You Don't Know What You've Got 'Til It's Gone

Certain things you just always assume are going to be there. We all know that's not a safe assumption, but it still came as a shock to me to learn that the Spot is closing at the end of September. It caused me to make a pilgrimage and take this photo, which is making me extremely hungry even as I type.

If you're a local as many of you gentle readers are, you remember the Spot when it stood on Market Square. Muggy hot Friday nights, my Dad would put us all in the car and we'd drive down and get a bag of one-e-ups (a word I've never seen in print before, so that's an approximation.) The guy would line the buns up his arm and make them assembly line style. None of us wanted the one the farthest up his arm. The car and then later our house would fill with the fragrance of chili dogs, and after we ate we would be allowed to sleep in the living room and watch Johnny Carson, another rare treat. We never stayed awake for more than the monologue, but that wasn't the point.

As I walked downtown towards the Spot, I couldn't help but think of other landmarks that are gone like the Canton Inn, which was the only Chinese restaurant I was ever in for many years, and Mike's Kwiki-Lunch, a/k/a Dirty Mike's, where I ate the majority of my meals while working at Bell of Pennsylvania (there's another one gone), most often grilled blueberry muffins or BLTs for breakfast and chili dogs or ham subs for lunch.

Nostalgia is powerfully tempting at times like this, on a warm summer night, making me wish we could pile back in the car and go to Sam's -- no, not the symbol of Corporate Evil and Greedy World Domination, but the absolute best ice cream place in town. When our car got close to Sam's, we'd get more and more excited until there it was, like the Gates of Paradise, only with more neon. Sam's was right next to the City Line Diner, where everybody went for eggs and home fries after a night on the town or playing gigs. In fact, for a short time you could play gigs in the basement of the City Line, and it was on one of them that I learned/stole The Gloria Joke.

Yes, so many great places and great cases of heartburn, only a memory now. What's the point? I guess gratitude is in order, to have lived long enough and in times prosperous enough to have had so many cool food places around. The neon is still on in my memory long after the buildings have been torn down to make room for banks and parking lots and other crap. For me, it becomes more important all the time as we get closer to the end of Summer and the end of other things to remember the advice of Warren Zevon:

Enjoy every sandwich.

Back in the Saddle Again

Apologies to those who have been checking for new posts. We came home from Portsmouth (reluctantly) and jumped right back into the slipstream, starting with singing Sunday night Mass. It was great to be back with our peeps again, Sean and Alex, praising the Lord on stringed instruments just like it says we should in the Bible (Tridentine-agers' opinions to the contrary notwithstanding).

Just Friends roared back to life at the Lawnton Legion Saturday night after our vacation break, and it was just like riding a bicycle: hard, sweaty work -- er, that is, it just came naturally. Really, we had a great time, and thanks to our family and friends who filled the place with love and dancing.

Sunday afternoon was a different kind of job for the band, playing at the Tall Cedars Muscular Dystrophy fundraiser and car show at the Colonial Park Mall. We nearly had the show stolen from us by a young man named Riley, who sang the National Anthem quietly and reverently, and in a way that gave new meaning to those familiar lyrics. When the words "the land of the free and the home of the brave" are coming from a child in a wheelchair who has muscular dystrophy, it makes you think twice about complaining about anything. We were honored to play for this fundraiser, and thank the event organizers for asking us to participate.

Next weekend, the band will be playing a private function, the 82 Airborne's convention at the Hilton on Friday and Saturday. Don't forget to mark your calendars for Saturday, August 24th, when Just Friends rocks the Verhovay. Cheap drinking, great people, huge French fry orders and Just Friends: what's not to love? Get there early if you want a table.

Just Friends is working on updating our e-mail list so as to keep you folks better informed of our whereabouts. Most of you who are readers of this blog have my e-mail, so contact me, or else go to www.justfriendsband.com and e-mail our very own Manager Jack. There's some interesting things on the horizon for the band.

Stay tuned for further news about the Just Friends New Year's celebration at the Sheraton Harrisburg-Hershey. We're getting excited about this and it's not even Labor Day yet. There's a real possibility this event will sell out even though it's in a large venue, so plan to attend now, and let us know so we can reserve tickets for you.

Quick Hello from Portsmouth

We are taking refuge in a coffee place called Me & Ollies where the temperature is not 95 and the Internet connection is better than our hotel. No pictures for now, but we've had an eventful stay so far. The local beers are kind of disappointing but we've seen two good musical acts already. The first was a guy and guitar named Peter Whitehead, playing at the Red Hook brewpub (a huge, noisy place). Think Rhyne McCormick but without the originals. Great voice. On the way out of the place I heard a band playing on the other side of a stand of trees, and we found ourselves on the patio of a Marriott Residence Inn with a band called Rhythm Method.

This connection is unreliable. I'll publish for now and report more later.

Cape Cod rocks

Sorry, couldn't resist the pun. Cape Cod rolls, too.

You will notice that there's a bite out of it. When the waitress put it in front of me I went temporarily insane and started eating before I realized I should have taken a photo. This is the best sandwich in the history of eating. Harwich, MA, I forget the name of the restaurant, but Joreen had the best cod sandwich she's ever had. We stumbled into this award winning place and had a blast.

The owner of the place we're staying is a fine arts photographer and inspired me and Joreen to go out and take pictures all over the place. This is not fine art, but it's just fine for me, for now. I really have to learn what all those icons on this camera are for.

We went to the Cape Cod National Shore, first stopping at the National Parking Shakedown Booth. It was worth it, because the scenery was beautiful.

Really beautiful. Ask Joreen to show you her seal photos. She was going all Animal Planet on me again.

I can only post five pics at a time, so the report on the Cape Cod baseball league will have to wait. All our vacations are great, because Joreen and I travel well together, but this one is just off the hook. It's Thursday morning, and I'm typing this to avoid packing the car and leaving. We're heading for Portsmouth, NH today. More later.