Romeo Lunch 6-26-08

The Romeo group met this month at the Boston Yacht Club in Marblehead, MA courtesy of Paul Girard who is a member there. Thanks Paul . We had a beautiful summer day to spend near the ocean watching the boats go by. (More info on BYC at the link … http://www.bostonyachtclub.net/ ).

Since I arrived early, I walked up to Crocker Park which is located on a rock cliff next to the yacht club. You can see photos of the area at the link …. http://picasaweb.google.com/markryan312/Romeo62608 .



Crocker Park has several benches on which to sit and look out over Marblehead harbor. Stairs lead from the park down over the cliff to the water where there was a gangway leading to a floating dock. Some young boys were swimming off the dock enjoying a cool dip. Looking further, hundreds of boats of all sizes filled the harbor, all tied up at their moorings.

Plaques located in the park describe some of the local lore and the benches donated by those who loved the area. One plague stated that the United States Navy began with some schooners from Marblehead in 1775. The schooners had orders from General Washington to engage in naval operations against an enemy. (More info at the link… http://www.marblehead.org/index.asp?NID=876 ) .

Leaving the park, I walked up some side streets and noticed many of the houses were restored from the 1700’s and displayed plaques that described the profession of the original owners. The plaques stated (ship builder, sail maker, baker, painter, merchant, shoreman, boat builder, shipmaster, innkeeper, fisherman, machinist, etc.). Joe Balsama told me that the town hall -Abbott Hall, with its towering steeple, houses the famous old painting by Archibald M. Willard “The Spirit of '76” (with the drummer boy and fife player), on display in the Selectmen's Meeting Room. He also said that Marblehead has the distinction of being one of the oldest towns on the New England coast to have the most restored old houses. (More local history at the town link …. http://www.marblehead.org/index.asp?NID=10 ).

Many of the Romeos started arriving just before noon and we met upstairs in the bar at the yacht club. After getting our drinks, we strolled out on the porch to view the harbor and enjoy some small talk as we waited for the others. A short shower moved us inside and we sat at a long table reserved for our group. The specialties on the menu were lobster bisque, crab cake roll, lobster roll and prime rib in addition to the regular fare. Most ordered the lobster roll which was just delicious.

The conversation is always a treat and the Romeo’s have a bag of stories to tell from all their experiences. Brother Tim took a short break from his summer schedule. He is now fully entrenched in scheduling classes for next year. Ed Deschuytner asked if anyone was interested in summer work at NECC. Joe LoDucca commented that there were tons of teaching jobs being offered all over the area. Joe Lapiana talked about gas prices, diesel fuel, and the first gas station in MASS to offer ethanol 85. Jim Terlizzi was going to rent a car for two weeks on his trip to Slovenia and Croatia . Joe Pignatiello talked about his laser eye surgery which he had two weeks ago and is doing great. Joe P. now has a buzz cut for the summer. Paul Girard said he would spend a few weeks on Martha’s Vineyard and that it now costs $150 to bring your car over on the ferry.

Our conversation continued as we left from the parking lot. Even though we have been here at BYC a few times the one way streets in Marblehead are still hard to maneuver. We followed Joe P’s. car in a caravan who took us on a tour of Marblehead and we quickly got lost. Eventually we found or way out and back to Route 114 and home.

Romeos in attendance were Joe Loducca, Joe Lapiana, Joe Balsama, Joe Pignatiello, Paul Girard, Brother Tim Paul, Ed Deschuytner, Jim Terlizzi, Mark Ryan.