYC, or more precisely to Coney Island, where there was a “Mermaid Parade” planned for the weekend, for which Rebecca packed her mermaid pants, t-shirt and makeup to ensure she would “fit in”. This made me laugh for at least 3 miles of our road trip. As we hit I-90, the girls were predicting a New Hampshire, Maine, Boston, Cape Cod destination, and when we went I-495S, Rebe got a text with a map of the Cape and surrounding mainland. I remained mum. About 5 miles outside of the Cape Cod bridges, she guessed Martha’s Vineyard, and the secret was out.
We took her car on the ferry across, and arrived at our Air BnB around 4pm. It was a studio apartment above a garage with a private entrance and parking space, a 5 star stay for sure. For the rest of the day, we explored downtown Edgartown and headed home a bit early in anticipation of a fun filled weekend. Now would be a good time to point out that I had ZERO plan for how our engagement might go down, and that of course added to all the nerves I had. So for the reset of the weekend, I decided to carry the ring with me in case the time was right. What a mental burden.
Friday was a little overcast, so we decided to be tourists and tour the whole island. In the morning we made our way out to Oaks Bluff and did some shopping and had lunch by the beach. We intended to try our hand at the brass ring carousel, but the hours were not kind to us. Our afternoon had us planning to head to Bad Martha’s Brewery, John Belushi’s grave site, Aquinnah Cliffs & Gay Head Lighthouse, and Menemsha Beach for sunset. It was an awesome day, and could have been the day we agreed to spend the rest of our lives together, if not for an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction. When we arrived at Larsen’s Fish Market on Menemsha Beach (notable as a Jaws filming location), I felt a bit of a breeze on my behind while walking around. I had a thread hanging and brushing my calf, and I thought it was a sand flea or some other nuisance. I soon realized that somehow my shorts had ripped from the back of my knee up to my belt buckle. Just half an hour before sunset, Rebe gave me the option of heading home or sticking it out. I grabbed my sweatshirt, tied it around my waist, and stuck it out for the rest of the night, and I am glad I did. If you haven’t been to Menemsha Beach for sunset, I have to recommend you put it on your list. We saw maybe one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. It could have been a perfect proposal opportunity, if not for the fact that I was almost pantsless in front of about 75 onlookers. I was at least slightly worried I missed my chance.
We planned a trip to Chappaquiddick Island for Saturday, and took the “3 car 3 minute” ferry over to the island. Our first stop was the Mytoi gardens, a tranquil Japanese-style garden that was both peaceful and exquisite. I gave more than a few thoughts to “popping the question” here, but I knew our next step was the nature reserve beaches at Wasque Point, and was hoping for something even better. When we got to the beaches, we found a trail we decided to walk down through this crazy woodsy area of trees that looked like they were out of a Lord of the Rings movie. The trail let out to the tops of a sand dune overlooking the Wasque Point beaches, and topped with an Osprey Nest. There was literally no one around except our friends, an osprey and her offspring. Rebecca was a bit caught up in the beauty, and being sure to capture it on her Instagram, it gave me some time to fetch the ring from my pocket. With no one in sight for probably a mile in either direction on one of the most beautiful yet touristy destinations on the entire East Coast, I got on one knee asked my best friend to marry me. I’m not sure if she said yes, but I already knew the answer and didn’t need to hear the words. We’re frankly both a little foggy on the details of the moment, yet it was an experience we will never forget, perfect in every way.