Billy went on the first trip on 2017 on Sunday May 28th. Eileen wanted to eat out, and Ellen wanted to see Gene Casey & the Lone Sharks, after Billy helped with the truck cleanup, they headed out to their place on the East End, Greenport. This time they would be going to Billy’s on the Bay, just east of the Village on a street called Manhanset Avenue and down the street from Porto Bello, where they ate last year. They left Islip at around 2:00 and arrived there shortly before 3:00. Several others had the same idea of eating at Billy’s on the Bay and there was a wait for a table. So while the ladies waited just outside, Billy waited inside and watched the TV’s over the bar to enjoy some college baseball and softball games. After around 30 minutes a table was ready. He ordered shrimp & corn chowder (something new) and a fried flounder entrée; the ladies ordered the same appetizer but each had lobster rolls as their main course. Billy also got to try a new local beer called Eastern Front. Since it was a bit crowded, the ladies did not want to go to the band stand, but Billy did and was able to take some photos. But they did get to hear the Lone Sharks when they were eating, and recognized most of the songs that they played. The only downer was that it was very loud with all the talking inside. They headed home around 5:30. And since Eileen wanted to get home, did not stop in Greenport Village or at a winery this time.
On July 14, Billy, Ellen and Eileen left for a family reunion of his relatives on his mom’s side. Like in 2002, it was being held at the Sky Top Lodge in the Pennsylvania Poconos. After a fairly long ride made slower by slowpokes and a car breaking down on Interstate 84, they arrived at around 6 PM to check in, change, and enjoy dinner with the other relatives. On the agenda for the evening was a get together in a ballroom, where his surviving aunts and uncles introduced themselves, their kids, and then their grandkids. When it was Billy’s turn, since he is the last one standing, he got up to say hello, and introduce Ellen and Eileen to his relatives. After a nice evening in the ballroom, everyone headed to the rooms for a decent night’s sleep. On Saturday morning, Billy joined several of his cousins for a scavenger hunt, and it took them around the grounds looking for pre-determined things. His team won (naturally). Then after lunch, he went to his room to watch television until 2:45 when he met Ellen and Eileen at the Activity Concierge and they headed to the Butterfly House on the grounds. The house contains Monarch and Painted Lady butterflies, and a couple of moths. This house is nowhere as big as the one at the Bronx Zoo, but they all had a great time anyway. After the visit to the butterfly house, they walked back to the lodge, where Billy stopped in the gift store to treat himself to a Sky Top Lodge cap. Later, dinner included foods he would never have at home: king crab, macaroni & cheese, and dark meat chicken. After dinner it was Casino in the Laurel Ballroom where he, Ellen and Eileen played bingo (Billy won 3 of the 4 games). He then played black jack and came out ahead $10. With the next day being Sunday, Billy went to the 8 AM Mass at the Most Holy Trinity parish, which holds its Masses in the Monsignor McHugh High School gymnasium about 10 miles south on Route 390 from the Lodge. When he got back he joined the family for breakfast and then they had family pictures, including one taken from a drone. Next were the family Olympics. One of the events was “Simon Says” but when one of the tasks was to crawl on the floor, he knew he could not do it: if he got onto his knees I would not be able to get up unaided since his back was still hurting. But he got to take pix of the Potato Sack races, and he was in a video of the three-legged race. The afternoon activities consisted of creating arts & crafts type butterflies, doing modern art using a water pistol, and going up to the observation above the 5th floor. When he got back to his room (#243), he saw a bottle of California Merlot on the night table and wondered what it could be for. It turns out that it was for Room 343 as an anniversary gift. He could not think of drinking it since it was not his. He brought it down to the concierge, and told them that it was brought to the wrong room. Later there was a new bottle of California Merlot on the nightstand with a card from the management thanking me for being honest. Later in the evening the aunts and uncles told stories of Billy’s grandparents, and what it was like to be their offspring. They left Sky Top at around 10:40 on Monday the 17th going non-stop except for a pit stop near Fishkill for gas. They arrived home at around 2:30. All 3 said it was a great trip and hopefully they will the next reunion there as well.
On August 30, Billy got a chance to join Ellen and Eileen when they headed out to the North Fork with Ellen’s former coworkers from Red Cross, Bill & Ellen (resulting in two pairs of Bill’s & Ellen’s). But before they headed out east, Billy would have to pick up the friends at the LIRR station at around 10:40. They headed out at around 11:00, using the two cars, since it would be a bit cramped in the Accord with five people. The first stop was Wickham Farm in Cutchogue. Here Billy did not buy anything, but Ellen picked up some fruits and vegetables. Everyone wanted to visit a winery called Coffee Pot Cellars but it is closed on Wednesdays. So they went back onto Main Road and decided to stop at the first one we saw on the south side of the road. That turned out to be Raphael Winery in Peconic, one that they had never visited before. The build8ing looked like an Italian villa, and when they went inside, was even more impressive. The winery have an arrangement where for $16 or $20, depending on the types of wine, customers sample 4 different wines. Ellen and Billy decided to try sweet whites (the other Ellen and Bill did not wish to try any). The selection considered of a Riesling, a rose called La Tuvola, and two port wines. Ellen liked the La Tuvola the best so that is what they purchased. Then it was on to Greenport and lunch at Claudio’s. Billy opted for New England Clam Chowder and an oyster po’ boy, washed down with iced tea. Then the 5 of them walked around the village, stopping in shops like Preston’s and Sweet Indulgences. Pictures were taken at Sweet Indulgences, but no one bought anything in any of the shops. Then it off to Lavender by the Bay in neighboring East Marion. Billy and Ellen still have stuff from last year, so like in Greenport, nobody bought anything this time. And since pies were on everyone’s mind, they then headed west to Briermere Farms in Riverhead. Bill I opted for a rhubarb pie, and my Ellen got some tomatoes and a pack of cookies (for Eileen). Then it was time to head back home to Islip.
Over the Columbus Day weekend Billy joined 10 other Engine 2 members for an overnight trip to Atlantic City. They left Islip on the 7th at around 10 AM and got to Atlantic City around 2 PM. On the Brooklyn Queens Expressway they got to go across the new Kosciusko Bridge, and then went through Williamsburg, and most of the North 6th Street Prepsters would not know the ‘hood today. The NYPD gave them a helicopter escort along the Gowanus Expressway and over the Verrazano Bridge. After they checked in at the Borgata (Billy got room #606, next door to where he stayed in last year), he took the jitney to the downtown so he could walk the Boardwalk. Billy got off at Michigan & Pacific Avenues and walked to Park Place, past Bally’s Park Place and the Claridge and onto the Boardwalk. On the Boardwalk he took photos, and checked out the numerous shops (later treating himself to a New York Giants cap for $10.00), and Ripley’s Believe It or Not, the Surf Shop in Margaritaville and then kept walking to the Steel Pier where he took more photos of the hotels. While on the Boardwalk he took time to photograph the Police & Fire Memorial, and the 9-11 Memorial, located at the foot of Tennessee Avenue and then on to the New Jersey Korean War Memorial at the foot of Park Place, taking several pix there. Then he walked over to Indiana & Pacific Avenues and took the jitney back to the Borgata, where he changed to a collared shirt, black shoes, and dockers for dinner at the Homestead. Billy ordered a rack of lamb, something he can’t make at home, and sweetened his stomach with ice cream, and then headed back to Room 606 to relax and watch TV (mainly college football and later the Dodgers-Diamondbacks game). On Sunday the 8th, Billy was up early from habit and after a shower and watching TV, he joined other company members at the Borgata Buffet for breakfast: scrambled eggs, bacon, and creamed chipped beef (something he never would make at home). Then the Company learned that the bus company messed up by thinking that they were in Islip and not Atlantic City. So bus was very late in coming to pick them up, to the point that they had to clear out of 2 of the 3 rooms that they booked, and headed to #2453 the one room they paid to stay in longer. They finally started to head home at 2:20, and listened to the Giants-Chargers game to see where they would be when the game was over. The company officers even told the driver to take the Goethals Bridge or any other bridge or tunnel besides the George Washington Bridge. But he took the GWB anyway, and they got into Bergen County when the game let out (which the Giants lost thanks to a turnover) and they crawled to the GWB. Several members were really pissed off. But once on Interstate 295, they moved quickly and arrived back at the firehouse at around 8. Ellen came to pick Billy up and they went to have dinner at Koi Kokoro, around the corner on Main Street. Overall, Billy said that he had a good time, the bus mess on Sunday notwithstanding.