GatoRx and meadowmuffin's Special Spot
Posted by: 
GatoRx
N 30° 16.867 W 081° 42.392
17R E 432048 N 3350147
This is a spot along the Old Ortega Bridge, where GatoRx proposed to meadowmuffin.
Waymark Code: WM2NGD
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 11/25/2007
Views: 56
On a beautiful September Saturday in 2004, I had all my plans laid out for proposing to my girlfriend Patti (meadowmuffin.) We went to the Cummer Art Gallery to check out the exhibits on display, then headed over to a small park along the Ortega River. We'd picnicked here before several years earlier, so it was a natural spot to go back to. After a leisurely dinner, we packed up our things and headed up onto the nearby bridge to enjoy the view of the city's skyline, which we used to do fairly frequently when we were dating (bridges with nice views have a particular romance to them, especially at night.) I noticed that the larger supports for the sidewalls of the bridge were numbered, so I waited till we got to number 23, since we were both 23 at the time, and it seemed like an easy way to remember the exact spot. We admired the view for a while, me with my heart pounding as I waited for just the right time - I figured it was a bridge, so there would be some traffic, but I didn't really want a whole bunch of people watching when I popped the question.
Of course, being a nice warm evening, there was a lot of boat traffic, and this bridge is a drawbridge, so cars back up while waiting on the span to go down. Just when I got my courage up, a boat came by, the span went up, and the cars backed up. Then it happened again. I think it may have happened a third time too.
Finally, I had my courage up, and no boats were in sight. I started the words I'd planned, pulled the ring from my pocket, and dropped to one knee to ask the question. Patti managed to squeak out a 'yes', and I slid the ring on her finger.
We still come back to this spot frequently, and enjoy the view and the memories.