Ah yes, the weekend recap you have all been waiting for.
Friday after work, Tad picked up Billy and me, then we went to Cary to pick up Kate. Then it was off to points north, the first stop being the Bo on Capital Boulevard. The food was good, but the entertainment was good too due to an insistently friendly BoRegister Jockey.
Cashier: How are you?
Billy: I’d like a (some kind of) biscuit, a large fries and a large Coke.
Cashier: How are you?
Billy: What?
Cashier: I asked “how are you?”
Billy: Oh. I’m doing fine.
-chirp-
-chirp-
Billy: I’d like a (some kind of) biscuit, a large fries and a large Coke.
My food was gone in 60 seconds. Billy complained about greasy food, but what else is new. Then we continued north, State flags a-flying. We went over some bridges and then were in Maryland. Billy noticed that crossing the 301 Potomac bridge looks eerily similar to crossing Lake Monroe by his house, right down to the red & white-striped smokestacks.
Once in Maryland, here are directions to Tad’s house:
Turn off big road onto smaller, bumpier road.
Turn off that road onto smaller, bumpier road.
Turn off that road onto smaller, bumpier road.
Turn off that road onto smaller, bumpier road.
Turn off that road onto smaller, bumpier road.
Turn off that road onto smaller, bumpier road.
Go through woods. Scare aborigines.
Turn off that road onto smaller, bumpier road.
And then. . . you see it. A clearing with fabulous Tad Manor right in the middle. I was like Dorothy seeing Oz.
We were allowed inside, which surprised me, commoners such as myself and Billy are rarely allowed into the gilded bowels of high society, but there we were. Tad was over-hospitable to us, bombarding us with blankets and pillows and sheets that could have outfitted an entire hotel. We finally convinced him that it we were going to fall directly to sleep, and we did just that.
Saturday morning we donned our State apparel. I had some coffee and met Mr. and Mrs. Pecorak, who are some very nice people. The we headed to Annapolis. We got to the dubiously named Parole Shopping Center to catch our big yellow shuttle bus, which was only different from a school bus inasmuch as it was not supposed to take us to school. The point of taking the shuttle was to avoid the $10 parking fee at the stadium, but upon seeing the Parole Shopping Center with its ominous name and run-down nature, it became apparent that we might be losing our wallets anyway.
Turns out that it wasn’t as bad as it looked. I tried to forget Rosemary and John, but someone else pointed out that we should wait for them. And we did, and they arrived, their State flags flying as well. We got on the bus and sat in the back because we are the cool kids. The bus traveled through a nice little neighborhood and dropped us off at. . . an elementary school.
Luckily for us, it was right across the street from the NMC Memorial Stadium. We ambled through the parking lot for a while and found that State was well represented. We also found out that it was getting damned hot. After a while, we went inside the stadium. For some reason, my small camera was allowed in the game, but not the small case for it. So, of course, Kate crammed in in her pants, and in the gate we went.
Seats were 3 rows from the top, which was okay because a) the stadium is not that big anyway, and b) there was a breeze if you leaned over the edge of the upper deck. Now, we had heard of some cool parade that the Midshipmen would be doing, and Rosemary wanted to make sure she did not miss it. As it turned out, here is what happens: the Midshipmen marching from campus, group by group. Apparently, attendance was perfunctory compulsory. There turned out to be a lot of groups. It took forever, but they marched onto the field and waited at attention until the last ones arrived.
There was a memorial for the 14 people from the Naval Academy who died a year ago today. A sign for Operation Enduring Freedom was presented. (Navy puts their battles/engagements around the stadium like we do retired jerseys and bowl games). In addition, there was a Navy jet flyover that almost hit some idiot in a little plane towing a banner advertising a local politician, then another flyover a few minutes later.
Kickoff! We took the ball down the field and scored quickly. On the ensuing kickoff, Navy fumbled and State returned it for a touchdown. We kicked off again, and Navy did not fumble the kickoff – they waited until their first play from scrimmage, we recovered it, and scored within a short amount of time.
Not even 4 minutes into the game, we were up 21-0. Now that’s something we can all enjoy.
Navy was just not fast enough to keep up with us. They did cut it to 28-12 at one point, but then we scored 37 more points, with the final TD being a pass to our TE Joe Gray. Final Score: NCSU 65, Navy 19. After the game, both teams went over to the Navy sideline for their alma mater, then to our sideline for ours. That was nice.
During the game, it was sunny and hot, and afterwards we were pretty uncomfortable. Rosemary wanted to go home, and we allowed that. She and John went back to College Park. We will see the Russeses sometime in the future.
We then went back to the house. As I was about to take a shower, Tad said that he’d start making some refreshments meanwhile. Once clean and clothed, I found Tad pouring some nice margaritas. Ahh, nothing like a good margarita. And good it was — heavy on the tequila and triple sec, and quite palatable, to put it mildly. Tad, his dad and I all enjoyed one while sitting on the patio, while the Vicar Beaudoin sat nearby sipping his water.
We discussed the elder Pecorak’s career as a basketball player at Davidson. You know, he owns the school record for most times fouling out. This discussion was prompted by the photo in the stairway of a great white short-shorts clad early 70s sideburned tower of shot-blocking jive. In the picture, he is shown swatting a ball into about the upper deck against Duke. After a while, during the second round of margaritas, the man of the house started grilling some beef while the Lady made some delicious carrots, potatoes, and salad.
We ate a scrumptious hearty meal and kept the frozen goodness flowing. The parents had ordered Lord of the Rings and the UNC-Syracuse game for us to watch. We stayed outside, emptying pitchers of margaritas and refilling them. Somehow the conversation got more interesting and we began enjoying the evening quite a bit. Apparently I am a funnier man when I have been drinking. I do remember saying some funny stuff, for instance, “the only difference between this place and Billy’s house is that, at Billy’s house, there is a mouse that owns the world.”
After about the 4th pitcher, Tad began yelling at Billy and I to “just stop talking” because we were hurting his brain. So Kate took him upstairs and declothed him as he passed out. Billy and I went to our room as well, but not before an incident involving a roll of toilet paper meeting a watery death that is absolutely hilarious if you were there, named Tony or Billy, or possibly also drunk.
But hell, man, that was the best time I have had in a while. I explained it pretty accurately in my stupor: friends, drinking, nice weather, nice setting, stars were out, and we were just sitting there talking. I owe Tad for that.
I did not sleep well that night, mainly because Señor Jose Cuervo had claimed my bloodstream in the name of Mother Mexico, but the next (Sunday) morning I felt okay. Little headache, but not bad. We breakfasted on the wold’s finest omelets featuring, I exclaimed, “real live steak!” as I put it before I realized that a live four-hooved steak would not fit in a frying pan so well. Amend that to just steak, and amend that omelette to my tummy in a hurry, and you have the results of breakfast.
Afterwards we thanked the Family Pecorak, and they inexplicably said that we could “come back anytime.” Towards Annapolis we went. Billy and I watched boats on Ego Alley, which seems to be a parade route for boats. You go into this water dead-end, turn around, and come back out. Well, we didn’t. The boats did, from big yachts to a canoe to a duck. We walked around the 300-year old downtown for a while. It’s very nice. We made sure to stop at Ye Olde Liquor Shoppe so that Kate could ask in vain for soime liquor that she is seeking but that apparently does not exist. Then we went and ate some delicious seafood.
Then it was time to head home. We listened to the second half of the Redskins game on the radio, which they won. Got to Raleigh on Sunday night, just in time to prepare for work on Monday.
And that’s it.
Tags: General Thoughts by Tony
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