Cavaliers prowl Mobile for bear contest

The Cavaliers spent a wonderful weekend of August 20-22 in Mobile, Ala. Eight riders made the trip, and the group spent their evenings at B-Bob's. Friday night was leather and uniform night, Saturday night was the Gulf Coast Bear contest. David was selected as a judge for the bear contest.

The Cavaliers had a wonderful weekend in Mobile! Seven riders braved the trip, despite the stormy weather on Friday. Guy and Lance left at 3 to try to beat the rain. They wound up arriving in Mobile after Doc, Diane, Julie and David and Michael, who left New Orleans a full hour later.

Friday night, after another rain delay, the group of seven went out for a lovely dinner at Loretta's, only a half a block from B-Bob's. Loretta's turned out to be a charming white tablecloth restaurant with excellent cuisine. We started our meal with a spectacular vegetable soup. I had a delicious fricassee with ham, mushrooms, and scallops baked in grits with a topping of browned breadcrumbs. Very mild and subtle flavor, and just delicious. Several others had blackend prime rib which was great. The chef came to our table and we complimented him on the fine dining experience. It was a memorable meal. The Cavaliers know how to eat well.

Congratulations to Dave D. on the purchase of his new 2001 Yamaha Road Star! Dave showed up a day late in Mobile, but taking his new toy on its virgin road trip made it all worthwhile.

Friday night was leather and uniform night at B-Bob's and the Cavaliers were out in force as well as many from the New Orleans Bears. Our friends Bubba and Eric generously supplied us with 300 jello shots to sell and Lance and Michael made out like bandits selling them to the crowd at B-Bob's.

Saturday we had brunch at the charming Spot of Tea restaurant on Cathedral Square, then saddled up for a short day ride to Dauphin Island. We stopped and had cold drinks at the Mobile Bay Estuarium, and just as we were getting ready to depart, up rode Paul, vice president of the Gulf Coast Bears, on his bike. He made the trip back to Mobile with us, and we invited him to come to New Orleans to ride with us sometime.

Saturday evening Paul led us to La Pizzaria, where the meet and greet for the contestants was held in the lovely garden and home behind the restaurant. We had a great meal of gourmet pizza and other delicacies. Then we went back to the hotel to rest before the contest.

David was invited to be one of the five judges for the Gulf Coast Bear contest, which was held at B-Bob's Saturday night. Once again their emcee was a local radio personality who's very funny and very quick with his wit. It kept the contest light and moving along. The theme was "Firemen Bears" and the stage was decorated with a big cardboard fire engine, a fire pole, and other great props. They keps us laughing for over two hours, until the winner, from Biloxi, Miss., was announced.

On Sunday, several in our group left early to beat the rain. David D., who came down on Saturday on his brand new 2001 Yamaha Road Star, followed Michael and David back to the city.

It was a great weekend of fun and friendship. It's great to see that our club has reached the level that we can do weekend events like this. We have two more overnighters planned in the coming months, including Festivals Acadiens in Lafayette in September, and the Christmas Festival in Natchitoches in December. Make plans to join us!

Many thanks to our friends Bubba and Eric, who generously made all those hundreds of Jello shots for us to sell!

And thanks to everyone who came along this weekend. It was your participation that made it all so much fun!