The 41-and-a-half year-old spinster and the 45-and-a-half year-old bachelor are finally legal.
On Tuesday, March 25th, Bob and I went down to city hall in Chicago with a few friends where a very nice judge did the ceremony, which was surprisingly quick. We were aiming for a 10 a.m. ceremony, with plans to jump in the car afterwards and try to make Wisconsin by noon or so. But since we all got there early, we were walking out of the judge’s office by 10:05 a.m.
Afterwards, we stood on the sidewalk, outside of city hall for a little while. It was just another Tuesday workday for the people who very nicely walked around us as we snapped photo after photo. I loved getting married on a regular day with the bustle around us. It was kind of like sharing the excitement with the whole city.
By 10:25 a.m. my brand new husband and I were in the car, heading north to Lake Geneva. Bob loves Lake Geneva and spent a lot of time there when he was growing up. He took me there for the first time a year ago and I never wanted to leave. It was February and the lake was frozen solid. We could see (crazy) people sitting on it and fishing. Winter is my favorite season and Bob’s too, so it made sense for us to head to where the temperatures are even colder than in Chicago.
Our tradition when driving to Lake Geneva is to have lunch at The Brat Stop (“restaurant, bar and cheese mart”) in Kenosha, Wisconsin and this time was no different. Bob and I shared our first meal as husband and wife at the bar: brats, fried shrimp and coleslaw. A nice couple next to us bought Bob’s first beer, the bartender bought his second (and Bob bought his third). After we ate, Bob went to the car and brought in the cake I’d ordered: white with white frosting, lemon filling and red roses. It said, “Congratulations, Bob and Regina.” We took great pleasure in sharing it. The bartender brought extra plates and forks, I cut pieces and Bob handed them out to the nice couple, the waitstaff and other patrons sitting nearby.
He walked up to the hostesses: “I just got married.”
“Congratulations!”
“And you get cake.” It was fun. It was just as I’d imagined it: our wedding lunch at a bar, sharing cake with strangers.
I have always hated spring and March in particular. I’ve also never liked Tuesdays. I chose to get married on a spring Tuesday in March just to take the curse off these things. I love the fall and winter holidays and spring has always been so dreary to me (with its pathetic little Easter). I’ve often felt that the only good thing about March is that it’s only nine months away from Christmas. I wanted to put something good in springtime, some special day I could look forward to each year. This should do it.
Because winter lasted so long this year, I got to “have my cake and eat it, too”: I got my springtime wedding date and a honeymoon in the snow! Lake Geneva was still frozen solid, the weather was chilly and as we drove back to Chicago it snowed. It was beautiful.
We spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights at The Geneva Inn (I LOVE the Geneva Inn) and drove back to Chicago on Thursday. It was just a quick honeymoon, just long enough to practice being married. That is, I practiced saying, “Did you hear me?” and Bob practiced saying, “What?”
0 Comments