Motorcycle Honeymoon... Part #1

I know most people dream of taking a honeymoon trip to Hawaii, Tahiti or some other exotic place, and to some degree so did Maryan and I. We were kind of short on cash though. We’d recently finished renovating the home we’d bought, and (as those of you who’ve gutted a home and put it back together know) it had really sucked up all of our available funds.

We’d picked April 16th as our wedding date, spring is in full bloom here in North Carolina then, and knew we would be getting married in Roanoke, Va. just a short hop from the Blue Ridge Parkway.

As we started letting folks we knew, know about our plans, a couple of things happened. First, my boss at the time wanted us to have the wedding at his house, complete with a reception afterward. While it was a wonderful gesture on his part, we were looking for something a little less ‘grand’ and a lot more private. Second, my old riding buddy Tim (and his wife Donna) wanted to be around for the wedding, and planned on riding his bike in from Kansas City, Mo.

Maryan and I talked about it, and decided that getting married and taking a bike trip for the honeymoon would be a kick, so we started making plans.

We found a Justice of the Peace in Roanoke to perform the ceremony, found a bike friendly motel (that means rooms on the first floor where you can park the bike right outside the room) nearby that was reasonably priced and clean, and let Tim, and another friend of mine, Greg know what the plans were.

The week before we planned to get married the weather was absolutely beautiful, upper 70’s, a couple of days were almost 80, the humidity was low and everything was beginning to bloom. We were looking forward to a great trip, with some of my good friends Maryan had already met Tim and Donna at a “Honda Hoot” in Asheville, NC shortly after she and I had met, but Greg, she’d only heard stories about. I was excited about us all getting together as Maryan and Donna had gotten along well at the hoot, and Greg, well he’s another one of those unique folks I’ve met along the way and I was certain they’d get along great!

The week of our wedding however, the weather cooled off some, and the day we were leaving we flirted with an overcast sky, rain shower, and cold temps all the way to Roanoke. We got in early though, made a call to the JP and she said it was fine, we should just come on over and we’ve have the ceremony early; which is exactly what we did.

We got married in this woman’s home, and she was a very warm and welcoming person, making us immediately comfortable in her home and telling us quite a bit actually about her life before getting to the vows and the legal stuff.

She was a pretty cool old woman too; as I recall she was 87, widowed and retired, and that she explained she did the wedding ceremonies because she enjoyed seeing happy couples and helping them get started on their new lives together.

I remember as we left her house, a married couple now, the sun was shining and the air had warmed considerably, it was like us getting married had changed, not only our lives, the weather, for the better!!

We went and had a little lunch and headed back to the motel for some ‘alone time’. “Some”, alone time is exactly what we got. We’d….ummmmmmmm… gotten comfortable when a series of ‘knocks’ began occurring at our door. Now being newlyweds and all we were not about to be jumping up to answer the door!! I’m sure they all thought it was quite funny... I was not thinking ‘funny’ at the time!

Eventually we did get up and look out the door, and what did we find but a bottle of champagne and a note wishing us well. Well we decided it would be rude of us not to ‘toast’ our recent union, so we popped the cork and poured a couple of glasses.

Shortly after that Greg showed up, we all talked for a bit, and then we decided we needed to go out, and have a nice dinner to celebrate the day. We found a restaurant in downtown Roanoke called “Frankie B’s”. It wasn’t a big place, small actually, but the atmosphere was definitely 1st class. So the three of us headed off to dinner, Greg drove which allowed Maryan and I to imbibe as part of our celebration.

I remember Maryan ordered a lobster, and when they brought it out, they had completely removed the lobster from its shell for her. She had all the flavor, and none of the work!! I know we had at least two, possibly three bottles of wine with dinner. I know I ordered one, Greg ordered one and I think (at least that’s how I remember it) the restaurant brought us one ‘on the house’.

That wasn’t all they did either. The owner sent us desert, the entire staff signed a menu for us, and throughout it all the service, atmosphere and food were excellent. (If they’re still there, and you’re in Roanoke, I’d highly recommend it!!)

After dinner we headed back to the motel once again, Maryan and I fully intending to slip off into our room for some more ‘alone time’… However, when we got back to the motel, Tim, Donna and a buddy of his Steve, had arrived. We’d been expecting them in the morning, but they’d made better time than expected and were here now. A few hours of where are we going, what time should we leave etc followed before we kicked everyone out.

Tomorrow... Part #2, the trip begins...

Just a reminder, we'll be away for about a week. I'm visiting soem friends up North, attending my goddaughters graduation party and in general trying to relax and enjoy my wife, and some good friends.