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| Our Wedding | |
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[Our song Amazed by Lonestar] Jim Stepanek and Marcia Reily Shields were married on Sunday, January 27, 2002. Members of Rolling Thunder® Illinois Chapter 1 traveled more than 1,000 miles to warm, sunny Florida to join in on the festivities. The ceremony was held in a cove on the Gulf of Mexico at the Key Vista Nature Park in Holiday, FL. Rev. John Steer performed the ceremony. Jim Murray was best man and Joan Parker was maid of honor. Bill Park gave the bride away. Honored guests included Sue Murray, Rick Parker, Andy and Sandi Gorski, Manny Lopez, and Donna Steer. The reception was held at Catches in Port Richey, FL. The newlyweds and friends spent the next week touring the State of Florida on their scooters.
Monday, January 28, 2002 The day started out foggy and chilly. Manny led the way to breakfast. He had us cruising up and down Hwy 19 about 3 or 4 times looking for "the pancake house". We finally found it and had a great breakfast at a place called Dillion's in Crystal River, FL. After breakfast, the sun came out. We stopped at Crystal River Harley. Then, we rode down to Tarpon Springs, FL, home of the Sponge Docks. The "Sponge Fleet" was in!! After rolling into town and scaring all the tourists, we stopped to tour some of the 100+ gift shops. We ran into some of Mungo's friends in the town square. We pulled out of Tarpon Springs and headed over to Tampa, FL. By now the temperature was climbing into the 80s! We said good-bye to Manny who was living on an jet plane to get back to Illinois. The rest of us rode all day until we hit Naples, FL. It was getting late and we needed to find a place to stay, get some cocktails, and dinner. There wasn't any room at the inns and Motel 6 didn't leave their light on for us. Nevertheless, we did find lodging at a very expensive No-Tell-Motel called the SeaShell. It was a real dump ... but whatta gonna do! Dinner was excellent at a place called Pippin's.
Tuesday, January 29, 2002 We got a pretty early start. Breakfast was at Perkins on the outskirts of Naples, FL. After stopping at Walgreens for supplies, we headed out to Old US41 a.k.a. Alligator Alley. Today we were going to do the "tourist" thing. Our first stop was the Tourist Information Center. We needed to find Mungo a place to wrestle a gator. The rest of us just wanted to ride an Airboat or a Swamp Buggy. So we headed east to find a place called Wootens. After we had our fill of 'gators, we crossed the rest of Alligator Alley and rode to Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Lunch was the Taco Smell next to Ft. Lauderdale Harley. We ate first, then shopped. Left there and headed over to Hwy A1A to ride along the coast up to Port St. Lucie, FL. We didn't get very far before the sky decided to open up. Folks said it was the first time it rained in the last couple of weeks. After getting a bit drenched, we pulled over at a bank to dig out our rain gear. Ha Ha!! We called it a day here and rode up the road a bit to find lodging for the night and of course, cocktails and dinner. We ended up at the Comfort Inn in Duffield Beach, FL. Cocktails and dinner were at The Crab House in Boca Raton, FL.
Wednesday, January 30, 2002 Started out the day with our free continental breakfast at the Comfort Inn. If it's free, it's for me!! We packed up our bikes and headed north to Port St. Lucie West, FL. to visit "Parker Land". The sun was out and it turned out to be a gorgeous day. That afternoon, we headed back to Citrus Springs to regroup. Cocktails and dinner were at Applebee's in Crystal River. Just when we were ready to leave, the sky opened up and all the bikes got dirty again!!
Thursday, January 31, 2002 Thursday morning Joan and Sue went to the laundromat. The guys and Marcia took a ride to Floral City, FL to "Trikes by Toni". In the afternoon we took off from Citrus Springs and headed out once again on the open road. Mungo was going to Orlando, FL and the rest of us were going to Winter Haven, FL. to visit John and Donna Steer. Just when it was time to put the steaks on the grill for dinner, someone hit not 1, but 2 electric poles down the road and knocked out all the power for blocks. Donna brought out every candle in the house and we all enjoyed a very romantic dinner. In the morning Donna prepared a huge breakfast before we headed back out on the road.
Friday, February 1, 2002 We left John and Donna Steer's home about 10am. The sun was out and it was already getting very hot. Our destination today was Clearwater Beach, FL. And it got hotter. As we rode through Tampa about noon it was 88 degrees!! Clearwater Beach was beautiful!! We walked along the beach. It was so hot we had to stop and rest at a Tiki Hut to quench our thirst. We also had to stop for ice cream. We left the beach and headed north to Tarpon Springs. Dinner that night was in Port Richey ... at Catches. We walked in and everyone remembered us. I guess they don't get many "biker wedding receptions"!!
Saturday, February 2, 2002 Saturday it was time for everyone to pack up and prepare for the long ride back to Illinois. We had ridden 1,405 miles that week. Two days earlier, the Chicagoland area had had quite a bit of snow and the weather was COLD. Everyone hated to leave warm and sunny Florida. As the Tahoe, trailer, and all our friends turned the corner ... both Jim and I had tears in our eyes. We love you guys!! |
