Dedications to Vacations - The Honeymoon

Well, we will progress with stories in my lifetime and move on from childhood vacations to adulthood.  And by the way, we are skipping the infamous spring breaks of college.  First of all, I could never afford it and second, I am sure it wouldn't have gone well!

So, let's move on the the next big step - The Honeymoon!  Who doesn't need a good vacation after the stress of planning your perfect day.  You are exhausted from navigating seating charts, thank you cards, rehearsal dinner, keeping relatives happy.  Did you ever wonder if anyone has the responsibility of making sure the Bride is happy?  Did you ever wonder how many smiles in pictures were painfully applied over gritted teeth?  And how about those pictures!!!  For someone like me, who hates photographs, it was one of the most painful days of my life.  Dozens of pictures of an unphotogenic me throughout the day!  Every wedding in our family has some sort of crazy story to tell.  The last of the kids is being married next year, one more tale to tell.

But enough of that, the point is, who wouldn't want to go on a great vacation after all that?  My husband and I had no plans for a honeymoon.  We simply started driving for the East Coast.  Or we thought we did.  We got an hour and a half into the trip and stopped for the night, only to turn around and go home the next morning because we forgot the camera.  So a short delay, right?

May I make a suggestion to all couples right now.  Never decide to drive for long periods of time in a car with your new spouse.  Trust me, it will test your marriage from Day One!  Now, my father was a stickler about teaching us to follow a map.  (Those are the things that show roads and cities that we used to navigate our trips before GPS existed)  It is pretty  much a straight shot across the country on I-80 coast to coast.  Simple, right?  Until your husband asks you which direction to go and you read the map and tell him and he goes the opposite way.  "What are you doing?  I said turn right."  The answer was simple and yet it almost caused his untimely demise.  "It just feels like the ocean is this way."  We spent a week like that.  Thank God part of the week was spent on Martha's Vineyard looking for James Taylor's house.  It is an island and all you can do is go in circles!

My kids all planned trips.  Some as soon as the wedding was over, and some a few months later.  Who wants to go on a tropical vacation in July, right?  "Mommy's" first hiccup was when her husband left his wedding ring in the bathroom of the hotel and did not realize it until after they were at the airport.  That resulted in my cousin retrieving it from the hotel for us.  (Wait, why didn't someone help me out with our camera?)  Pook's wife was sick the first few days of their trip.  Nothing like a honeymoon alone.  I knew something was up when we were hearing from him.  (She recovered quickly and did enjoy the rest of the trip.)  Thank God, most of the trips were uneventful.  But then again, there were only two of them!  So much more happens when you just add one more person into the mix!

I do remember going to Boston as part of our Honeymoon.  We got all dressed up for a romantic dinner.  It was a special treat to order lobster and look out onto the ocean while someone waited on us and made sure we had everything we needed.  Our waiter also spent the evening apologizing to us!
Seated next to us was a loud older couple who argued about EVERYTHING!  They threw insults and threats at each other as if they were passing rolls.  The waiter very kindly let us know that marriage isn't always like that!

I don't know about how other states are, but my husband is an Ohio State Alumni.  Let me say right now with a smile - those people are crazy!  We of course, halfway across the country to attend a Buckeye football game.  That was the grand finale of our wedding week and honeymoon!  What every girl dreams of, right?!

I truly look back on all of the stuff with a smile.  It makes for great stories!  God has blessed me in so many ways and often, like not killing my husband over the map thing I am taught patience.  I am thankful for all the crazy experiences and can't wait for more.  I hope that you recognize God's blessings this week and smile.