The HoneyMoon Begins



1st Leg - 21 June: After the ceremony, we went back to the cabins and had us a good ole country style buffet, but with champaign of course, hehe. I broke with tradition once again when I refused to throw the garter (after Jamie dutifully pulled it off with his teeth) and bestowed it on Father Dave instead. Simply becauses they were all married anyhoo, and I felt he deserved it the most. He had his background showing and proudly displayed it too, hehe, worn on the sleeve. Father mentioned that his wife dearly loves lemon cake as it gets her in a cuddly mood, so of course we send him off with a good hunk of it.

In traditional wedding fashion, we tried to sneak off early, but early in the mountain means not all that much. The sun drops fast, and it becomes freezing cold within seconds. My new family, hardcore fisherfolks that they are, bundled up. Blondie here wasn't told about WINTER when they suggested warm clothes, so my idea of warm clothes didn't do me much good... by the time we begged off I was frozen stiff, dead tired (altitude, remember?) and just wanted to snuggle up to my hunni....

We stayed at medicine bow for a few days though... without being so tired. Or so cold (grins). We fished, tracked the woods, and gathered what we could. Unfortunately the huge patch of juniper berries I discovered was not ripe yet, but I made mom promise to check on them later in the season. We DID dug up some Arnica, but the poor dears didn't make it all the way to Florida, never mind my plan of smuggling them back to Germany with me. The pine resin harvest, however, was incredible. Both Jamie and I had a blast finding and climbing the trees to get what we could. Lost in the middle of nowhere, a colonie of herons nesting high in the trees above us, warm sun filtering through the pines - it was easy to forget the time... and snuggle some more (WINK)

The honeymoon cabin


The brand-new groom, doing his first harvesting (pine sap from the wedding tree)
     

Reeling them in... Dad and my brandnew hubby did indeed take me out to teach me the art of fishing, but nobody took a picture of ME, boohoo. I had a blast, though, even if I couldn't get a bite to save my life. That's okay, Dad got plenty, and I don't think I would have enjoyed going through the motions as much as I enjoyed playing with the rod (wink)





Traveling the 2st Leg - 26 June: The route: Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessey, Georgia, South Carolina

First, of course, was trying to get the van to work. Mom and Dad (here reluctantly but prettily posing for me in the 'patio' part of their back garden)



had given us a new windshield by way of another wedding gift, after which the darn thing promptly broke down as soon as it had it installed, somewhere in the 'enjin' department. Jamie had his head under the hood for three days, at which time we decided it had enough new parts to give it a try. We made it exactly half an hour out of Cheyenne when it died for good. Thanks for small favors, I said, at least we're close enough to home to be towed back. But my whizz hubby got it back to hickup and stutter home with sheer willpower and lotsa cursing. Mom couldn't believe it when she saw us again, and said we should take it as an omen and just STAY. Then, seeing our crushed faces, they gave us their 'good' van to make the trip (my beloved Bluebell, which I promptly bought from Mom, hehe, and its safely sitting there waiting for me to return. I mean, c'mon, custom made bed build in honeymoon traveler, I had to make sure it stayed in the family).





On the way out (the third attempt) we went by autozone and ordered a new engine for the old van, so Jamie can get his beehind to Texas somehow, after dropping this one back off in Wyoming (I began to dread seeing my credit card). Of course, we then had to stop back by the house a THIRD time to give them the receipt so someone could pick it up and have it installed while we were gone. Mom and I, of course, by this time were laughing hysterically when we pulled up. This time, we hugged and kissed goodbye without all the tears from the first two, so it was fun and giggles all around.

We didn't think much of it not having the AC working, me not really even knowing what AC IS, but half a day into the journey (and about 100some degrees inside the vehicle) we made our first stop in some little cowtown in Kansas to get it fixed. And thank the powers for that cowtown (I loved it: 1 dusty mainstreat, a railroad track, and a few lone tack and feed shops/barns on either side), because BillyBob (or was it BigJim??) gave us a good, honest deal, while whistling to himself and remembering his own honeymoon. Me, I applied the 'stickheadinthesand' routine trying not to think how I would deal with the backlash of my creditcard when I came back home, but hey, emergencies like these is what I carry the thing for, and we were comfy now. We tried to make up for lost time by driving all the way through the night, and in the morning, with Jamie sound asleep, the lovely American way to post signs made me miss the exit to the connecting interstate. Instead of turning around (which would have been the female reaction, turn and get it right while you still can), my beloved woke up briefly and instructed: no problem, keep going, we take the next one and go cross country. It's the same direction. It will be fun. Well, that it was. But it was also 10 hours longer. So much for 'men never get lost' (grins)



3rt Leg - 29 June: We arrived in Charleston, SC, at the lovely home of my dear toady-sister. Of course as soon as we got there, Mom called that the paperwork had arrived (go figger) the minute we departed, and fed-exed it our way. Waiting for it we showed Jamie the beach, the incredible houses on some of the islands, the market, the battery, rainbow row, and feasted on wild wings - several times, but who's counting?-

Same day, night-time: Dinner at one of my favorite restaurants by the docks (quote Toadie: As usual, our main interest was to stuff our faces)
All my fault, I admit, all health rules and regulations were entirely waived for the honeymoon, and I gained a total of 20 lbs back. Not surprised, and worth every single one. Luckily, my hubby likes me better this way, so I have to fight him for getting thin again, but it will be easy enough now that I am all alone - sniffsniff.

Apart from the 'big' dinner at Queens, and dipping into what I still fondly keep calling the 'wingdings', we also stopped at the docks the first night. Since toadums said it so much better then I did, I shall copy her description (grins):

It's this Cuban place overlooking the creek where the shrimping boats dock. We ate on the patio with the sea breezes. Artichoke dip on pita slices and black bean cakes. Cold cucumber and dill soup. Jamie had a lowcountry concoction of shrimp and scallops and crawfish tails over grits and topped with oysters and proclaimed it perfect. Finished with their signature coconut cream pie. We were stuffed.

But we did manage a cruise along the battery/rainbow row after leaving Queens. Seeing it for the first time is a nighttime must. The lights and illuminations on the houses, with the waves breaking in the background is something one won't forget. Daylight isn't made for first impressions. Oh, my Charleston, how I have missed you. Jamie sniffed the air politely and whispered, "what on earth IS that". Toadie and I just looked at each other and giggled hysterically. You can't describe it, pluffmud is pluffmud, and you'll either love it or hate it.

30 June: The Market and Rainbow row/battery by daylight, Edisto beach (Jamie had never seen the ocean before, and just had to get a view), and some shopping (and despite what you might think, I am over my own compulsive shopper mode. I shopped almost exclusively for my beloved, who's hunky bod had never seen a beach before and therefore needed outfitting and proper showing-offing :)

01 July: A bit more of running around, and finally soaking up some magick by hugging on Angel Oak again (and yes, I gathered of the despised moss, ignoring the usual warnings and laughing at people jumping to avoid me when they saw me coming with it), the one spot in nature that represents majestic tranquility for me... Peace, Power, Patience, Love, the impression of an ancient smiling gently... we can tell you, but unless you stand underneath the mighty grandfather (funny, this time it felt decidedly male, last time I would have sworn its a crone - maybe, after a millennium, it doesn't matter anymore, and it is both anyway?) you will never be able to understand. It is like time stops, or has no meaning. Life, with its petty problems and sorrows is just not as big anymore. The impression of an ever on-going circle, and timeless presence is overwhelming.


And we finally made it to the courthouse to request our marriage license. Bless my favorite city for not having a waiting period or wanting bloodtests. And everybody is so FRIENDLY here....

In the evening, we figured we better made sure we had all the fun we COULD get, and truth be told, we did need a break from stressing, so we decided to, once again, eat the cake before dinner and have our wedding feast prior to doing the deed:

in the words of my soul sister:

The celebratory dinner was at 82 Queen downtown, Sorcy's favorite Charleston restaurant. She had fried green tomatoes and grits as both appetizer and dessert (is she hooked or what?) much to the amusement of the staff, and then chose the mixed grill -- filet mignon, medallion of venison, and quail for her entree. She didn't know what quail was, and when the platter came, she thought the quail, spread out as it was, was a frog. I laughed until I was almost hysterical. Jamie had the barbecued shrimp with apple smoked bacon and scallions on grits for his appetizer and loin of lamb for an entree, as did I. We finished with dessert -- bourbon pecan pie with vanilla bean icce cream for him and chocolate creme brulee for me. (Sorcy just dipped her spoon in here and there). Incredible dinner under the stars although the mosquitoes were out in full force.

2 July - Finally. LadyToad found a sprity judge


who didn't mind at all being called up last minute to perform a wedding, and had a lovely setting prepared for us when we arrived the morning of day #3 in lowcountry. Truth be told, I am beaming inside to have my official marriage certificate state Charleston, South Carolina :) This will always be the city of my heart.



I Dooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo


He does tooooooooooo :)


The happy couple (with the happy bestests friend)


(quote Toadie) "I giggle because we hold hands when we walk down the street, and in Charleston that means "girlfriends" of the most intimate sort which amused Jamie no end. Sorcy said she doesn't give a rat's ass. She just wants to be close to her soul sister when she's here. Shock Charleston to death. It's awfully quiet here now." (unquote)

We were sad that we only had a few days instead of the whole week we planned on, but having left 3 days later due to the car thing, we had to adhere to the schedule and pull out towards Florida in time for the fireworks on the bay. We left after another wing stop, early afternoon after the wedding (mostly because I finally wanted to get my handsome - and as I found out, surprisingly shy (people in the next room if you know what I mean)- husband alone, and we figured we had a good 6-7 hours of driving to sneak in before we croked. And of course, we HAD to see Savannah, even if it was only driving down the Riverside.

My beloved then had the glorious idea to stop at one of the fancy hotels and inquire about a honeymoon suite (obviously, he was in the mood for some serious hunni-mooning himself by now). He was a bit white around the gills when he came back out, and said with a small voice that he had got us a lovely bargain if I wanted to stay. Originally, the suite goes for $600.00 per night, but since we were newlyweds (duh? Isn't everyone asking for the honeymoon suite???) they would let us stay for 300.00. We decided that we were quite capable of driving on for a few more hours, and so, instead of the Hyatt, we had a lovely little motel a few hours down the road. It was after midnight, but since there was no sleep involved, this was still, technically, our wedding night, so there - grins.



Read on to the next portion. Florida Freedom (grins) Honeymoon on the Beach :)