The Honeymoon

The Honeymoon is an age-old tradition that might have started in the month of love. Many have said St Valentine’s Day is the most romantic day of the year, and February the most popular month for romance, but it could simply be that the cold weather months promote snuggling, and snuggling leads to other things.

Star-crossed twists of fate and love potions are truly a mixture of chemistry and possibly a little matchmaking witchcraft, but whatever the recipe is for romance, the outcome of February can often produce a honeymoon, and once upon a time, a baby who became a Marco Beach Boy.

A few weeks after Seth met Joyce at a town hall square dance, he was smitten and had trouble concentrating. His jumble of thoughts, however, had nothing to do with square dancing. Joyce, on the other hand, was not impressed. She already knew everything about Seth: He was too old, and too bossy, and too much trouble. Seth, however, was tenacious and he had a plan. Joyce did not have a chance.

Joyce was working at The Toggery, which was a place for “togs” or upscale women’s clothing. She was a perfectly happy 20-something who enjoyed her job, the latest fashion, and her family, who were living a few miles from Main Street. The Toggery for the women of the small Tennessee town was the center for shopping, the headquarters for the local gossip grapevine, and a highly complex network of matchmaking that would stagger the imagination of any man who was breathing within 30 miles.

Although Joyce was a vibrant fixture in the only popular boutique and was always ready to model the latest fashions to enhance sales, her older matron of a boss realized that having one of the most attractive young ladies in the county as a shopgirl could be a magnet for all kinds of possibilities and trouble.

Meanwhile, Seth was watchful. He was not quite a stalker, but he did have his own network of spies. The Old Ford garage was also a hotbed of local goings on and chatter, and although the men at the local car dealership might not have been as well-informed or as organized as the women’s grapevine of constant information, the gentrified country boys of Cumberland County were not without their own sources of intelligence.

The weekly square dance was every Saturday night—rain or shine—and The Cumberland Mountain Boys were some of the best singers and guitar pickers east of Nashville. The dance on Saturday was the biggest social event of the week, where anyone who was single had better make an appearance and be ready to meet the approval of all the grannies who were watching like a tree full of roosting hawks. The February dance before Valentine’s Day was the most popular because nothing sparked romance faster than a chilly sweetheart Saturday night with a sky full of snow flurries.

For the big evening, Joyce selected the most glamorous winter dress, shoes, and gloves, and when Seth saw the striking shopgirl, dressed to show off and sell the latest Hollywood fashion, he was thunderstruck.

The day after the dance was Sunday, and everyone who was anyone went to one of the three churches, where they had better be getting ready for eternity. Church was always inspiring, in many ways. After the morning services, the gossip network was always updated, and after the big family Sunday dinner—which was lunch—not supper—the latest news from the cold weather sweetheart dance was burning up the telephone wires.

A few of the grannies noticed the spark and Seth practically catch on fire, but Joyce was impervious to the older man’s reaction because she had her eye on a good-looking boy who was working at the local co-op and feed store.

The following Monday, Seth set his trap. When Joyce finished work and came out of the stylish Toggery, Seth was waiting in his newest car from the Ford dealership. When he offered to give the striking young fashionista a ride home, she reluctantly accepted, but when he suddenly announced that he was in love and was going to marry her by springtime, she jumped out of the car and ran back into the store.

Despite laying all of his strategy out for everyone to see and hearing that Joyce was too young and flighty and was sweet on the boy at the feed store, Seth doubled down and was relentless.

Every day after his declaration, Seth waited in his new car for the Toggery to close. One day after the snow melted into rain, Joyce accepted the offer of a ride and the after-work excursions became routine. Saturday nights and the square dances also became exclusive for Joyce and Seth, and when Seth switched churches to sit with Joyce’s family, the romance that began in February rose to a new level when Seth picked up Joyce early on an April Saturday evening. Instead of driving to the local square dance, Seth kept driving with Joyce sitting close beside him –because, as Seth said, he needed help driving the car. The runaway couple then drove to Atlanta and woke up a justice of the peace. They were married on April 2, 1955. The honeymoon drive continued to Miami and then to a ship that sailed to Havana, Cuba, for a three-week honeymoon at the Havana Hilton and the Club Tropicana.

On the road to Miami, Joyce asked Seth why everyone was calling the wedding vacation a honeymoon. With a wink, he whispered, “It’s the first time a new husband gets to see a different kind of moon.”