060614 - REDDING,CT
Redding, Connecticut
Arrived Thursday - June 8, 2006
Continuing on our FRIENDS AND FAMILY TOUR – 2006, we threaded ourselves thru the Connecticut countryside after leaving the interstate. Our next target was another old friend from public school 253 – having met in the fifth grade class of Ms. Mildred Gabiner.
Although the class had been seated alphabetically, thru a quirk of fate, I arrived late to class and was seated behind Steven Yurman, That started a long standing friendship that was rekindled this trip.
Thru our public and high school years we were inseparable: our mothers thinking they had inherited another son to feed and watch over. Through the adventures of Scouting as well as the standard neighborhood activities and those we made up, our free time was constantly occupied and we enjoyed those teenage days and night of summer and winter until the seriousness of college shook us rudely into adulthood. We drifted in and out of contact for a couple of years and then drifted apart.
One (all to brief) meeting in Los Angeles in the early nineties sparked some great memories but faded too quickly. Steve had been involved in businesses that forced him to travel the globe extensively, making future contact challenging.
When I started planning this most recent trip, I relied on the Internet as my private detective agency to find old friends, and fortunately, Steve was not too paranoid or egotistical to have an unlisted address or phone number.
AS I carefully followed Steve’s car down route 7, then to increasingly smaller and more curvier and irregular roads, and finally over the old preverbal railroad tracks, … he led me to the home of his friend/accountant Alan and his wife Bev.
WE made the final hard left turn into his long, steep driveway… performed a broken U-Turn and backed the Beast into a very exclusive motor home park … built for one – and at the time we were it. A 50 amp plug was conveniently at our side and within minutes we were lighted.
Part of the greeting host’s family was a golden retriever named McGee (Molly?) and Peter quickly ran off with her for a guided tour of the property.
Alan owns a 40 foot Airstream Skyway motor home which is uniquely identified by its internal stairway that leads to an observation deck on its roof. he was kind enough to have it put in storage so that the Beast would have a place to stay. There isn’t an RV park within 50 miles of Redding.
From the moment we said hello, the memories and stories started stirring and flowing. Time had been good to Steve – he still had that youthful smile I remembered and his voice was charged with excitement .
He and his wife Joan had raised 2 lovely daughters – one finishing up her PHD in Psychology and the other just starting college in the same field. A small dog completed the family but Boz was very territorial and barked and snapped at Peter. Peter tried to be a good guest but they had to be separated.
Friday we spent our time on a tour of the area and a very beautiful area it was. Very rural, but a strong community base and well funded local government.
Saturday turned out to be Steve’s 64th birthday, and Joan had planned a BBQ and party for some local friends and relatives. It was a great day for all of us to get to know one another better and when Steve and I started discussing our days in the Boy Scouts, he disappeared and quickly reappeared with his old uniform on a hanger. I’m glad he didn’t try to put it on. Believe me, he surprised me as much as the rest of the guests. That uniform led to long discussions and memories of days gone by and the associated activities and people involved.
Each evening, we returned to the Beast to wind down and sleep. In the mornings, Peter was chomping at the bit to go out and play with McGee.
Steve had this great idea to drive into Brooklyn and visit some of our old haunts to see how much we remembered and how much places and things might have changed. It turned out to be a super idea.
It was a long but pleasant drive toward the city, completely filled with conversation and questions back and forth about our pasts and plans.
AS we approached familial landmarks that immediately triggered childhood images to spring to life, we often blurted out names of places and people simultaneously. “Suicide Hill”, a grassy knoll along the Belt Parkway that was a great place for sledding down in the snowy winter as long as you stopped short at the service road to the parkway to avoid being run over by speeding cars..
Zuckerman’s Pharmacy and the corner candy store were now other venues, as well as Mr. Bromburg’s Barber shop, but the large apartment building was still standing and apparently occupied, as was the row of houses along Neptune avenue. in which I was born and grew up in the third one heading west.
It was apparently freshly painted and newly occupied since the passing of my Dad.
As we drove slowly up and down local streets, we were constantly pointing in amazement at old structures that still remained and describing to each other what building and stores were missing when we saw newly constructed one.
AS we roamed the streets of Manhattan Beach, I was especially interested in the status of my Uncle Sam’s house – he had recently passed away. I was totally surprised to find that beautiful piece of property, with its large grassy lawn and white corral fence gone, and replace with a massive home that filled the property without a blade of grass to been seen.
We weaved our way thru Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach, around our old public school 253 and Abraham Lincoln High School and were happy to see them still standing, apparently still operational, and amazingly similar to what I remembered.
Steve wanted to visit the boardwalk, especially the area where the covered sitting section jutted into the beach. A popular place for young mothers with their babies and older folks like his grandmother used to sit and meet with friends.
It was a perfect day for the beach, and we opted for lunch at one of the boardwalk’s restaurants, which are now all Russian. Nevertheless, we had a great lunch and beautiful view of the beach and the passerbys.
What visit to Brooklyn would be complete without going to Coney Island and world famous Nathan’s?
It was the summer of 55 all over again – albeit the Parachute jump is a mere skeleton without its silks, and Steeplechase is now a baseball field for the Brooklyn Hurricanes, but the crowds were still shouting out their food orders and the Hot dogs and French fries have never tasted better.
AS we drove towards the Belt, we passed a store selling pigeon supplies and down the block a sign proudly proclaimed the presence of a Pigeon Club. Where else but Brooklyn would you find that?
That evening we had our last dinner with Joan and Steve and with the excitement of TOUR BROOKLYN 2006 completed we spoke of our next day’s departure and days and event to follow.
The next morning, we arose and mentally reviewed our pre-flight checklist and said our goodbyes, then carefully negotiated the twisty, steep roadway as Steve once again assumed lead position to guide us safely to the main highway.
Arrived Thursday - June 8, 2006
Continuing on our FRIENDS AND FAMILY TOUR – 2006, we threaded ourselves thru the Connecticut countryside after leaving the interstate. Our next target was another old friend from public school 253 – having met in the fifth grade class of Ms. Mildred Gabiner.
Although the class had been seated alphabetically, thru a quirk of fate, I arrived late to class and was seated behind Steven Yurman, That started a long standing friendship that was rekindled this trip.
Thru our public and high school years we were inseparable: our mothers thinking they had inherited another son to feed and watch over. Through the adventures of Scouting as well as the standard neighborhood activities and those we made up, our free time was constantly occupied and we enjoyed those teenage days and night of summer and winter until the seriousness of college shook us rudely into adulthood. We drifted in and out of contact for a couple of years and then drifted apart.
One (all to brief) meeting in Los Angeles in the early nineties sparked some great memories but faded too quickly. Steve had been involved in businesses that forced him to travel the globe extensively, making future contact challenging.
When I started planning this most recent trip, I relied on the Internet as my private detective agency to find old friends, and fortunately, Steve was not too paranoid or egotistical to have an unlisted address or phone number.
AS I carefully followed Steve’s car down route 7, then to increasingly smaller and more curvier and irregular roads, and finally over the old preverbal railroad tracks, … he led me to the home of his friend/accountant Alan and his wife Bev.
WE made the final hard left turn into his long, steep driveway… performed a broken U-Turn and backed the Beast into a very exclusive motor home park … built for one – and at the time we were it. A 50 amp plug was conveniently at our side and within minutes we were lighted.
Part of the greeting host’s family was a golden retriever named McGee (Molly?) and Peter quickly ran off with her for a guided tour of the property.
Alan owns a 40 foot Airstream Skyway motor home which is uniquely identified by its internal stairway that leads to an observation deck on its roof. he was kind enough to have it put in storage so that the Beast would have a place to stay. There isn’t an RV park within 50 miles of Redding.
From the moment we said hello, the memories and stories started stirring and flowing. Time had been good to Steve – he still had that youthful smile I remembered and his voice was charged with excitement .
He and his wife Joan had raised 2 lovely daughters – one finishing up her PHD in Psychology and the other just starting college in the same field. A small dog completed the family but Boz was very territorial and barked and snapped at Peter. Peter tried to be a good guest but they had to be separated.
Friday we spent our time on a tour of the area and a very beautiful area it was. Very rural, but a strong community base and well funded local government.
Saturday turned out to be Steve’s 64th birthday, and Joan had planned a BBQ and party for some local friends and relatives. It was a great day for all of us to get to know one another better and when Steve and I started discussing our days in the Boy Scouts, he disappeared and quickly reappeared with his old uniform on a hanger. I’m glad he didn’t try to put it on. Believe me, he surprised me as much as the rest of the guests. That uniform led to long discussions and memories of days gone by and the associated activities and people involved.
Each evening, we returned to the Beast to wind down and sleep. In the mornings, Peter was chomping at the bit to go out and play with McGee.
Steve had this great idea to drive into Brooklyn and visit some of our old haunts to see how much we remembered and how much places and things might have changed. It turned out to be a super idea.
It was a long but pleasant drive toward the city, completely filled with conversation and questions back and forth about our pasts and plans.
AS we approached familial landmarks that immediately triggered childhood images to spring to life, we often blurted out names of places and people simultaneously. “Suicide Hill”, a grassy knoll along the Belt Parkway that was a great place for sledding down in the snowy winter as long as you stopped short at the service road to the parkway to avoid being run over by speeding cars..
Zuckerman’s Pharmacy and the corner candy store were now other venues, as well as Mr. Bromburg’s Barber shop, but the large apartment building was still standing and apparently occupied, as was the row of houses along Neptune avenue. in which I was born and grew up in the third one heading west.
It was apparently freshly painted and newly occupied since the passing of my Dad.
As we drove slowly up and down local streets, we were constantly pointing in amazement at old structures that still remained and describing to each other what building and stores were missing when we saw newly constructed one.
AS we roamed the streets of Manhattan Beach, I was especially interested in the status of my Uncle Sam’s house – he had recently passed away. I was totally surprised to find that beautiful piece of property, with its large grassy lawn and white corral fence gone, and replace with a massive home that filled the property without a blade of grass to been seen.
We weaved our way thru Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach, around our old public school 253 and Abraham Lincoln High School and were happy to see them still standing, apparently still operational, and amazingly similar to what I remembered.
Steve wanted to visit the boardwalk, especially the area where the covered sitting section jutted into the beach. A popular place for young mothers with their babies and older folks like his grandmother used to sit and meet with friends.
It was a perfect day for the beach, and we opted for lunch at one of the boardwalk’s restaurants, which are now all Russian. Nevertheless, we had a great lunch and beautiful view of the beach and the passerbys.
What visit to Brooklyn would be complete without going to Coney Island and world famous Nathan’s?
It was the summer of 55 all over again – albeit the Parachute jump is a mere skeleton without its silks, and Steeplechase is now a baseball field for the Brooklyn Hurricanes, but the crowds were still shouting out their food orders and the Hot dogs and French fries have never tasted better.
AS we drove towards the Belt, we passed a store selling pigeon supplies and down the block a sign proudly proclaimed the presence of a Pigeon Club. Where else but Brooklyn would you find that?
That evening we had our last dinner with Joan and Steve and with the excitement of TOUR BROOKLYN 2006 completed we spoke of our next day’s departure and days and event to follow.
The next morning, we arose and mentally reviewed our pre-flight checklist and said our goodbyes, then carefully negotiated the twisty, steep roadway as Steve once again assumed lead position to guide us safely to the main highway.
posted by The Highway Guys @ 12:24 PM
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