Harley Davidson is following me!! (Kinda)

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES HARLEY DAVIDSON!!!!

August 30th was my 5th wedding anniversary! I can't believe it has been 5 years already. Seems like it was only yesterday. In fact, this year's anniversary was like walking back in time. Sean and I were married on the 100th anniversary of Harley Davidson, back in 2003. However, at the time, we didn't know how much the Harley festival would impact our wedding. There were so many bikes in downtown Milwaukee that day that we couldn't get to our rehearsal dinner. It was an amazing site to see all those bikes, and my grandparents from England were just thrilled to see them all. We eventually did make it to our destination, and had a wonderful dinner.






The next day, we were married at 3pm, outside of the Country Springs Hotel. At 4pm, I was having pictures taken outside the hotel, and I was approached by several Harley riders who were headed out to the festivities. They wanted me and my bridesmaids to pose in our "get up" on their Harleys. Of course, we oblidged, and took a few photos of our own. It was a great time. Thanks to Robbi....I took some photos of photos to show you....they aren't the best since they are blurry and grainy....but it will do for now till I can get some proper photos to show you guys! My face looks fat now that I took the digital photo of the original photo LOL

The owner of one of the bikes gets in the pic!

This brings me to the title of this blog. This past weekend, again on our anniversary, Harley Davidson had their 105th anniversary. Normally, al the festivities are held at State Fair Park or downtown Milwaukee. This year, we got the surprise of our life when we found out that our town of Waukesha would be having their own Harley Festival. You can read about that on their web page http://www.105thweekendinwaukesha.com/

To my knowledge, Waukesha has never done anything like this before. The entire downtown area was closed off for the 4 day event. Harleys were EVERYWHERE!! Some of my neighbors rented their houses out to the bikers, and the party began! We live pretty close to the downtown area, and all hours of the day and night you could hear the bikes driving past our house. Little kids set up lemonade stands for the bikers, and everywhere you went, you could see signs to welcome the Harley group to Waukesha. The town really did a nice job getting big name bands to come and play, such as Blues Traveler, Montgomery Gentry, Bodeans, Los Lobos, and a few others.


On Saturday, our anniversary, we headed down with our dog Lolita to check out what was going on. To our SHOCK, we saw a massive stage erected in Cutler Park adjacent to the local library. The entire area was packed with people and bikes! We were so taken back by the amount of people there. It was like nothing we had ever seen before. I looked at my hubby, and he looked at me with this puzzled face. I knew what he was thinking, because I was thinking the same thing...."When the H-E- Double hockey sticks did that stage go up?" I live right down the road, and never saw a thing. But there it was. A massive stage. Not just a small run of the mill badly put together thing....but a proper HUGE stage with lighting and everything...right smack dab in the middle of a park...complete with trees, a swing set, and the local library!!

Waukesha really did out do themselves! It was the best time ever! A 4 day event to celebrate Harley Davidson, and the promote Waukesha! There must have been hundreds of thousands of people there. It truly was a sight to see. The screams and cheers of the crowd as the bands took the stage, the beer flowing widly, the different types of bikes...all the colors, and decorations, people from all over the world...and best of all.....my hubby and I once again being followed by Harley Davidson! It was wonderful, and brought back so many memories of our wedding. The only trouble now is....my hubby wants a motorcycle. He says it's fate.


Here are some pictures that I was able to take. Some of them might be dark because....well....it was night time :)

Miss Lolita checking out the Harleys

No no Sean....you CANNOT buy a Harley!! End of story...

Not sure what this is....but it was still fun to look at

The Waukesha Farmer's Market gets set up for food tents

And the Harley's start to roll in

The crowds get larger, the beer starts pouring, and the stage lights up!

Here is a short video of the country singer, Montgomery Gentry, singing the night away. This was as close as I could get, there were just so many people. If I had to guess, I would say at least 5000 people were between me and the stage. It was that packed!!! I mean...imagine standing the middle of a closed off road.....right in Cutler Park where you walk by everyday.......seeing all these people in your town.....this massive stage....big name bands.....I was really having a great time!! Keep in mind....this park is not really a big park.....but it sure packed in a LOT of people!