It was Restaurant Week in Boston and you could get a three course lunch for $20.11. However, you really need to double that price when you add the cost of drinks, coffee, dessert and tip.
I decided to take the Commuter Train from Wilmington to North Station and then walk over to the North End. I also met Joe Loduca and Joe Lapiana on the train. They got on the train in Lowell, which was two stops before me. The train trip into Boston from Wilmington is only 28 minutes and you don’t have to worry about parking. With a Senior Citizens Charlie Card, the round trip ticket only costs $5.20. What a bargain !!!! You can even plan a trip and have all the stops mapped out for you. Just go to the link… http://www.mbta.com/rider_tools/trip_planner/
We decided to take the early train at 9:31 AM so we could walk around the North End streets until noon and visit some of the historic highlights. It was raining pretty hard and you needed an umbrella to stay partially dry. I had an extra stocking cap and gave it to Joe Loduca to keep his head dry. Joe Lapiana and I had remembered to take a small umbrella.
We walked up and down the various streets and passed some restaurants that we had eaten at before. We then went into the Old North Church and sat in some of the family pews that were donated to the church in the 1700s by its parishioners. Some of the parishioners are actually buried under the church pews. We then wandered over to North Square and saw the Paul Revere house and Scared Heart Church. We went into Sacred Heart and read some of the memorials and then went into the lower church chapel. You can light some candles here, make a small donation and say a pray for deceased family members. I remember visiting Scared Heart Church in the 1950s with my family during various religious holidays such as the Feast of St. Anthony. We would also meet some of my aunts, uncles and cousins there and attend mass for a deceased family member.
We then walked through a park from the Old North Church and passed a statue of Paul Revere on a horse. I remember taking a school trip to the Freedom Trail in 1958 and still have a BW photo that I took of the Paul Revere Statue with my Kodak Brownie Box Camera. I even developed the 120mm film myself. I was a member of the school Photography Club and we had a little dark room built in an unused custodian’s closet. As we passed the statue, Joe Loduca told me that his two uncles applied the bronze-copper finish to the statue when it was installed in the 1950s. We sometimes forget all the old trades that our grandfathers had like stone cutters, sculptors, painters, and masons when compared to the new trades in electronics and computers.
At noon time we walked over to the Strega Ristorante and hung our now soaked coats on the rake to dry. Shortly after the others arrived and the waiter took drink orders which were Italian Beer (Peroni) , soda, and seltzer water. The Romeos in attendance were Joe Lapiana, Paul Girard, Steve Winter, Jim Kearns, Ed DeSchuytner, Mark Ryan, Jim Terlizzi, Joe Loduca and Joe Pignatiello.
We then ordered from the special menu for restaurant week. You could have a three course meal for only $20.11. (Nice play on the price and the year 2011). The menu read Appetizer, Entrée and Dessert. The Appetizers were Antipasto, Calamari Salad, and Caprise Salad. The Entrees were Chicken or Veal Parmigiano, Eggplant, and Lobster Ravioli. Dessert was Cannoli, Tiramisu and Cheese Cake.
The meals were served promptly with plenty of bread and dipping oil. The waiter also kept filling the drink glasses. The meal was very good as we devoured every morsel. As we ate and drank the conversation was vigorous as it bounced around the table. The usual topics were discussed – politics, taxes, health care, movies, TV, and the Japan Earthquake.
There were two large tables filled with young college students from Iowa on a Band Conference. On the wall above the window facing the street were 10 flat screen TVs all playing mafia movies like the Sopranos, Casino, The Godfather, Scarface, Donnie Brasco, and Heat. You could see some of the movie stars like James Gandolfini, Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, and Al Pacino.
Ed D. said his son now lives in the North End with his wife and they love the inner city atmosphere. His younger son also lives with the older brother and works for him as the house butler doing all the shopping and cleaning. Ed also talked about a new Blue Ray DVD Player with WiFi that allows you to import movies over the internet from Netflix. They are available at Best Buy. The best ones are (Magnavox, Sony and Insignia). Insignia is the Best Buy brand and one is selling for $129.
Jim Terlizzi talked about some new movies that he has seen and how you can get a movie review on the website called Rotten Tomatoes. Jim has recently bought an iPod but hasn’t had much luck setting up an ITunes Account so he can download free APPS. I then tried to show him how easy it was but unfortunately Strega Restaurant does not have Open Wifi.
I then just showed Jim and Ed and Joe Lap. some of the new APPs on my iPod, some of which you can download free and others cost $0.99 and up. The latest one I got was (Camera+) which gives you more features than the regular iPod camera. I also told him that the iPod has become part of my daily life. Each day I check my iPod Calendar to see what appointments are coming up. I then read my email from friends and family. I then check FaceBook for posts on my Wall. I then check any text messages from family at TextNow. If I have WiFi I go on the web and check the latest headlines on the Boston Globe or Fox News. Recently, I have been checking my Bracket pics on the NCAA March Madness APP. On this APP you can get the box scores and also watch live basketball with Streaming Video. I also have loads of other APPS that perform a variety of tasks that you can do elsewhere but now it’s all in one place for me.
Jim K. talked with Ed D. about buying a new car. There are a lot of incentives for slow moving vehicles but the hot ones don’t offer too much. Most are still offering low finance (2.9%) and 5 year warranties. More brands are also now offering good gas mileage which is great, as the price of gas continues to rise. Jim K. said that a Toyota Prius which starts at about $23,000 and is the gas/electric hybrid gets 48 mpg (EPA-Highway). Originally it was advertised at 60 mpg but that is with a lot of coasting down hills.
Joe P. recommended the next Romeo lunch to be at the Exchange Street Bistro in Malden. There is validated parking in the CBD garage across the street. I recently saw an Ad in the Boston Globe Food Section for the restaurant on 3-16-11. Other restaurants were also recommended. Paul mentioned one in Salem, Jim K. in Lynn and Joe Lap. in Woburn.
Joe P. recently joined the St. Joseph’s Society and will be helping plan the charitable events in the North End like St. Anthony’s Feast parade. Joe Lap. also belongs to the Society and will be attending some annual dinner banquet with Joe P.
Jim T. and Jim K are very active with the Salem State Collaborative and are constantly planning events like teacher workshops and the WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) program. They have to keep participants constantly informed of events through emails. Recently Jim K. used a new email service called “Connect”. I think that is the name. It sends out emails automatically for organizations with reminders and also has reports that allow you to see who is receiving and opening their emails. Unfortunately, out of 1500 mailings only a few are opening their mail. That’s what happens when you get too much “Phishing” and Junk mail.
Before you knew it the time just flew by and it was now passed 2:00 PM. We paid the bill although most thought that it was twice what was expected. We said are goodbyes until next month when Jim T. will send an email and let us know the time and place. Some of the Romeos had parked their cars near by and others had taken the train. As we walked down Hanover Street we first made a few stops to buy pastry at Mikes Pasty Shop and to buy some Italian Wine at the Liquor Shop.
You can see some photos of the trip around the North End Streets and the Lunch at Strega at the web link below … https://picasaweb.google.com/markryan312/Romeo31611#
Comments are always welcome… markryan82@comcast.net
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