Which Would I Choose?

TRAVELS
Joan was telling me an interesting thing that happened to Melissa’s boy friend Ryan. They both are living in San Diego. Ryan is working and Melissa is also working - towards her Masters’ Degree! A neighbor of Ryan’s gave him two round-trip tickets on Delta to any destination in the world! (I told Joan to tell Ryan to hurry before delta goes “Belly-up”!). What a gift - what a neighbor! Who said that there is no Santa Claus?
Joan’s tale got me to thinking, and reminiscing over the extensive traveling that Marie and I have done before and after our 25 years of retirement. We have seen so many beautiful and interesting places. We have been very fortunate. Then, I thought - what if this gratuity had happened to me? Where would I choose to go? It’s strange, but I decided that I would rather re-visit a place that I had been, rather than see some place new. I decide to list the countries that we have visited in order of my pleasant memories of them. So, here goes:
1- Switzerland.
2-France (naturally).
3-Italy.
4-Ireland (naturally).
5-England.
6- Scotland.
7-Germany.
8-Canada.
9-Austria.
10-Morocco.
11-Tunisia
Then, I reflected on cities which I enjoyed visiting. I listed the following in order of preference to re-visit.
1- Paris.
2-Washington, D.C.
3-Rome.
4- London.
5-New York.
6-Honolulu.
7-San Francisco.
8-Dublin.
9-Venice.
10- Lucerne.
11- Cairo.
12- Tunis.
13- Seattle.
14- Vienna.
15- Key West.
16- Vancouver.
17- Montreal.
18- Boston.
19- Philadelphia.
20- New Orleans.
21- Salt Lake City
22- Denver.
23-AnnArbor.
24. Colorado Springs.
25. Chicago.
While I realize that my rankings are pretty subjective, and arbitrary, they are starting points for discussion! One wouldn’t go wrong in visiting any of these places! Your experience would be food for the mind, and for the soul!

Reunion - Continued

REUNION - Continued.
We met at 11:30 on Saturday morning, September 29th, at the Station Restaurant in Berea. This building has a lot of history, as it formerly was the New York Central depot. My Dad commuted from here into his office, in the Cleveland Terminal building, for seven years. For the last three of these years, whenever I needed our car (most families were lucky - during The Great Depression to have one car - many had none.), I would drive my Dad down to the depot to catch the 7 A.M. “Plug” heading into Cleveland. Then, I would pick him up at 6P.M. Back in those days, there were many commuters. Today, Amtrak doesn’t even stop here.
There were 17 of us for lunch - 7 from our Class of 1936; 2 from the Class of ‘35 and 5 from the Class of ‘37. and three guests.
I sat across from Rose Petersson. a very charming and entertaining lady of 89 - the mother of seven! Rose is tiny - probably 5 feet tall and weighs 100 pounds. Gordon picked her up, and she rode to the Reunion with us. She lives in an apartment complex in downtown Berea, where Gordon also used to live. When they took our "drink" orders before we ate, she said "I think I will get a shot with a beer chaser!" But, she ended up ordering ice tea - big in the midwest. Then, for lunch, she ordered a sirloin steak - also big in the midwest.

My lunch was great! The waitress said that their specialty was quiche, and that the chef had made a seafood quiche especially for us , as it is not on the menu. So, I ordered that. It was the best quiche that I’ve ever had.
We had a leisurely lunch, and then re-convened at the Mahler Museum for a social get-together and cake.
It was great seeing everyone - especially realizing that this will probably be my last chance to join the others, for our Reunions.
On Sunday, Kathleen and Grady Dorsey picked me up and I accompanied them to St,. Mary’s church for their noon Mass. I was standing in the outer foyer of the hotel, waiting for my ride to church. Suddenly, I had a "flashback" to 35 years ago - when Virginia and Pete Parin would pick uop Mom, and give her a ride to and from St. John's church in Ypsilanti. She always stood by her front door waiting for them, so she wouldn't keep them waiting. Here I am, so many years later, following in her footsteps! I was a former member of the parish, when old St. Mary’s was located in downtown Berea, during the ‘30’s. After church, they drove me al around Berea so I could see old sights and new changes. It was very interesting to me to view all of this - including the house where I used to live, as well as the house where Kathleen (a native Berean) lived when she was growing up. After church, We spent the afternoon looking at pictures from their Alaska trip from which they had recently returned. At 5:00 we met Dorsey’s oldest daughter Maureen, husband Greg, and Michael and Megan for supper. The Dorseys treated us all at the Station restaurant. I could visit there every day and not get tired of it. Naturally, the “station” is close to two pairs of mainland tracks. Trains are going by about every 5 or 6 minutes - mostly freight trains - a lot of atmosphere! Nearby, every time a train would go by, I noticed a young boy popping up in his booth and waving at the train. I noticed that the freight trains no longer carry cabooses! Communication and control, today, are all electronic. A bit of mid-west humor! The waiter gave the bill-tray to Greg, and he, matter of factly, passed it on to Grady with the comment; “You can thank me, for I could very easily have intercepted it!”
The Dorseys dropped me of at the Hampton Inn, after a long but very interesting day.

Reunion

REUNION - September 28, 2007.
I would like to invite you along to experience my 12 hour day:
I am about to head for Cleveland to attend my 71st high school reunion. I am able to go, first of all, because my daughters, Joan and Sue, agreed to alternate staying with Marie, while I was gone for nearly four days. Too, my health (at 88) permitted me to undertake the long and tiring trip - plus I could afford the moderate -travel expense.
I left the house at 0930 Friday morning (9/28/07), and drove to the Courtyard Hotel in Vallejo to catch the 10 A.M. Evans Airporter - (fare $29 each way). The Courtyard charges $5 per day ($20 per week) to park your car at the hotel. It I a cool and cloudy day.
We arrived at Stop 4E at the Oakland Airport at 1100. The airport was quite crowded, which didn’t surprise me being a “get-away” afternoon, and it had been three years since I last flew out of there. The long lines through Southwest ticketing and Security, wind back and forth paralleling each other. For a minute, I thought that I was in Disneyland! The sign said “e-ticket line”. In that I purchased my ticket on-line, I got in this line. Soon, a Southwest employee told me that I had to get in another line - “for age verification!” Thirty minutes for age verification, to check my suitcase and get my boarding pass.
Then, on to the next adventure. I took off my white-Rocsports and grabbed a bin to put them in - along with my jacket and sweater. Then, scrounged another bin for my “carry-on” bag (which Mary had given me) - a quart zip-bag, holding my meds, and another quart baggie holding my watch and car keys. In 20 minutes, I cleared Security, and re-dressed. But, I was in no hurry, Flight 2639 wasn’t scheduled to leave until 1445 - time to get, and eat, a ham and cheese sandwich, and to visit the Men’s Room a couple of times. No matter where I go - or what airport I use, my Gate is always the last one on the concourse. Today is no exception! - Gate 32!
It is surprising how many people travel with their pillows! One guy had to kneel on his suitcase - pushing his pillow inside as he struggled to zip it closed. Southwest doesn’t have “assigned seating” so it’s one big scramble for position, at the boarding gate - “first come - first served”. Your boarding pass assigns you to a row - A,B or C. About an hour before the scheduled departure time, the gate attendants permit the passengers to sit on the floor - to stake out their place in the boarding line. Before the magic hour, the boarding area is practically empty. Then, they come out of the woodwork and the place is jammed full! People preferring to sit and wait, have to maneuver around the “floor people” like an obstacle course. Cattle have more room in their environment! The “floor people” spend their time eating, drinking coffee, on their cell phones or using their laptops.
An interesting sight! A tall-thin young guy is running out to Gate 32. He is carrying his shoes, and wears an Afghan cap (similar to the Taliban!). It is two minutes before the scheduled departure time!
It is now 1500, and I still haven’t moved. It has been five hours since I boarded Evans. I decided to pre-board, because all the flights are running at least 90 % full - only a few middle seats unoccupied. Besides, I don’t own a laptop. I asked the gate attendant if she wanted to see my health letter, and she said she would take my word for it. (I had asked my Congestive-Heart Case Manager if he would prepare a letter explaining my health condition - which he did. I took this with me when I was going to the A’s games as I was using the VIP and handicapped elevator.) I hesitated to pre-board before, but at 88 I feel that I need the privilege. So, the parents with kids - the disabled in wheel chairs, and I board first. Nice to have your choice of seats, plus not getting hit with the wild -passengers boarding with huge shoulder bags! A young lady in one of the wheel chairs is paralyzed. An attendant wheels her to the end of the boarding ramp, and stop. The rest of the pre-boarders are lined up in the jet way behind her. Two airline employees lift her out of the wheel chair, and sit her on a little stool with wheels. (Apparently the wheel chair wouldn’t fit through the cabin door.) They wheel her in to the plane and lift her from the stool, and place her in a bulkhead-aisle seat, and strap her in. I couldn’t help but wonder what will happen if she has to use the rest room during our long flight to Chicago.
We push back from the gate at 1530. The plane is almost full - with many infants and small kids aboard. We taxi out to the runway and are number one for take-off. Away we go! Wheels up at 1537 - after a 30 second take-off run - about 30 minutes late. We’ve taken off to the North. The pilot makes a 90 degree turn to the right and starts his climb. We pass through the overcast quickly, as it is only about 2,000 feet thick. We level off and the pilot comes on the P.A. And said that we will be cruising at 39,000 feet. (With most of our bombing runs at 25,000 feet, this seems very high to me.) He says that we are 1460 miles from Chicago, and estimates our arrival at Midway at 4P.M. CDT. He also said that we are 40 minutes late but estimated an on-time arrival! There must be a good tail wind. Southwest estimates the flying time for the outbound leg - Oakland to Cleveland at 5 hours and 25 minutes. Yet, they estimate the time for our return flight at 7 hours! The difference in the two flight times is due to the Eastboud tail wind from the jet stream, which will be a headwind on the return trip. Another difference is the one stop outbound at Midway in Chicago is almost directly on course. Where the one stop on the return flight is in Phoenix, which is quite a way off from a direct flight from Cleveland to Oakland.
The sky is clear as we approach the desert. The flight attendants passed out little snack boxes, and our drink of choice. The Chip Ahoy cookies, dried fruit mix, peanuts, crackers and cheese spread hit the spot.
At 1710 PDT, the pilot said that we were 875 miles from Chicago, and we had made up half of the twenty minutes that we were late. Starting to get bumpy, so the seat-belt sign is back on.
At 1945CDT, we were 600 miles from Chicago, and still 25 minutes behind schedule. We are over NE Colorado and NW Nebraska.
At 2010 CDT, we have 360 miles to go to Chicago - about one hour. At 2130, we start our descent into Midway - 20 minutes away. It is interesting to see all the lights from the many cities in the Midwest, from above. As the lights of Chicago appear on the horizon, one doesn’t appreciate the large area of the city until you see it from the air. My Mother was born here, on September 6,1892. Her aunt Nellie (her Mother’s sister) lived in Chicago most of her life.
We are on our letdown, and the little kids are screaming bloody murder. Their ears plug up because of the small canals in their young ears. Unless you have flown with a cold and had your ears plug, you cant imagine the excruciating pain. It happened to me during the Korean war. I was flying a night mission out of Mather Field in Sacramento, and had a head cold. I was in such pain when I landed that they put me in the compression chamber. They reduced the pressure to that of 10,000 feet and slowly increased the pressure back to sea Mather’s ground elevation. My ears felt better, but even so, I still broke an ear drum.
We landed at 2100 CDT. We took off for Cleveland at 2155. We were supposed to be on the ground for only 40 minutes. We were almost full out of Chicago. The flight attendant said that our 737 held about 135 people. The pilot came on and said that the computer put us in Cleveland at 2342. It was a pretty moonlit night. We flew over the southern end of Lake Michigan and across Southern Michigan. I calculated that we were very near Hillsdale (where I was born) on our flight path. About 2330 EDT, I could see Toledo off to the left. The city has certainly grown since I was last there. We touched down at Cleveland at 2345 - 35 minutes late.
I had trouble contacting the Hampton Inn hotel in Middleburg Heights for a ride back to the hotel. I Didn’t get to bed until I:30 A.M. (10:30 Vallejo time.).

CAIRO per ARVAL

Sept. 4, 1943. Per Arval Streadbeck.
(The “Skipper’ piloted our plane to and from Cairo. I would like to share with you, his write-up of our trip.)
We are back from our trip to Cairo and it was absolutely wonderful. We saw so much and did so many things. We were to stay 3 days but the prop on #4 engine wouldn’t change pitch so we stayed 5 days. It was a long trip to get there. As we approached Cairo we saw first a long dark line out on the horizon of the desert. We thought it must be the shore line of the Mediterranean. Fifteen minutes later we crossed over a line of small lakes with water the darkest color of purple you could ever imagine. Just a few bushes were around the lakes and then sand for as far as you could see. Fifteen minutes from there we could see the delta of the Nile out to the North, and to the south the long thin line of deep green on each side of the river. There on the West bank we picked up the pyramids and we flew straight for them, letting down to about 1,000 feet. The largest pyramid is450 feet high so we were just a little over twice as high. We circled more than once because I couldn’t see the Sphinx which is much smaller than I expected. There were some pyramids down by Memphis, or where Memphis was. We flew down to see them also. Then we flew over Cairo, found our airport and landed. We were anxious to leave the plane and get started. The army bus was just leaving, but we hurried and got on and rode to Heliopolis, a suburb of Cairo, and found our hotel. When I say our crew it means minus Lt. Juster - and plus Doc Hall, Lt. Lyons and Lt. Lamoreaux. The first thing we did was bathe in real hot water in a tub. Imagine hot water to shave with too. Sometimes we bathed twice a day it felt so good. After taking a taxi the six miles into Cairo, we found that an electric train ran between the two towns for 10 cents, even less for 2nd class. A piaster is one-hundredth of an Egyptian pound and a pound is worth $4. The taxi cost $2. All the advertising signs are in 3 languages. English, French and Arabian, Shows are in English, with sub-titles in French and Arabic., on an extra screen underneath. Sometimes Greek also. The food was good all but the milk. There are no cows in Egypt but water buffalo. The milk has a very dark brown flavor. On the way to the pyramids we stopped at the bazaars. The shops are small but richly furnished. Fancy boxes line the shelves on the walls.


The Great Pyramid of Cheops. The largest of the three at Giza, is the best known pyramid in the world - it took 20 years to build and 100,000 workmen working all the time. It is 450 feet tall and its base covers thirteen acres of ground. (that is larger than a square city block). Each one of its 2,300,000 blocks weighs two and one half tons, giving a total of 85 million cubic feet of stone (someone said this is enough to build a 4ft. Wall, I foot thick, around France. This building was meant to be a tomb. But, the rulers must have been mad, because the entire nation worked for over 100 years for this one purpose - that of building pyramids.
We climbed up to the entrance and to the “Robbers Tunnel” a 2nd means of entering made by robbers, about 200 years after the Pyramid was sealed - but there was little to see - a long passage and empty rooms with a few carvings. The pyramids are not smooth now as they were originally. The 2nd pyramid, that of Cephren, is still capped with the original casing but the Great Pyramids and the Mycerinus Pyramids casings have been removed to build Mosques and other buildings in Cairo. We walked down to the Sphinx. These things date back to about 3700 B.C.!
On our way back from Cairo to Tunis we laughed nearly all the way. We had engine trouble. The C.O. had wanted a new supply of liquor. We had all wanted the trip. He had sent along Lt. Lyons to buy $6,000 worth of booze. We couldn’t get over how funny it would be if we had to throw out the whole $6,000 worth all across the Libyan desert, to lighten the plane.

CAIRO - September 3, 1943

Friday, September 3, 1943. - Cairo
We finally got underway this noon - after four memorable days in Cairo. We have the liquor on board - stowed safely in the bomb bay!
The billboards come into their own here in Cairo. There are many horse-drawn carriages. Our daily Hotel Heliopolis rate per person, including meals, was 94 pilasters (about a pound - $4 American.)
The City of Cairo has a population of about a million and a quarter people - 50% Arabs; the rest French, Jewish, and English. There used to be 50,000 Italians living here, but since the war, they have all vanished!
The street cars are about 20 years old. The front of the car is for women, the back for men, and the middle section for Arabs. (When we rode the street cars, I don’t remember this segregation.) I was surprised at how many people speak English here.
I gained 8 pounds, and spent $120 while here - a GREAT R & R.
Many movies are showing here - “Gone With the Wind”; “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and other current pictures. They are in English with French and Arab captions running underneath the screen.
There are many photo shops - proof of a tremendous tourist business in peacetime.
There are countless searchlights positioned around the city - making Hollywood seem very small scale!
The 10% tip is included on all checkups. Directions are given in minutes, instead of blocks. Women wear their wedding rings on the finger of their .right hands.
Gum is 20 cents a pack; gasoline 50 cents an Imperial gallon (5 liters). Auto tires are $200 each! There are convertibles for sale, but I don’t know the price.
It seemed good not to be mobbed by kids - all asking for “bon -bons” and “shewing gum”. “Cigarettes?” was their substitute plea - although they are sold in the stores. Again, I don’t know the price.
King Farouk has a mammoth palace here in Cairo.
I saw a large funeral procession. The mourners march behind the coffin. The pall bearers carry the corpse with the head always pointing towards the East!

When we got back to our base, we had covered the 1600 miles from Cairo to Tunis in 9 and ½ hours. All in all, a beautiful trip!

CAIRO - September 2, 1943.

Thursday, September 2, 1943. CAIRO.
We expected to leave for Tunis today, but no soap again!
Tonight, I went out to A.T.S. and persuaded Laurie to forget the New Zealanders’ dance, that she had promised to attend. I tried calling her today, but I couldn’t get her. Two of her friends (Sargents on furlough), she and I piled into a Jeep and went riding. We ended up at the Beba Cabaret. I had a good cheese sandwich, chips (French fries) and a hot chocolate. A good time was had by all.

Cairo - "Laurie"

Cairo - September 1, 1943.
We were supposed to leave Cairo, for Tunis, at noon today. We had a prop-governor control problem, so couldn’t take off - darn it! So, we went downtown shopping this morning, to get in our last fill of ice cream. I was surprised and impressed by how modern the stores are - department, drug, dime, and barber shops.
I took a siesta this afternoon. Tonight, we went downtown and ended up at Groppi’s ice cream parlor. A couple of girls in uniform came in and sat at the booth across from us. Not bad looking either! So, we became interested. We went over and sat with them. The girl that I became “affiliated” with, is very nice -a Catholic; dark hair; dark eyes - a very fair Syrian. She is a private in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, with the Drivers’ Training Wing. She is very pleasant. She speaks English, French, Syrian, Arabic, Hebrew, Italian and Greek! (I felt pretty humble).
We then went over to Saults for supper, and I invited her to go along with us. I had a nice steak, with shoestring potatoes Her name is Cecile (“Laurie“) Saad. She is a good dancer. I got a kick out of her singing “Chattanooga Choo-Choo”; “You are My Sunshine”; and “Tangerine” - while we were dancing! She sounded very good. She said that she could always tell when the Yanks were around, because the orchestra played “Tangerine”! When the orchestra would take an intermission, New Zealanders, British soldiers and G.I’s would go up on the band stand and “sit in”, using the various instruments to beat out their own tunes! I was surprised at all the jitter-bugging!,
Afterwards, we took the girls back to their camp. We had an enjoyable taxi ride - past the pyramids - even though it cost us over a pound!

CAIRO (continued).

CAIRO - Cont.
The Pyramids are mammoth things - nearly 500 feet high! The quarries, from where the sandstone was obtained, can be seen on the outskirts of Cairo in the distance. The outer surfaces were covered with alabaster - a type of marble - from quarries 500 miles away! About 500 years ago, the alabaster was removed to build the large Mosques.
The pyramids housed the tomb of an old ruler, and his queen. Napoleon removed all the valuables from the tombs during his visit. He also knocked off the nose of the Sphinx, and painted the head red, which still remains. He also ordered the Egyptians to pay more taxes through the prophets. When the people refused, Napoleon shelled the mosques with his cannons, not doing much damage to the mosques, as I can still see the ball-shot stuck in the walls of the mosque.
The Sphinx had been buried, until not too long ago, when an American excavator dug the rest of the it out. The Sphinx has the head of a man, the face of a woman and the body of a lion - denoting Wisdom; Beauty and Strength, in their religion. There is a tablet - with hieroglyphic lettering, which explains the past history. The chin of the sphinx is propped up with sand bags, for protection during the war.
There’s a hole in the forehead, from where the priest would step out, and call all the faithful to prayer - facing East. Once a week, the religious would come down from Memphis; which was under water, many years ago. (to be continued)

August 31, 1943 (Continued).

CAIRO.

August 31, 1943. (Cont.)
The Moslems take their shoes off when they enter the Mosque. So, they placed slippers over our shoes. The Citadel is located at the entrance to the Mosque. Here are stone slabs, and the faithful sit on them. There are faucets in front of the faithful. The well that feeds these faucets is 300 feet deep, and is nearby. They sit on the stones and wash their hands, face and head three times before they enter the temple. The marble vaults, in the corridor, contain the remains of holy men.
Next, we went to the Bazaar - past the native section. In older times, when one of the family would pass on to their reward, they would be buried in the home or in the courtyard. Finally, after the whole family had died, the home served as a family plot and was no longer lived in.
The Bazaar is composed of many shops - perfume, jewelry, novelty items, etc. The merchants did a good tourist business - evident by their speaking English - even some slang! The merchant pulls up a chair for you to sit on, and then asks you if you care for coffee, tea or lemonade? They also pass you Egyptian cigarettes. Then, they drag out their wares on top of the counter. They are 20th century “feather merchants” for sure! They are gamblers from the old school. They are willing to “flip” you “double or nothing” for the material that you are interested in - or for either their price or yours. There are brass and copper shops; silk shops; ivory shops, etc.
Then, we get back into the 1931 Model A Ford -taxi, and proceed to another Mosque. Our guide’s father had been a Tourist Guide for 55 years, and was now working for one of the larger hotels. Between our guide, and his dad, they sent out 1,000 Christmas cards to people that they had worked for, to England and the United states. Our guide said that he had a chance to go back to the States with Mr. Reynolds, President of Camel cigarettes. But, he was only ten years old, and the only son. His mother cried so much that his father decided that he hadn’t better go! Our guide said that he has been unlucky ever since.
(to be continued.)

August 31, 1943.

CAIRO - August 31, 1943.
I got up early this morning and had breakfast in bed! Had a fresh egg omelet, coffee, toast - butter and marmalade - rolls and cantaloupe. After breakfast, we headed to town.
We picked up a Guide, and took a taxi to the Bazaar and Mosque. The blue mosque is inside a British fortress overlooking the city of Cairo. I can see the native quarters; the new part of the city; the winding Nile river; the Pyramids; and the quarry from where the stone for the Pyramids and Sphinx were quarried. The internal structure of the Mosque is of alabaster taken from the outer covering of the large pyramid. It is a beautiful tan and white marble, coming originally from quarries which are 500 miles away! The ceiling in the mosque is all hand-painted in blues, gold and red. The names of the four Moslem prophets are inscribed on the ceiling many hundreds of feet high! There are beautiful stained-cut glass-windows, coming from Italy, in the domes! There are over a thousand fine glass chandeliers, and beautiful carpets.
The building is 500 years old! A semi-circular cut in the wall, constitutes the altar, and faces due East towards Mecca. The prophet prays there, while the congregation sits out front on the carpet. They have a pillar that can be rotated towards Mecca. The person ,“wishing” for something, grabs iron rings that are fastened to the wall, and makes his petition - believing that whatever he asks for, he will receive. They then go out the door to the right called the “Good Luck Door”.
(to be continued)

Ball Parks

BALLPARKS
I was watching the Oakland A’s - Chicago White Sox game on TV last night, coming from Chicago. For some reason, I had a flashback to when I saw Comiskey Park. It is one of the few vintage ballparks left. I can only think of two others - Wrigley Field (also in Chicago), and Fenway Park in Boston.
While I never saw a ball game in Comiskey, I did get to see the outside of the stadium.. The year was circa 1926, and I was 7 years old. I remember my Mother’s Aunt Nellie pointing it out to me, as we rode by on the street car, on the South side of Chicago. I don’t remember whether we were on our way to Lincoln Park, or whether she had just met me at the New York Central Englewood- railroad station.
This memory created more memories - a domino effect! I had a flashback to other Major League ballparks that I had either just seen from the outside, or actually saw a ball game within them:-
Navin Field, Briggs Stadium and Tiger Stadium - all in the same location in Detroit. Living in Michigan at the time, I saw games in all three of them. My Dad took me to my first major league game to Navin Field in 1928, and I was 9 years old. I remember seeing Charlie Gehringer, the Tigers 2nd baseman, Mickey Cochran, their great catcher and
While living in Berea, Ohio, I attended the Indian’s games in old League Park in Cleveland. I saw Bob Feller, the Indian’s great pitcher. He made his first start when he was 17 years old - having just graduated from high school. As I remember, he struck out 17 of the opposing batters. (I can’t remember the team). He was the hardest thrower that I have ever seen. They didn’t have the speed gun on the pitchers back then, but I am sure they would have clocked him at 100mph! It doesn’t sound too fast today, but back then it was fast. The batters couldn’t hit what they couldn’t see. I wonder if the umpires even saw all of his pitches. I remember getting free tickets to the Indians games during the summers of the early 1930’s. I can’t recall whether I got them at school, Scouting or where. I know that I appreciated the tickets and enjoyed going to the games. I don’t remember how I got to the games. But, I do remember the gate where the players would enter and leave the park. It was part of the left field fence. The Indians had an attendant posted at the gate to keep the “gate crashers” out. We not only got to see the players very close, but we could very easily get their autographs.
I also saw games (both baseball and football) in the successor to League Park - the Municipal Stadium on Lake Erie. Both the Cleveland Indians and Browns played there. It was a huge facility - holding 70,000 people. I saw Red Grange - a football legend - play there. For the Indians - besides Bob Feller, there were Earl Averill in center field and Willie Kamm at third base.
While I haven’t been inside the Cleveland Indian’s fairly new and beautiful - Jacobs Field, I have seen it from the outside My friends, Kathleen and Grady Dorsey drove me all around downtown Cleveland - including “The Flats”, when I was visiting Berea during one of my high school class reunions. I saw many changes from the days of 70 years earlier, when I lived in Berea.


I have seen many-many baseball game at the Oakland Coliseum, as I had a partial-season ticket for the Oakland Athletic games for about 15 years. I also saw an Oakland Raider’s football game in the Coliseum. I saw one game in the beautiful new waterfront -stadium in San Francisco, as well as many football and baseball game at the old Candlestick Point stadium, South of San Francisco. Before this, I even saw San Francisco - 49’er games at Kezar Stadium in Golden Gate Park.
I saw the Minnesota Twins play baseball in the old Metropolitan Stadium, in Bloomington. I used to stay at the Marriott Hotel which was adjacent to the ball park, and an easy walk I also saw the Twins play in their newer -covered Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis. Then, I stayed at a hotel close by where I could still walk to the park.
I have attended events in both Soldier Field on Lake Michigan in Chicago, the Los Angeles Coliseum, and the Army-Navy game in Philadelphia’s Memorial stadium. It was the fall of 1943, and I had just returned from flying 50 missions in North Africa. I was stationed at Atlantic City for R & R. They gave us tickets to the game, so we rode the train over to Philadelphia and back to Atlantic City. I attended a professional basketball game in the Kingdome in Seattle.
I have seen the Angels play in their stadium in Anaheim - next to Disneyland. I have seen these facilities from the outside:-Fenway Park, in Boston; Busch Stadium in St. Louis and Coors Field in Denver.
RCL - 5/22/07; rev. - 6/5/07.

Ferry Trip

FERRY BUILDING
Friday, July 20, 2007.
Today, Mary, Joan and Manny, Sue, and Marie and I had a great outing. We met at the Vallejo ferry Terminal, and took the ten A.M. ferry into San Francisco. We pushed back from the dock right on time, and headed South to San Francisco - some 25 miles away. The trip used to take 50 minutes, which was 10 minutes faster than the first ferry put in service about ten years ago. Due to increased fuel costs, they have slowed the boat down, and now it takes an hour - just like it used to.
This is a catamaran- type ferry (twin hulls), and gets its high speed by hydroplaning over the water. It gives a smoother ride, too. Our boat is named “Solano” - after our county. The capacity is about 300 passengers. I asked one of the crew how many were aboard and he said 200. I also asked him what the “break-even” number was. He said that he didn’t know, but he was sure that someone in management had calculated it.
We cruise along the Mare Island channel at five knots, in order to minimize any wake damage along the nearby shores. Have a close-up view of the eastern waterfront of Mare Island. It is a smooth ride. It is a little windy, but no whitecaps. We are sitting in the front row, so have a good view ahead. Can see the sun bouncing off the cars crossing on the Coquinas bridge. In the distance I can see Mt. Mamalis. I can see the oil tankers at the pier of Phillips Petroleum in Rodeo, and the refinery in the distance. We pass beneath the Richmond-San Rafael bridge (Highway 580). As we pass South of Angel Island, I can see both the San Francisco- Oakland Bay Bridge, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. We arrive at the Ferry Building dock at 11 o’clock - right on time. Most of the passengers stayed on board, as the ferry would go up to Fisherman’s Wharf/ Pier 39, before returning to Vallejo.
We split up and browse among the many nice shops inside the terminal. The terminal survived the big earthquake of 1906. It was a busy place before the Bay bridge was completed in 1937. The only way to get to San Francisco back then (other than a long circuitous route over land) was by ferry.
We met for lunch together - what a great invention - the cell phone! Then we sat on the waterfront for about an hour and ” people watched” until our ferry came in for our 3:30 return to Vallejo. Our return trip on the “Mare Island” was uneventful, and we saw the same scenery that we saw coming down. It was a beautiful day, and I hated to see the end of our delightful day jaunt.