15 years!!!

March 3, 1992 - Downtown Los Angeles

I can't believe it! Larry and I have been married for 15 years! March 3, 1992 was the big day. It was Fat Tuesday, downtown Los Angeles. We got married on Fat Tuesday because we met in New Orleans, Jazz Fest 1990. We wanted to maintain that N.O. identity, so we got married on Mardi Gras and then later that summer we had a Zydeco-style reception in our backyard, featuring Lisa Haley, Doug Legacy and the Zydeco Party Band. It's been a Mardi-Party for us ever since.

We were married on a rainy day at the L.A. Courthouse. Neither of us wanted a big wedding ceremony. I had been married 14 years before and had a huge wedding at the Ambassador Hotel. Larry had photographed so many weddings that he wasn't enthusiastic about a big ceremony either. At the time, Larry was working at an aerospace company, so his photo crew met us at the courthouse with my Maid of Honor and Larry's Best Man. The Justice of the Peace that married us was wearing her rainy day clothes (jeans, sweatshirt and tennis shoes). She threw on a black robe and escorted us to the conference room. Our ceremony was videotaped, then we went outside to the park area surrounding the Courthouse and City Hall. The clouds parted long enough for us to have our official wedding photo taken by Tony Perez, one of Larry's co-workers. After all the photo ops, we zoomed over to Chinatown for a dim-sum lunch at the Empress Pavillion. When we got back to our little house there was a King Cake waiting for us from some of our New Orleans friends. It was perfect.

The following day we drove to San Pedro and picked up the Catalina Express and motored over to Avalon. We stayed at the historic Zane Grey Pueblo Hotel. The Zane Grey sits on a hillside, just above Avalon Bay. The view is magnificent. Even though it was March and rainy, we had a marvelous time walking all over the Island, taking tours, relaxing, ETC.

One of my favorite things in Avalon is to explore all of the places where the world-famous Catalina tile is located. You can purchase new versions of this tile in some of the shops on the Island. The Botanical Gardens are spooky and cool too. You can rent a golf cart and tour the town if you don't want to walk.

One day, we'll get back to Avalon and re-trace our steps. It's a magical place.