Wednesday morning,
08OCT, we hit the road for a short drive to our next RV park in North
Stonington, CT; for Dan’s 40th college reunion/homecoming at the US
Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT. Yes,
unbelievably Dan is that old & graduated from the Academy way back in June
of 1974. See our below BLOG link for
more about these reunions & our last attendance in 2009. As we said in
that BLOG military academies routinely hold reunions every year for the classes
that previously graduated in five years increments. So in 2014 reunions & special events are
held during homecoming for the classes of 2009, 2004, 1999, 1994, 1989, 1984,
1979, 1974, etc, etc. This was number 40
for the USCGA Class of 1974; & more than 100 of our 350 inductees showed up
(more on this later).
The RV park we have
used twice before (2004 & 2009) was a little dump’y & was almost empty
previously; & we have never needed a reservation. Apparently they have been taken over &
major improvements have been made, because they are now full? So we are now at another RV park that is
further out from New London & reunion activities. After setting up camp we headed to the
Foxwood casino. This is supposedly the
world’s largest casino, but it is really several different gaming areas in
different buildings connected by walkways & halls. Very disorganized & many areas are closed
& roped off. After making our usual small
offerings to the gods of chance we headed back to the RV.
Thursday it was off
to New Haven, CT, to concentrate on roadfood & roadside America. First stop was Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana,
in business since 1925. We got there at
1130 & it was filling-up fast (lots of regulars). Pepe’s is credited with the creation of “New
Haven style” pizza – thin crust baked in bread ovens fired by coal. Pepe’s has won numerous local & national
awards for their pizzas. Dan went with
their famous White Clam pizza & Corrie went with the classic Margherita,
both excellent! Highly recommend, just
get there early.
Next stop (after a
quick Ikea stop) was the PEZ factory (which opened in 1973) & visitor
center (which opened 2011) in Orange, CT.
PEZ started in Austria in 1927 as a peppermint (or in German pfefferminz, aka PEZ).
The visitor center is definitely all things PEZ with a viewing windows
of the factory. They charge $6 admission
but you get four dollars off any purchase, plus you can easily win an unique
dispensary w/candy by completing a “quiz”.
Since we made a minimal purchase, they lost money on us! We recommend it!
Then it was back to
New Haven for a burger at Louis’ Lunch, supposed inventor of the hamburger in
1895. Louis’ is very small &
constantly busy. Louis’ is truly unique
in that they “grill” their patties in ancient, gas fired vertical
broilers. We have never seen anything
like the three contraptions they use to slowly (& we mean slowly!) cook
their hamburgers. Warning don’t even
think of asking for ketchup!
Friday it was off to
Mystic, CT, for a walkabout (Corrie still hasn’t seen the all time chick flick
“Mystic Pizza”?). Then it was off to
Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough in Noank, CT, for a small lobster roll. Turns out they close Monday for the
season. They opened at 1130 & were
packed by noon. Last stop for the day was
tracking down a Muffler Man in Norwich, CT.
Then it was back to
RV to get ready for the first reunion event – the Friday night no host cocktail
party at the Mystic Marriott Hotel in Groton, CT. The dress was supposed to be shorts, Hawaiian
shirts, and sandals with no socks. Very few of the attendees observed the
proper dress code; but Dan ever being the rebel wore sandals with socks!
Saturday, 11OCT, was
almost an entire day devoted to Reunion activities:
1000 – A moving Memorial
Service of all the class members who have passed since 1974, in the Auditorium
of Dimick Hall led by Rex Auker & Will Henrickson, two classmates who moved
on from their CG careers to becoming men of the cloth.
1100 – Tailgate luncheon in Dimick Hall
Auditorium.
1300 – March-on to the USCGA football field (thankfully
the rain stops). March-on is when the five year classes attending
Homecoming/Reunion march onto the field (starting with the youngest class
first, 2009). While marching on, a humorous, short “commercial” is read over
the PA about your class and its accomplishments (or lack of accomplishments).
1330 – USCGA vs Curry football game – GO BEARS!!!
(CG wins 17-0)
1600 – All classes
cocktail party at Leamy Hall. This event
is for any Academy alumni to attend during the homecoming weekend (ie those not
part of a five year reunion).
1900 – The big event
of the reunion weekend, the class dinner dance back at the Mystic Marriott
Hotel. Turns out that the Academy class
of 1969 was having their dinner dance in the ballroom next ours. We didn’t pay any attention to this, because
with the number of five year reunions going on & small number of hotels
available, having several classes in one venue is not uncommon. But what was unique was that their music was
being provide six of their classmates who played rock & roll at the Academy
back in the late 60s! And the lead
singer was Rear Admiral (retired) Paul Pluta who Dan had worked for!! Learning this, we headed next door to check
it out. All six members have played off
& on over the decades, & definitely can still kick ass!!!
Sunday was a “new” homecoming/reunion
event – Dan’s classmate (& reverend) Will & wife Jackie Henrickson had
a brunch at their beautiful house in New London. Normally in the past nothing “planned”
happened on Sunday, as everyone makes their departure from New London. Thanks to the Henrickson’s we enjoyed one more
opportunity for reminiscing & an excellent brunch buffet! Then it was back to RV to enjoy the great
weather, recuperate from all the reunion activities, & prepare for
tomorrow’s departure.
PS - At the
beginning of this BLOG we mentioned that we would be discussing the number of
attendees (or classmates as they call each other) at this 40th reunion/homecoming. This year there were about 100 classmates,
compared to 50 back in 2009. Why the
increase? Because after 2009 a group of
classmates decided not to depend on the mailing list created some thirty years
ago to send out invites. They decided to
try & locate all 350 original inductees, not just the 200 classmates
graduated. They are still working on
finding everyone. But many who did not
finish the entire four years were contacted & extremely grateful &
touched to be tracked down & invited.
Many eagerly attended for the first time; in addition to graduates who
decided to attend for their first time.
For example, two of Dan’s classmates who finished college elsewhere
& we visited driving from Sultan, WA, to Connecticut, attended (see BLOGs
about Montana, & New Ipswich, NH).
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