Romeo Lunch 10-21-08

The Romeo gang met again this month for lunch at Moonstone’s Restaurant, Chelmsford, MA at 12 noon on Tuesday, October 21, 2008. . The web link is …. http://www.moonstones110.com/ . You can find directions and a menu online.

The online directions were very good and if you followed them closely, you would have arrived on time. Going south on Rte. 495 you got off at exit 34 and the restaurant is right in front of you. However, I took a right and luckily only realized the mistake after a few miles.

When I finally got there, a few Romeos were still out in the parking lot waiting for others to arrive. After awhile, we drifted inside and were seated. The waitress asked if we were with the “older man” that had arrived earlier (Peter Gabriel).

We sat at a long table and eventually 12 Romeos showed up. That was a greater number than had been attending the lunches lately. In attendance were Jim Terlizzi, Jim Kearns, Joe Lapiana, Ed DeShuytner, Steve Winters, Mark Ryan, Peter Gabriel, Joe Pignatiello, Joe, LoDuca, Joe Balsama, Bob Simmons, and Paul Girard. You can see photos of the group at the link ….. http://picasaweb.google.com/markryan312/RomeoLunch102108

As usual the conversation bounced around the table. We talked about health problems, travel places and trips, families, health insurance, politics, ballot questions, Social Security benefits and teacher retirement, Medicare and GIC, jokes, other restaurants, Hall of Fame dinner, MSELA, NSTA conventions, and last months NSSSA meeting at Cat Cove which was very good.

The waitress took orders for drinks which were varied from beer and martinis to soda and lemonade. For appetizers, we ordered some focaccia bread, seafood platter, salads and soups. Latter we ordered the main course from the lunch menu (lunch salads, focaccia breads, sandwiches and entrees). It was hard to pick from the menu since the descriptions were limited and prices ranged from $10 to $15 in small print. Most of the gang ordered Petite (small….) Fillet Mignon, Gnocchi Bolognese, Seafood Paella and sandwiches. Some meals had large portions and others small but the food was good.

After the main course we had coffee and a few desserts that we shared around the table with extra spoons. However, the dessert choices were again limited and small in size. In general the food was good and the waitress was prompt with the servings arriving all about the same time.

We split the bill as Ed Deshuytner tallied up the amounts. A few Romeos left after dinner but some remained for more funny conversations. Joe Loduca talked about grocery shopping with his wife and putting items into the carriage as she took them out. Jim Terlizzi said he was a list guy who quickly ran through the grocery store only buying what was on the list.

Before leaving we decided to meet next month on November 18 at a restaurant in the North End. Jim Terlizzi will be sending out an email. At 3:00 PM, we finally left and said our good bye’s until next time.