Marriage on Mount Bonnell

Steps leading to the top of Mount Bonnell
(Photo by Sidney W. Frost)

Here's an excerpt from Where Love Once Lived near the beginning of the scene on Mount Bonnell in Austin, Texas.

Rain covered the mountain and the whole city, and it wasn’t going to blow over in a matter of minutes, or even hours. Dark clouds hovered over their cars and blocked the sun and sky, covering them with an ominous darkness.

“Why do they have to get married out here, anyway?” Ron asked. “This is what happens when you don’t get married in church.”

“That’s silly,” Susan said. “They want to marry here because it’s special to them. It’s where they first kissed. That’s what Josh told me.”

“Really?” Liz said as she turned to face Ron and Susan. “Now, everything is beginning to make sense. Being new to Austin, I studied up on this place because of the wedding. Know what I found out? There’s a legend that says a couple who climbs to the top together will fall in love.”

“I never heard that,” Brian said. He’d hiked to the top with Karen once or twice back when they were in college.

“There’s more,” Liz said. “A second trip to the top together, so says the legend, means they’ll get engaged.” Liz’s voice got louder as she talked, and Brian knew she was getting excited. “A third time up that mountain, the story says, and there’s a surefire chance for wedding bells. Does anybody know how many times Josh and Cindy were on that magic mountain together?”

“Well, it must have been at least three times,” Susan said.

“Hogwash,” Ron said.

The weather prevents the couple from getting married on Mount Bonnell, so Brian comes up with the idea of having the ceremony in the bookmobile parked at the base of the mountain. The bride loved the idea. Here is an excerpt that follows the wedding just after they get to the cabin for the reception:

Once inside, Cindy grabbed Brian’s arm. “It was perfect, Uncle Brian. Getting married in the bookmobile was better than what we’d planned. Thank you so much.”

Brian looked at Cindy and realized how much she’d matured in the past few months. It may have been the makeup and wedding dress, but it could have been because she was married and going out on her own and saying goodbye soon to her husband as he went into the marines.

The look on her face turned serious. “When I say perfect,” she added, “you know I wish Dad had been here.”

While a student at the University of Texas, I climbed to the top of Mount Bonnell many times. Usually with my buddies, the Combine, but sometimes with a special girlfriend. We felt safe there back then. If you go today, you'll see a sign saying to beware of crime in the area. I'm sure Mount Bonnell has a special place in the hearts of many Austinites. In Kit Frazier's Dead Copy, there is a scene on Mount Bonnell that describes the area perfectly.