A High School Like Weekend

Sunday night used to be the night, as kids, we always went out for Chinese food. It was never easy because my dad was in a wheelchair before anything was handicapped accessible. And we never went with less than 10 people. For years, it as the August Moon and then -- I can’t remember. It was always a trauma or at the least, a drama. Sundays remind me of those family outings. Just FYI, I hate that my mother is dead. I mean, I hate to have lost both parents, but my mother’s scent still lurks in all her clothing. And, because it was not a subtle smell, anything that ever hung in her closet – like my coats, wreaks of it. In addition, the 20th is her birthday and I always buy cards months in advance. So I have the cards, but no mother. Enough whining. And it was not Sunday.

Aside from my mother being dead, it was a terrific weekend. I was feeling a little stressed, and weepy, and so we decided to go to our favorite restaurant. It’s so Jewish to solve all your problems with food – or maybe it’s so ethnic, but we squeezed in the car, called Kerry and headed out to the Reservoir Tavern in Boonton/Parsippany, N.J. The Res, as I may have mentioned at least twenty times, is just a great place for pizza and any other Italian food you may be craving. We all split an extra thin, clam, garlic, and cheese white pizza (move over Pepes in Ct.!) It was absolutely fabulous. And did we smell, and burp. Yes, we did, and enjoyed every moment of every retaste.
dipping at the Res: olive oil, parmesan cheese, red pepper... Heaven...
It was just like a Saturday when we were in high school. We would start the day with a football game. Well, almost. First we would have a piece of toast and then race out of the house so we could all meet, talk about our boyfriends on the football team, and then we would freeze on the bleachers. The most interesting moments were those we had at the food breaks -- during the endless game, which none of us understood. There wasn’t much offered at the one small stand which sold soda, coffee, candy, popcorn and terrible pizza (which always tasted remarkably good). We ate it with gusto -- we were freezing, starving and grateful not to be cheerleaders on the sidelines in short skirts and no breaks – except half time, when they would also try to consume something warm.

After the game, win or lose, we would go to Paul’s Diner (the high school hang out), and have a little something else to eat. My favorite was a grilled cheese with tomato and a vanilla malt. There is nothing quite like a vanilla malt or shake when you want something sweet.

Yesterday, we replicated those old high school days. Although the pizza wasn’t bad (it was extraordinary), and the malt was take-out, it was, all in all, a divine football day feast. After the major food fest, we collapsed, watched college football on TV – which I have mentioned previously that I love—and I now understand. One of my teams lost (Michigan) and one won (Wisconsin), in an upset. Let’s be honest. What could be better than pizza, a shake, college football, and no heartburn.

We completed a lovely weekend with lunch at the Chelsea Grill, (also a favorite) and a half price Broadway musical. It was our original intention to go to see “Million Dollar Quartet”. But the seats were not great and there is no reason to pay even half price for not great seats. So we opted to see “The Scottsboro Boys,” where we had 8th row orchestra center seats. Usually, when you can get those seats half price, it is an indication that the show is about to close or lousy. That was certainly not the case here. It was a cleverly constructed, moving, substantive, and entertaining triumph. (David admitted to being breathless in the final scene and that is rare enough.) It is still in Previews, but once it opens you will not be able to get a seat. Go while it’s still in Previews.

Anyway, as I said, it was a terrific weekend, and I still hate that my mother was not here to enjoy it with us – she couldn’t resist a good vanilla shake. We’re just sayin’… Iris