Weddings are supposed to be picture-perfect events with everyone in their finest clothes, surrounded by flowers and music and closest friends and family. Right...?
Honeymoons are supposed to be romantic and effortless. The travel brochures seduce us with heart-shaped tubs, champagne flutes, dreamy sex-filled days languishing in round beds, and waves lapping at our feet as we stroll in the moonlight gazing into each others eyes. Right...?
August, 10th, 1974 - Scottsdale, Arizona - 115 degrees at 2 pm. My sweet gown was hand-made by my college roommate, Eloise - she brought it all the way from Los Angeles on a Greyhound Bus - holding it in her lap and never out of her sight. That's a great friend, and I miss her.
My groom and his best man arrive in their wedding clothes: groom in blue polyester sport coat and blue plaid poly slacks, his brother wearing a yellow sport coat and navy slacks. Mom's in a flourescent hot pink chiffon caftan, Dad's got on his best summer suit - light blue linen. Hey...it was the '70's. . . .convention was gone - and I had white daisies in my long blonde hair.
Skipping over the wedding and reception and on to the honeymoon...the REAL story here: WE drove through the night to Flagstaff, AZ, where I had booked us into the very first motel of our lives together. It cost $14 - which, even by 1970's standards was mighty cheap. Upstairs to a little room with a shared bath - complete with a claw-foot tub. Please do not assume I am describing a quaint B & B...this was a modest travellers inn along the main drag through Flagstaff, stuck in the 1950's.
The tiny room held a white iron bedstead and a long, tall window covered with a very sheer curtain. The bed was very creaky - appropriate for a honeymoon night! And later, as we tried to get some sleep, the room was filled with flashing, pulsing light from a neon sign level with our barely-covered window - buzzing and humming as it flashed..."Pine Motor Lodge - Pine Motor Lodge - Pine Motor Lodge". The dear woman at the front desk the next morning smiled and blushed as she asked if we slept well. I believed she even winked!
And that was just the start of a honeymoon that became a portent of the years ahead.
To be continued. . .
recommend this
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 5