An Ernest Hemingway Day

What is an Ernest Hemingway Day? It's one that turns out better than you expect or hope for and has lots of fun, adventure, and little or no unpleasantness. I guess it's the kind of day ol' Ernie would approve of and I think he would have approved of the one we had a couple of weeks or so ago. While it did not involve bullfighting, it did involve the manly American sport of football, along with much drinking and camaraderie.

Michelle has a younger brother who has two kids named Joe and Melissa. Joe has been playing football since he was in Junior High School. He has played all the way through High School and for four years of college. The particular day in question was the last game of his Senior year at Franklin and Marshall College and effectively his last football game ever. To make a long story short, they won. They won against a team, Gettysburg College, who was favored to beat them. F&M won 56-38.

Since Gettysburg had made a field goal early on in the game, that meant that Joe's team won by three touchdowns - and in the fourth quarter no less.

And that was just the start of the day's fun.

(For readers who are football fans, a detailed description of the game can be found at the F & M football site here: http://godiplomats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/111007aac.html )

Michelle, Sue (Joe's mom), Joe, his dad, and yours truly on the field before the game. They had a nice ceremony for the seniors and their families. I kind of like the Dorothy Parker hat Michelle wore that day.

After cheering ourselves hoarse right through to the last second of the fourth quarter, we repaired to the parking area (set aside especially for team parents) and commenced partying while we awaited our "conquering hero". Since it was the last game of the season and the last game for the seniors period, the parents went all out. People had feasts catered by fancy New York City delis, whole turkeys, filet mignon, whole wheels of Brie, gourmet cupcakes from "Crumbs" (an upscale New York bakery) etc. etc. It also goes without saying that the booze was flowing pretty heavily too.

Well, among all the gourmet excess our girl Michelle brought along three big racks of Costco spareribs that she had slow cooked the night before and which we reheated on her brother's portable propane grill. They were the hit of the of the party. People we didn't know kept coming by and mooching ribs from us. When Joe arrived from the locker room he tucked into a plate and declared them delicious. His buddy "Sparks" declared them the best ribs he ever ate. Michelle was happy.

The tailgate festivities went on until well past dark with music and dancing and fire pits, and proud parents and siblings crowded around the players, shots of tequila and Captain Morgan's drunk to the victory and everyone generally enjoying themselves. Finally, however, it was time to take a break and go check into our hotel. And what a hotel!

We were booked into a place around the corner from the college called the "Lancaster Arts Hotel" (http://www.lancasterartshotel.com/). It was probably one of the best hotels we've stayed at in a long time. It occupies what was once a tobacco warehouse that has been been completely redone into an amazing contemporary hotel while retaining the original brick walls and wood floors. It is what Michelle describes as a "boutique" hotel - if you've ever watched the show on the Travel Channel with the young woman named Samantha, it's the type of place she often stays at for her show. Anyway, the bed was extremely comfortable, there was a wall-mounted flat screen TV, modernistic track lighting and many other neat touches.

However, after a short bit of recuperation at our hotel, it was time to continue the celebration. This was to be at the official student "dive" of the F&M football team: a bar called "Hildy's". This was a short walk from our hotel (from here on no cars were involved due to the anticipated alcohol consumption).

At Hildy's we met up with Joe and his buddies and some of the other parents. There we consumed serious quantities of beer by the pitcher and again did numerous shots. I felt like it was forty years ago and I was back at old Stevens Tech in Hoboken.

Next, we were informed that we were invited to a frat party hosted by Joe's fraternity (he is the chapter president) and found ourselves in a small apartment in a converted loft with about a bazillion dancing and drinking students and a live band crammed into a minimal space along with numerous kegs of beer. After a while though, us old farts were getting worn out and decided to call it a night. Joe ran blocking for us through the impenetrable crowd (always useful to have a nose tackle along) and we made our way back to the hotel.

The next day we dragged our hung over bodies out of bed and headed home to Jersey.

Like I said: an Ernest Hemingway Day.