DISNEYMOON - Part 1

So here's the Disneymoon saga I promised you.

It's nothing really earth-shattering or even that entertaining, really, but to be honest, I feel like I need to cleanse it out of my system. You know, like eating an Activia Yogurt. Here it goes:

And so it came to pass (by the way, I like totally always wanted to start a story off with that phrase, it's neat isn't it?) that my new husband and I were looking for places to book for our honeymoon.  We were married September 2005 and spent two nights at an inn immediately following our wedding day (In case you have not read about that lovely minimoon, I will post a link to that story later.).  We did not take an immediate honeymoon following our nuptials for a few reasons:

1.  My husband had started a job not long before we were married and had no vacation time accrued.

2.  I was scheduled to start a job the Wednesday following the wedding.  You would think that it was a high falootin kind of job, right? Nope - Administrative Assistant (fancy term for secretary that knows her shit) at a Real Estate office.

3.   We had put all our savings and wedding money aside for the purchase of our home.

We decided that after the new year, we would go somewhere in the Spring.

My husband insisted on going to the Outer Banks.

"Imagine" he said, "Cuddling up together under the stars in a cozy little tent by the beach...listening to the crickets chirp and the sounds of waves lapping against the sand"

He looked longingly up into the air as if his little idea was right over his head in a thought bubble, ready for him to just grab and morph himself into this serene thought-scape.

"I will relax after a day of kayaking.  She will be fine reading some woman magazine in the tent."

I, however, envisioned myself sitting in the tent while he was kayaking, dabbing myself with calamine lotion from the incessant mosquito bites that welted over my body.  Trust me, that WOULD have been the scenario!!!!  I know him.  He didn't care about the romance, he wanted a place to kayak, fish, camp and poop in the woods.

No thank you.  I had gone camping with him the year before (another future story).  Not my cup of tea.

Actual magnet I now proudly display on my fridge.

I wanted to go to Bermuda, sit on silky pink beaches and go to little cafes, drink tea and put flowers in my hair.  Buy cute sundresses, dance at night, lay in a hammock by day, dance at night again, go shopping, ride those cute little pink scooters around town.

This should have been us.  We could have been a contender.

Too expensive.  We were broke (ha, not much has changed).

So I thought about the one place I said I always wanted to bring someone I loved:  Disneyworld.

Before you raise an eyebrow, let me explain something.

Up until I gave birth to my son 21 months ago, I had the emotional maturity of a 16 year old.  And a very young version of a 16 year old - not the skanky 16 year olds of today, but more like the innocent yet nerdy Sweet 16 year olds of days gone by.

I had gone to Disney when I was 5, 18, 19, 20.  Back in my late teens, I thought it was the most romantic place I had ever been to.  What did I know back then?  My travels only took me to the South Jersey shore for a yearly vacation and that was it.  I WAS SHELTERED.

I was obsessed with fairy tales and anything removed from reality.  What is the epitome of fairy tales?  Yah....Disney.  Every movie had a happy ending.

See? All these couples are madly in love with each other!  I forgot they were fictional.

I remember seeing photos of couples in cute little Castle Picture frames kissing under the fireworks at Cinderellas Castle.  I wanted to be that couple.  I knew it could be done. 

 "Let's go to Disneyworld!" I suggested with the excited glee of a 4 year old.

"Wha????....No way!!! Absolutely Not.  I don't Do Disney."  he said with a smudgy face.

"What do you mean you don't do Disney?  Everyone does Disney.  It's the Happiest Place on Earth"  I countered.

"....for 5 year olds!  Don't get me started about what I think is wrong with Disney...."  his eyes started to fill with anticipation as if he was ready to release an energy that had been stored up in his little cynical brain for years and years.

Uh oh, here it comes get ready....

what my husband thought of when he heard anything "Disney"