We Haven’t Matured…We’ve Aged…

Thirty years ago, at the end of May, a group of us gave three cheers for “those we leave behind” and tossed our Midshipmen hats into the air.  Then it was off to our separate ways—at sea, under the sea, flying, ground-pounding, or providing support for others.  With us we took the stories and camaraderie of four years spent with a unique collection of young men from around the nation and around the world.

Over the ensuing years we kept contact with some, lost touch with many and several seem to have drifted away.  But on some milestone occasions we get together as many as will dare show up to see how we’ve aged…more importantly to see how we haven’t aged.  You could say we had matured, but…

Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything.
  - Kurt Vonnegut

This year was such a milestone, and my friends from across the years and across the country came back to Annapolis to celebrate a 30 year reunion.  From Santa Cruz to Atlanta, Minneapolis to Connecticut…East Coast, West Coast, North and South we came to spend a few hours and the remedy of laughter together.

There were Class Meetings and Parades earlier on Friday, but the real event didn’t seem to start until the cocktail hour and banquet on Friday evening.  Cheri and I were staying with Deb and Scott Whitney at a hotel separate from the reunion headquarters—a whole different story in regards to cost and value—and we arrived at the cocktail hour after it had already been in full swing for thirty minutes.  Similar to most Naval Officers (former, current and Reserve) I worked my way towards the crowd at the nearest bar.

Approaching the bar, or at least the line to the bar, I looked over the crowd for any somewhat familiar faces.  It didn’t take too long before I saw Steve Squires just off to the right, so I steered Cheri in that direction.  Once we waded through the masses we found not only Steve but Ken Painter and his wife Laura, and Mike Pederson with his wife Elsa.  We were soon joined by Tom Wittenschlager and his wife Therese.

I left Cheri in their able hands and headed back to the line at the bar.  After a few minutes I said hi to the blonde next to me and noticed (from her name tag) that she was Suzie Bentley, Chris’ wife.  I told her where the group was gathering and after picking up some libations she headed off to find Chris and I worked my way over to Cheri.  Chris and Suzie found us eventually and the handshaking and storytelling began…

It wasn’t much longer before the bar for the cocktail hour was closed and we were shepherded into the ballroom.  There was a small dance floor, a DJ, tables spread around and several food stations in the foyer and the ballroom.  We settled into a couple of adjoining tables and connected with Scott Bruce and his wife Lauri.  We did what we could to consume our fair share of food and drink; we even got out on the floor and danced to one of the slower tunes.

As the 30th Company Representative—I think I got this distinction by being at one too many milestone reunions—I quickly delegated the coordination of the Company picture to Chris Bentley.  This evolution used the standard USNA methodology of getting people to mingle around in a small area while waiting for the group name to be called for the picture. Of course, while we were waiting Scott wanted to continue eating his dinner—he had been interrupted multiple times and the waitstaff kept taking his plate away.  So supportive classmate that I am, I provided Scott with a table so he could enjoy his meal.

We don’t have the official company photos yet, but we did manage to commandeer a corner of the foyer and get a few photos of us guys…and then we made the picture better by adding our wives.

Then it was back to more socializing, eating and drinking.

We all seemed to survive the night and the next morning, but then it was time to head for Navy Marine Corps Stadium for a lot of tailgating and a little football.  It was a 3:30 game and the tailgater started at 1:00 so we certainly had time to visit, eat and drink some more.

While waiting for the Brigade to arrive we managed to take over a table strategically located near the oyster raw bar, the barbequed beef table and within short walking distance of the Yeugling Lager on draft.  Of course Scott was eating again and was soon ensconced with his entourage of our wives.

Meanwhile the rest of us continued to drink some beer and tell even more sea-stories.  Tom Warren and his wife Jeanne joined the crowd and I am sorry to say that I did not get a picture of Tom with the group…could this possibly be related to his FBI status?

Eventually the Brigade did march-on and take to the stands.  Several of us watched the first half from end zone seats, but when we headed back up to the tailgating pavilion at half-time it was quite a bit tougher to go back out into the rain for the second half. Late in the second half a few of us die-hards went back out to the seats.  Lauri did bring us some ice creams so we were both wet and eating something cold.  Ultimately, Navy finished out the game with a 38 – 22 win and prior to leaving the stadium the West Kentucky team respectfully stood by for the singing of Navy Blue and Gold…always a great sight.

Tim Whitney was able to join us for a few minutes in the second half and it was great to introduce him to some of my Company-mates. It wasn’t long after the game ended that we all started to head our separate ways.  Several members of the group met later in the evening at an Irish Pub near the headquarters hotel.  Cheri and I called it a day and headed back to our hotel, a quick dinner and early to bed.  The next day we were up fairly early for our seven hour drive back to Connecticut.  This was a great adventure and it was wonderful to re-connect with friends from across the miles and the years. My thanks to Chris and Mike for providing some of these photos.

This Isn’t Your Grandmother’s Oatmeal – Days Nine through Eleven

Day Nine

You’ve just spent a couple of evenings on the Dingle Peninsula, had a full day of adventure touring the Blasket Islands, and you’re getting up to have breakfast at the Heaton’s Guest House.  How can it get any better? 
Yesterday, you found out that the breakfast for this B&B included a traditional sideboard with European breakfast items—sliced deli meats, cheeses, muesli, fresh chopped fruits, several yogurts (the rhubarb vanilla was excellent on the fruit and muesli), cereal and milk (for the un-daring).  Separately there is a table with homemade breads, scones, and bread pudding (with a nicely caramelized crust).  Finally there is a full menu of breakfast items and from the morning before you remember that the small omelets with chives, sliced smoked salmon, and crème fraise were wonderful. 
But you are in Ireland at a great guest house and you see that they have the Heaton Treat as the lead item on the menu.  So you give it a try.  Cheri ordered the fresh haddock for breakfast, which was recommended by the owner, and I am told that it was excellent.
A little later the owner comes to the table accompanied by one of the waitresses carrying a tray.  From the tray he takes a bowl of hot porridge—oatmeal by a different name—that has a few sliced strawberries arranged in the middle, and places it in front of you.  Then from the tray he takes a small bowl of dark brown sugar and sprinkles a tablespoon of the sugar on the strawberries.  Next from the tray comes a bottle of Drambuie, and with another tablespoon he uses the liquid to soften the sugar on top of the porridge.  Finally, a quarter cup of cream is poured over the whole amount along with the instructions, “don’t mix, just slice down through with your spoon and eat it like a layered drink.”  Now this is breakfast!  You feel ready to take on the day…and that’s the way day nine started.
Soon after breakfast we headed out on the road to see some more of the Peninsula.  We headed west from the guest house and after a few miles we came upon an old church and graveyard.

It was interesting, but right after I got the picture of the bee in the fuchsia-like plant the low battery sign showed up on the camera.   So we headed back to the guest house to recharge the battery.  I also took this as an opportunity to write one of the earlier days in the travel-blog. Since we’d headed  back to the guest house, we decided that getting back on the road we would head in the other direction and look for the Minard Castle.  It took us several wrong turns—see the earlier comments about limited signs and lack of directions—but we did get to see some more back roads and areas along the coast.

 

Eventually we found the castle and the surrounding beach area.  You can see the photos of the album in the album to the right.  Something about these rocks called out to me—a sloping back, someplace for my butt—and before I knew it, there I was basking in the sun. Looking up from this reclined position I had a great looking lady next to me…a great way to spend some time on the beach.  And you can see the other view below.

View Full Album From inside the castle you could look back through the entrance and see the coastline outside.  Since it was a nice beach we decided that this was a great place to stick our feet into the ocean. Since we had some time and the weather was beautiful we started to look around for a place to have lunch.  Walking around I saw these rocks along the edge of the beach.

From the beach we headed back to the guest house and then a walk around the town before heading out for supper.  I took a few pictures of the town and you can see them below.

From this point we could also look back and see the Heaton Guest House over the water.  It is the yellow building between the boats, across the water and road.

After a quick stop in the pub, we headed back to the guest house knowing that it was almost time to say goodbye to Dingle and head back to meet Sarah in London.

  

Day Ten – Another Travel Day

Waking up in Dingle for our last day, I knew what it would take to send me on my way…Heaton’s breakfast treat.  After another good helping of Irish porridge (plus fruit and rhubarb-vanilla yogurt….and bread pudding) it was time for us to get on the road.  We drove along the southern coast of the peninsula and after about ninety minutes arrived back at the County Kerry airport.  We turned in the rental car, boarded Ryanair and headed back to London. 
It was a day of driving, flying, taking the train from Stanton Airport (one of London’s other airports) to Tottenham Hale, the tube to Victoria Station and walking back to the Cartref House B&B.  Sarah wasn’t waiting for us (although she had dropped off her luggage and taken a key) so we dropped off our bags and walked over to a different coffee house for a pastry, latte, and tea. 
About an hour later we headed over to The Duke of York to meet up with Scott and head out to supper.  We went to the Seaport Restaurant near The Duke and had an outstanding supper.  This is seafood restaurant that Sarah had been to in the past—based on the recommendation of the owner of the Duke—with Uncle Scott, and it lived up to its great reputation.  It was a really good time and nice that we could spend some time with Scott while in London.

Day Eleven – The Last Full Day in the UK

We got up on our final full day and had another full English breakfast.  Then it was off to Sloane Square where Sarah’s friend Roddy had let her drop off some of her luggage while waiting for us to get back to London.  Picking up the five bags it didn’t take us much of a walk back to realize that we needed to use a taxi…it was a great idea.
After dropping off the bags and moving some of the packed items around between the bags we decided to head out for the day.  Sarah was going with us for awhile and then she was off to take some photos of her friend Paul.
We went over to the bus stop in Grosvenors Garden and my special tour of London began.  Gentleman that I am I had Cheri and Sarah get on the bus before me.  They got on and swiped their bus passes by the driver and headed upstairs.  Unbeknownst to them, when I swiped my card it indicated that I did not have enough money on the card for the bus fare.  The driver said I had to go to the ticket machine in the bus stop to get my fare—when this happened to Cheri the day before they let her pay on the bus, but I probably didn’t bat my eyelashes as well as she did.  When I stepped off the bus the driver closed the door and I was on the sidewalk waving to Sarah and Cheri as they pulled away.
With nothing else to do, I went to the ticket machine and decided that instead of paying £2.00 for a single pass I would pay £3.60 for a day pass.  In the meantime Sarah called and let me know they would wait for me at the Baker Street Station (our original destination). 
I got on the next bus going to Baker Street and went right upstairs where there were only three other people.  We started along Victoria Road towards Hyde Park and not many people got on or off.  Just past the Irish Embassy…coincidence or fate…the driver made a stop announcement and the three people got off.  So I moved up to the front seat.  We headed away from the stop and turned at Hyde Park, but then we seemed to make another turn back towards Victoria Station.  I wasn’t really sure, so I waited to see what happened.  A few minutes later I saw the Irish Embassy on the other side of the road and realized that we were heading back.  I went down the stairs and realized I was the only person on the bus.  At the next stop I spoke to…surprised actually…the driver who pointed to the bus stop I needed—Grovesnors Garden.
So I got off the bus, headed over to the bus stop we started from and waited for the next bus heading in the right direction—good thing I had a full day pass.  While waiting Sarah called and asked what happened.  I explained that the normal sign on the bus saying which stop is next wasn’t working and when the driver announced that everyone was to get off, I had misunderstood him and so I was back at square one and I could see the bus I needed to take.  So we agreed again that we would meet at the Baker Street Station stop…where they both were already.
Once on the next bus, a different number but the map showed they both go the same way until just past the Baker Street stop, I again went upstairs and enjoyed the ride.  We went down Victoria Road; turned at Hyde Park and then turned in the correct direction towards Baker Street.  The stops on the map came and went—London Hilton, Dorset Hotel, Porteman Square—and I knew from looking at the map that the stop after Porteman was Baker Street.  But the next stop turned out to be Marlyebone, so I figured it would be one of the upcoming. 
We went past the Lords Cricket Stadium (where the English – Australian Test was occurring) and then St. John’s Wood and it just didn’t seem right so I went down to the door and pushed the button to let me off at the next stop.  At this point Sarah called and we discovered that I should have gotten off at Marlyebone.  So I told Sarah I would get off at Queen’s Grove and walk back to the St. John’s Wood Underground station and take the tube to Baker Street.  She knew where I would come up so that was the plan.
I walked the two blocks back to the Underground only to find that the station and that line were closed for weekend repairs (not an unusual occurrence).  So I needed to walk another block, catch another bus—which happened to be the same number only heading in the other direction—and head back to Baker Street.  I called Sarah, filled her in and she said she knew which stop I would be getting off and they would meet me there.
About six stops later I got off at Baker Street.  Sarah and Cheri were no where to be seen so I started walking in the same direction that the bus was heading in case there was more than one Baker Street stop.  Turns out there is and I met up with them at the next stop—my own little tour of this part of London.
Fortunately, we headed out and found the Whiskey Shop I was interested in visiting.  I found a couple of unique scotches to share with some of the readers of this blog.  We then split up with Sarah giving us directions on how to walk to the Duke of York so I could drop off the packages until we met up later in the day.

At the Duke we decided that we should have a little lunch before heading out sight-seeing.  With the continued benefit of the gorilla tripod I got a shot of us having our sandwiches and chips sitting outside of the pub for lunch. Then it was off to find the Banquet House for a tour.  We walked down to Oxford Street and got on to a bus for the ride back towards Trafalgar Square.  After a few blocks it became apparent that we could walk faster than buses going down Oxford Road on a Saturday; so we got off and walked some more.

The Banquet House is beautiful and after watching a brief DVD we went up to the grand hall where Kings and Queens have received Ambassadors and dignitaries since Henry VIII.  The space is large and a little imposing, but the most significant pieces are the ceiling paintings done by P. P. Ruebens.  These were painted in Amsterdam and shipped to London for installation.  They are beautiful and well maintained.

From here we headed back to the Baker Street Station to once again meet up with Sarah and head out to dinner at a Thai restaurant—The Monkey and Me—recommended by one of her friends.  We had a great meal and then headed back to the Duke for Sarah’s going away party.

People were sad to see her going and it was obvious that she has made some great friends during her time in London.  Scott was able to join us again for the send off and we continued to enjoy visiting with him.

The pub had made several finger foods for the party and there were a few Guinness pints consumed along the way.  They finished up before locking the doors at 11:00 with a cake.  Soon after that Cheri and I headed back to the B&B recognizing that we needed to get up and out the door by 7 a.m.

Sarah stayed and visited with her friends until early in the morning and managed to get to the B&B with enough time for a couple of hours sleep before we began our trip back to the USA.
And so, with a taxi ride the next morning and catching two separate flights to Newark, we arrived back home the next day.  Sorry these weren’t all in real time, but I didn’t want to spend every evening writing.  We have been home for several days now and this entry finishes off this extended adventure.

Cheers!

It’s Only a Sin if You Take Pleasure In It – Days Seven and Eight

Day Seven – Traveling Again

Cheri and I were on the road again heading for Dingle, Ireland, leaving Sarah behind for one more day in Dublin.  She had to head back to London to pack up the exhibit and ship her photograph out.  We used a taxi for a change, dropped Sarah off at the Tourism Office and headed for the Dublin Heuston Rail Station.

We boarded an Irishrail train to take us to Mallow where we had to change to a train bound for Kilarney.  Fortunately in Mallow we got off the first train, crossed the platform and got right on the second train.

Upon arriving in Kilarney we tried to follow the signs around to the bus station and we had our first experience with signs and directions in the countryside of Ireland.  The first sign, at the exit from the train station, pointed us down a sidewalk towards town.  That was the last sign or directions we saw.  We went down the hill, came to the entrance road for the train station and nothing telling us to head left or right.  Fortunately—so we thought—there was a sign to the Tourist Information Center pointing downhill to the left.  So we took our bags and headed in that direction…and it was beginning to rain.  We went about a quarter mile and came upon an Irish Cultural Center, which turned out to be more of a community center, and I asked someone about the shuttle bus to Kerry County Airport (where we would pick up the rental car).  She wasn’t sure, but pointed further downhill and said, “there is a Tourist Information Center down there someplace…or there is the bus station on the other side of the train station…just pass through the shopping mall and the bus station is at the other end.” 

We opted to go back towards the train station, we found the mall—it was a small mall—and the bus station.  It appeared we’d have found it by originally turning to the right, but again there were no other signs or directions—a trend we found several times.

The bus took us over the back roads—or actually what turned out to be some of the primary roads—to the airport and Avis rental.  We picked up a Ford Moreno, a five speed manual sedan with a turbo-diesel engine.  It had great pick-up and was fun to drive…with the driver’s seat on the right side.

We took off out of the airport being conscious of driving on the left side of the road and headed for Dingle.  I drove for the first 45 minutes with Cheri navigating.  With only one side trip, another one of those sign things, we were soon at Conner Pass through the mountains and over to Dingle.  Cheri took over driving at this time and we started climbing up into the mountain pass.

 

You can see the bay and valley behind us as we started to head into the pass.  Below is an album link to show you the pictures taken during our stops along the way—this is the first try at using the Windows Live album approach and if you click on the slide show link it has a nice presentation of the pictures; give it a try. View Full Album Someone offered to take a picture of us at the top of the Pass and you can see the valley we came up from behind us.  Below this photo you can see the view looking other direction towards Dingle. The picture to the right is the view from our room at the bed and breakfast (Heaton’s Guest House).  You can see the Dingle sign to the lower left between the bushes and a tree.  We were about 800 yards from the village so it was easy to walk back and forth into town.  We asked for some thoughts on a place to eat dinner and you can see the place we settled on below.

To experience what it is like to be a passenger sitting on the left front side while going up a mountain road, click on the video photo below.  Also remember that this is a two lane road with buses and large trucks going in both directions. From Day Seven We pulled into Dingle and found a beautiful little fishing town that has a large tourism industry as well. We had a great meal here and the restaurant is well known for its seafood.

Following dinner we decided to head back to the B&B and get a good night’s rest before spending the next day exploring.  This is the view we had on the walk back from the village.

 

Day Eight – Exploring the Islands

After a great breakfast the next morning we walked back into the village and asked at the Tourist Center about tours out on the Blasket Islands.  It turned out that the ferry was running from a different point further out on the peninsula.  So we walked back to the B&B to pick up the car and headed out to explore the coastal road. 

As we drove along we came upon little turn outs and view points along the way.  Below is an album of our trip to the point.

View Full Album

 

It took us a couple missed signs—or non-existent signs—which gave us some wrong turns and exploration of even smaller roads before we found the ferry to Blasket Island.  The ferry wasn’t quite what one would normally think of as a ferry.  We all put on life jackets and climbed from a slippery landing on to an Avon to transfer out to a larger boat. To the right you can see the landing point, well actually, it is around one of those rocks and we needed to wait a few minutes for the swells to die down before making a landing.  As it was we ended up surfing down one of the swells and timing the turn around the rock to head in to the landing.  While waiting to head in we did see some seals around the boat and you can see the head of one in the picture below.

You can see Cheri on the larger boat to the left and we soon headed out through the swells to the island.  The crossing was fun and we had some good eight foot swells which had a couple of our fellow adventurers feeling quite queasy, but Cheri and I had no problems.   As we climbed up from the landing we went by some of the ruins from the days that people lived on the island year round.  There are now a few summer homes on the island, but only a handful of people at any one time. There were several sheep paths and climbing paths along the island.  We started up one of the paths and I managed to get a picture of Cheri coming up the trail with the mainland of Ireland behind her. We made our way to one of the peaks and the picture in the middle of the collage below is when were at the top—once again the benefit of the gorilla tripod.

The scenery was beautiful and we had a great time hiking around.  We did have to watch our step in some places…the trails do follow close to some of the cliffs.

As we headed back to the mainland we had to make the Avon to boat to Avon transfers and headed back to the landing.  You can see the landing to the right and the trail built into the side of the hill to climb back up to the car. We got back to the B&B with enough time to shower and get ready to head out to a pub for dinner.  Then it was off to an old church that has been made into a community center for a Folk Music show.

It was a great show and you can see and hear a video of some of the performance by clicking on the picture below.  The man playing the pipes on the left commented that when he plays he always looks unhappy.  He said, “It’s not because I’m concentrating or unhappy…when I was a boy my priest said something is a sin only if you take pleasure in doing it…”.

From Day Eight

This day was an outstanding adventure in this trip of adventures!