SoCal Bill McDonald

Phase 3 of the trip “back east” this year went a little west. I left Boston for Detroit on October 12. Dillon picked me up and we rode to nearby Ypsilanti, to Julia’s and Sam’s house.

They were grieving. I had been aware of the failing condition of Juno, the chihuahua they “inherited” when it was already elderly, but only on arrival found out Juno had been euthanized that afternoon at the house. We reminisced about Juno and paid attention to Tarski, their toy poodle.

Tarski talking

While the primary reason for the visit was simply to see my daughter, son-in-law, and son, there was an add-on reason that was just happenstance. In 2022, I had interacted with a member of our BC alumni chapter at a gamewatch. I learned that she was from Michigan and her kids attended the university. She added that she had season tickets to Michigan football games and sometimes not all of them were used.

I realized that during my visit, Michigan was to play Indiana in the Big House, the stadium on campus. I contacted the fellow BC grad who said she had just learned from her son that he would not be using two of the tickets for that game. I was able to purchase the tickets for Dillon and me. For some reason, Dillon was a big Michigan football fan when he was a kid. For both of us, this would be an exciting experience.

Here’s an aerial photo of the stadium and its surroundings.

Of course, it was going to rain. This radar image showed the weather for southeastern Michigan on October 14.

Julia and Sam dropped us off and we joined the many thousands heading toward the stadium. (Michigan Stadium is the largest college stadium in the country. Its official capacity is 107,601.)

I remember another Michigan native telling me about her daughter, raised in the state and an attendee at Wolverine games. She’s now a student at Stanford and she tells her mother about attending Cardinal football games, “It’s just not the same!” Wolverine fans are pretty intense. They all seem to know the songs, the cheers, when to pump their fist, etc.

Gotta admit, this is a great college fight song. (22-second video)

The Wolverines actually started a bit slow in this game. Indiana scored first and dominated the first quarter, outgaining Michigan substantially. Halftime score was 21-7 Michigan, however, and the final score was 52-7.

And when you have 100,000 people in the stands, you need a big band. Michigan has a big band. The halftime show was extensive and featured something of a “horse race.” The band formed two ovals, one inside the other. A hundred and more of what I assume were kids, dressed in horse costumes, ran into the stadium. Most of them frolicked in the center of the oval and some, carrying flags representing the schools in the Big Ten, raced inside the “race track.”

The “race,” of course, was fixed. Finishing first, in what I assume is always the result, was the “horse” representing Michigan. And finishing far behind, indeed last, was the “horse” representing Ohio State.

Check it out.

For the second week in a row, I didn’t see the second half of a football game, at least not in person. Dillon agreed it was wise to head home and watch the rest of the game on television.

While waiting in downtown Ann Arbor for Julia and Sam to pick us up, I came across this striking tree in the courtyard of a university building.

Sunday, we visited one of the stores in the Zingerman’s empire for breakfast. The “Zingerman’s Community of Businesses” is a collection of establishments in the Ann Arbor area each offering a food specialty. It started in 1982 with Zingerman’s Delicatessan, where Julia and I got sandwiches during my visit in 2022. Boy, is it good!

Julia also showed me her new hobby, which may be a retro hobby coming back into vogue. Remember macramé? Here’s just a few of her output.

She’s also expanding their garden and zinnias are a new addition.

Later, we visited downtown Ypsilanti and some of the unusual stores. There was also a bar that seemed to bring us back several decades.

Spent some time at Dillon’s apartment nearby.

And met his cat, Molly.

Monday, it was off to San Diego and home.

The annual gathering of the Sutherland Road gang (Boston College students who lived at 12 Sutherland Road, Brighton, during junior and senior years), their spouses/partners, and me centered on West Point, N.Y., this fall. BC football was to play Army at the historic and picturesque military academy on October 6.

The red-eye from San Diego to Boston was supposed to be quick and calm. It was quick, but also turbulent. No sleep. At one point in the flight, according to the app FlightAware, the plane was flying at 648 miles an hour. We got into Logan Airport before dawn and, even after taking a bus and subway ride, I arrived at North Station for my commuter rail ride before Dunkin’ Donuts was open.

I took the train to Winchester where Ed Hattauer picked me up and brought me to the beautiful home he and Jackie Hewitt share. Caught up with some sleep in preparation for our drive the next day to West Point.

We arrived at West Point Friday afternoon and took our rooms at the Thayer Hotel, located on the post. We had reserved rooms in the hotel’s “executive wing,” a newer addition to the almost century-old hotel. Mine was called a “suite,” but it was a spacious single room. Ken and Debbie Hamberg did have a three-room suite, which was a welcome respite at times.

Some views of my room and the hotel.

The weather forecast for Friday evening and Saturday was for rain, sometimes heavy. We all (except for Pat Sugrue, who wisely deferred from getting wet) had what we thought was waterproof gear. I even had “waterproof socks.” Before starting the mile-long, uphill walk to the stadium, we had a group photo taken in the hotel lobby.

On the walk, we passed a small area for tailgaters with an interesting sign. Not a temporary sign, a permanent one. I approached the tailgaters near the sign and said I wanted to take a picture. They said sure. As I left, I said, “Retired Navy.” Their response, “We welcome all.”

There was a section of the stadium that was under cover. That’s not where our seats were. Our seats were in the uncovered endzone. But several of the group stayed under cover standing among the many others also seeking shelter. The Hambergs and I went to our seats. After all, we had “waterproof” clothing. Here’s a brief video (9 seconds) of the view from our seats.

Two San Diego friends had said earlier they might be attending the game. While at the game, I received a text that they were sitting in the endzone. I got up and looked for them. With everyone bundled in raingear, it was more than difficult to identify individuals. As I stood near the field looking up into the endzone stands, suddenly a figure stood and waved. I approached and it was Lori Mahler! And I then joined her, Joe Mahler, and their daughter Caitlin, who lives in New York City. (Lori said she had noticed some guy just looking up into the stands and then realized it was me.)

As halftime came, we agreed that it was smarter to return to the hotel and watch the remainder of the game on tv. All but two of the original group did the same. Two had found seats under cover when the previous seatholders left and saw the game through. The Mahlers and I joined the group sheltering in the Hamberg’s suite. (By the way, the Eagles dominated the first half and led 13-3 when we left. Watching on tv was initially discouraging, as the Black Knights came back and took the lead in the final quarter. BC scored a touchdown with 25 seconds left and won 27-24.)

All of us who returned to the hotel were soaked. The “waterproof” gear simply couldn’t be completely effective for hours in steady, often heavy, rain. As I had brought only two changes of clothing to the hotel and only one pair of shoes, I went to dinner in the hotel dressed in a teeshirt and jeans and wearing socks.

Before getting to the hotel, I had gone on its website to check out amenities, etc. I saw that the hotel gave a 20 percent discount on dining to members of the “military.” As mentioned earlier, I’m “retired Navy.” I didn’t know if the discount applied only for active duty military. If I qualified, I wanted to figure out how to finesse the discount for maximum benefit of the group.  Like maybe I would order the wine. I asked at the desk before we went to dinner Friday night (I was better dressed then). What I learned was a pleasant surprise.

I was advised that, when the final check came, I show my ID. The server would then apply the discount to the entire bill. To everyone, and for everything. Nice! I put everything on my card and, at the end of the weekend, Pat Sugrue was kind enough to figure it all out and assign what each person owed. Our teetotalers were not included in the liquor and wine charges.

Our first stop on the ride home was the nearest Tesla charger. Jackie’s Tesla had gone the 216 miles from Winchester to West Point without an additional charge, but needed one to get all the way back. Ed came up with a pleasant musical “game” to play during much of the four-hour ride. Connecting his iPhone to the car’s audio system, he would search for songs on Apple Music. Each of us in rotation would recommend a song and share context for choosing those particular songs.

Monday began phase 2 of the trip, which was visits to friends and family on the Cape and in the Boston area. As I finally got through a somewhat long line at Avis in Cambridge to pick up my rental, it was deja vu all over again. As had happened last year at the Avis office in Maynard, the only vehicles available for me to rent were a minivan and a pickup. Oh yeah!

First stop was Harwich Port, where I had lunch with BC classmate and USS Biddle shipmate Steve Curran and his wife, Kathie, at Brax Landing. Then a visit with high school classmate Susan Hartley Mantoni, where we had a great chat. Next was the Oslins home in Dennis, where I was to stay overnight. Reid drove Susan and me in his new Jeep to dinner with BC classmate and friend since grammar school Richard Sullivan and wife, Karen.

Next day, drove to Wood’s Hole to meet my sister, Ann, who had come over from Martha’s Vineyard to share lunch. We went to a restaurant right near the ferry landing. When I visited the restroom, I noted the sign identifying the area for restrooms.

Back in the Boston area, I spent the next day-and-a-half visiting friends. Started at BC, where my truck was too high to use any of the parking garages on campus. I had intended to meet with Dara Garrison, liaison to our alumni chapter in San Diego, so I called and asked if I might also use a parking space in front of Cadigan Alumni Center. She said sure.

When I went to the reception desk at Cadigan, I recognized the receptionist and she recognized me, as did another woman standing nearby. I had left work in that department 12 years earlier and hadn’t really been in that office since. Then other people walking by recognized me and came by to say hello.

Sitting with Dara in the atrium, several more people stopped and came over to say hello. Laughing, Dara said the next time I was to meet with her there, she would send a blast email out to the building to let people know. At one point, I noticed in the corner of my eye a woman standing and staring. I looked over and it was Kate Heusner, a friend who had been in the alumni chapter in San Diego, and had recently taken a job at BC and moved to the area. A pleasant surprise.

Later that day, I met with Maureen Raymond, Bob Capalbo, and Lee Pellegrini, all former colleagues. I first worked with Lee at BC in the early 1980s. Closed the day with Margaret Evans and husband, Rob Sternstein, for dinner at a Brookline spot. Busy, but nice day.

Phase 2 of the trip ended the next morning. After meeting with Leo deNatale, former roommate and best man at my 1978 wedding, for coffee and reminiscing, I took the truck to Logan and began the trip west. Not all the way, just to Michigan.