Cavaliers spring to Bellingrath Gardens

The Cavaliers turned a day ride into an overnighter to tour Bellingrath Gardens near Mobile. It was planned as a day ride to Mobile to visit Bellingrath Gardens in all its spring glory. It quickly turned into a full weekend of fun.

We started things off with our monthly beer bust at the Phoenix. Poncho blew out the candles on his birthday cake, and the club presented him with his new road captain's vest, complete with the club colors on the back and his name and title badges on the front.

During the beer bust, Mike D. suggested we change the Mobile ride from a day ride on Sunday to an overnighter, leaving late Saturday afternoon. I was a little concerned that someone might show up on Sunday morning, but we put out a few emails and got no response, so we decided to leave on Saturday.

Six of us made the ride, including Poncho, Mike D., Doug, Lance L., Michael W., and me. Lance was on his new HD Sportster 1200, and Mike and Doug were on their new matching Honda VTX 1300s.

Michael W. and I had a small mishap on I-10 heading out of town when one of the side compartments flew open while on the road. We stopped to shut it, and miraculously none of the contents had fallen out.

We got to Mobile and checked in at the Lafayette Plaza Hotel in downtown Mobile, where we entertained the desk clerk. He was beside himself when he realized that this group of six bikers were in town to have brunch at the Spot of Tea restaurant and then ride down to Bellingrath Gardens to see the azaleas in bloom.

We headed to Charlene's restaurant for dinner, and got there just after the kitchen had closed, but used our charm to persuade them to re-open just for us. We like the good food at Charlene's but the real treat is the building it's in: an old pharmacy dating to 1900. It's an architectural gem.

After dinner we headed out for a little nightlife, and discovered there isn't much. We were greeted warmly by Jerry at B-Bob's and spent most of our time there. We stopped upstairs briefly and caught part of the drag show. At the intermission the emcee asked if anyone was celebrating a birthday, and we got him to drag Poncho up on stage. Poncho got a free shot of Jagermeister for his trouble.

Sunday morning we headed across Cathedral Square for brunch at a Spot of Tea restaurant. The food was absolutely delicious, and even Mike D. was satisfied with the generous portions. We were all quite amused to be seated in the frou-frou dining room, surrounded by all the good church-going folk in their Sunday best.

After brunch we took the short ride outside of Mobile to Bellingrath Gardens. It was 60 spectacular acres of springtime glory. The grounds are beautifully landscaped with more than 250,000 azaleas and other flowering plants. It was well worth the trip. Of course the Cavaliers had a pretty good time cutting up and scaring the tourists while we were there.

After the tour we headed home, first on I-10, and then over to US Hwy. 90 from Ocean Springs through Biloxi and Gulfport. We stopped for ice cream along the way. We really couldn't have had a more beautiful day for a ride, with temperatures in the upper 70s and sunny skies.

Once back in the city we made our ritual visit to Lafitte's on Bourbon Street, where we christened the new Cavaliers trash can table top, courtesy of Lafitte's manager Joey.

At Lafitte's we also ran into Ron, who had gotten up early Sunday morning to ride to New Orleans to meet us for the ride to Mobile. Unfortunately Ron hadn't gotten word of our last-minute change of plans. We felt really, really bad about it, but Ron had a good sense of humor about it. We just kept reminding him it was all Mike D.'s fault.

Cavaliers host "Blessing of the Bikes"

The Cavaliers kicked off their 2004 riding season with the Blessing of the Bikes on Sunday, March 14 at Armstrong Park.

Rev. Dexter Brecht of the Metropolitan Community Church of Greater New Orleans conducted the blessing. The ceremony began with an opening prayer, followed by the annointing of each rider and each motorcycle with sacred oil.

The event attracted a dozen riders and many friends of the Cavaliers, including club members Poncho, Doc, Doug, Mike D., Darryl, Jeff, and David. We also saw several new faces, including Lance, Lynn, Doug, Jack, and Kathleen. Our friend Brian even brought along his Audi TT sports car to be blessed, too.

We were also pleased to have many of our friends show up just to wish us well, including Kevin, Michael H., Michael W., Carl, and Lance. Doc's dad, who is a detective with the NOPD, covered the security detail for us.

Club members passed out small angel pins to each of the participants after the ceremony, and newcomers received the official Cavaliers friendship pins as well.

Following the ceremony Road Captain Poncho led the riders off on a ride to Casino Magic in Bay St. Louis, with a police escort from Armstrong Park to the on-ramp of I-10. Seven members made the trip, with our friend Brian in his Audi TT following along.

We took the old Chef Menteur Highway east into Mississippi, and followed US Hwy 90 to Bay St. Louis. Poncho led us right into the casino's designated "Motorcycle Parking Only" section.

Once inside, we ate ourselves silly at the buffet brunch, going back for course after course until we could hardly walk. The food was very good, with a wide variety and lots of it.

After brunch a few of the riders tried their hands at a few slot machines or a few hands of blackjack, while the rest of us let our enormous meal settle. Soon we headed out to the bikes, saddled up, and headed back home, just in time to beat the rain.

Thanks go out to Doc for her work coordinating the bike blessing, especially for arranging for the preacher and the security. Thanks also to our friend Wally Sherwood for helping with the publicity on the event.

This certainly turned out to be a very successful event, and seemed like a great way for some new riders to get introduced to our club.