Saturday, April 2, 2011

Dad, Is it True?

Dad married Mom on the first day of Spring in 1965. Mom had no idea she was getting married. There was no engagement party, let alone ring. There was just a business trip to Miami where she tagged along with Dad and his partner, Hugh Auchincloss. There was however, a quick stop over in Sanibel Island to go sea shelling at dawn before meetings in Miami later on that day. It was in Sanibel at dawn that a minister came bounding out onto the beach and performed the ceremony, and Dad married Mom.

Mom and Dad Wedding Day, March 21st, 1966

Before the surprise nuptuals at dawn in Sanibel, Dad had courted Mom in NYC and escorted her to many a party...but ONLY during the week. Though he was quite taken with her, he was pretty convinced that his weekend escape routine was something that would make her run.

One day Mom asked where he went on the weekends. So she got the invite and a packing list. (blue jeans, sneakers, etc..)Dad would have bet she didn't own blue jeans, and the only sneakers she had were for tennis, but wanted to warn her is wasn't going to be a trip to Southampton or Litchfield.

So he picked her up on a Friday afternoon in his Mark VII Jag
(I have such an affection for cars...and thought a visual here was crucial considering what is to come)
And to his surprise, she was dressed perfectly for the weekend ahead...
Dad had decided to put this fancy girl to the test. They drove 2 hours out of NYC to what is now Minneswaska State Park, but was then a cabin on remote Awosting Lake, that was Dad's weekend retreat. They parked the Jag, loaded up groceries into woven basket packs and hiked for 45 minutes before arriving at Lake Awosting. THEN, they loaded up the canoe, and paddled across the lake to Dad's cabin (still actually there, but in severe disrepair). All in all, an hour and a half trek from car to cabin. (Dad didn't let on that you could actually drive the whole way to the cabin, because that would ruin the test)

And then, he made her sleep in a tent.

The next morning, Dad awoke to the view of mom casting her fly rod into Awosting Lake. He chuckled, as the lake was a 'dead' lake, meaning no fish could survive in it due to excessive minerals. But no need to stop her artful routine. After all, it's not often a guy is pleasantly surprised that his seemingly citified love interest is talented in the ways of the fly rod...


A bit later he smells something cooking on the open fire.

After getting no bites in Awosting Lake, Mom took to the stream nearby and guddled for trout. She'd learned this technique with her father in Canada on fishing trips as a girl...and, well, imagine knowing trout so well that you find their hiding spot in a stream and they LET you pick them UP!

Yes, mom caught a trout with her bare hands. I'm surprised Dad didn't propose right then and there.

But, soon after, the once social couple in NYC...

got married at dawn on the first day of Spring, and the rest is history.

Dad in lederhosen (don't ask) and the boys a decade or so before I came a knockin' at the same cabin on the same lake where Mom won over Dad after guddling a trout.

-Dad, I know It's True,
Bradley.

28 comments:

  1. What a glorious story. Clearly your adventure DNA comes from both sides of the gene pool!

    Loved reading this and seeing the photos!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Camilla,
    You make me happy to have logged onto FB. Enjoyed reading and loved the photographs.
    John

    ReplyDelete
  3. What an amazing story, I love it! My parents 40th anniversary is coming up next month, and I am SO lucky to be born into a family where commitment is learned by watching :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. this is really beautiful, camilla...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Camilla! I love everything about this story! Miss you xx KKR

    ReplyDelete
  6. What an awesome story. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I really love this story. Your best. Ever.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Really interesting, thanks for sharing and for the great pics. Esp. that Jaguar, how pimp is that?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Just darling, such a beautiful couple.
    xxx to you! Emily of EL Vintage

    ReplyDelete
  10. classic. Super glad I found your blog. I'm a new follower, I hope you will as well. I started my blog a little over a month ago. It's all about celebrity fashion from the point of view of an LA stylist. Stop by to see multiple post a day on all the latest celebrity fashion news and check out pictures from the fall/winter preview I attended yesterday in Beverly Hills. Would love your support. xoxo

    www.fashboulevard.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. Camilla, I just love this story about your parents...and the old pics! Classic!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I just discover your blog and the fantastic fashion you create !
    I 'm a french girl and i wonder if i can find an e-shop !
    I love your patterns , the soul and the vintage pictures of your parents ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh how wonderful to read. Be sure that I am hard at work so that I may dress all of you once again:)

      Delete
  13. love the story and the photos... thank you for sharing...
    it is so wonderful to have the love of family... xo

    ReplyDelete
  14. the black tie pictures (and all of the pictures really) are so elegant! i'm missing your blog posts!! your audience wants more!

    ReplyDelete
  15. hey camilla,
    i am wondering if you would like to reach out to the nightingale people..my sister cynthia has taught there for 20 years..possibly a great trunk show venue through them? her name is cynthia coudert..ccoudert@nyc.rr.com ..i bet the girls at school would adore hearing about your wild adventures. they just visited with shoshanna..and learned a ton.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jill - great to hear from you! I have done a trunk show w Shoshanna at NBS, and will surely go again one of these days when I have something I think the girls would be inspired by:) Hope you are well!

      Delete
  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hey Camilla,

    That is a great story. I knew about your dad's place, but I didn't realize it played that role in your parents courtship. My parents story is somewhat similar, but based in the Adirondacks, and yes, we still strap on the lederhosen regularly.

    I hope all is well, and love the new ski line.

    Fedor

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fedor -
      I am only sad to have yet to visit your place in the Adirondacks!

      Delete
  18. Yo' Camilla,

    There is a word for this story: classic.

    Now it is only a minor classic, of course, so don't get your hair all worked up in a bun or anything like that. But if you are enjoying life on the road, and would like to try you had at fly fishing on a X-C trip in a classic but new car (with writing all over it) in August, then you better not befriend Ms. NOreen Ferrante of Alexandria, VA.

    -BacM

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bruce - what a treat to hear from you. I like the sound of it!

      Delete
  19. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I see Dad's an Eagle Scout but I don't recognize the white uniform

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow Scott...quite an eye you have! He is wearing a Leki leki (surely mispelled) but it was a formal linen suit worn in South America.

      Delete
  21. greetings from Costa Rica.
    that's such a wonderful Story!

    ReplyDelete