jean's last trip to
rhode island occurred back in 1984-ish, when she accompanied
several indianapolis army/rugby guys in a recreational vehicle bound for
the boston marathon.
..along the way, we stopped at
jean's house in
pennsylvania, where the boys met
jean's parents.
..as i remember,
jean actually
drove the r.v. up the hill into her driveway.
jean & the guys in the martineau kitchen. ..left to right, standing: kevin, bob, denny, boz
sitting: jean, steve, tim, chris
(i took the picture)
she took the boys out that night to
the one watering hole in the county, which was packed with people.
..when the d.j. made the mistake of playing
john cougar mellencamp's "
jack & diane" -- all hell broke loose!!
..the locals probably weren't ready for
indiana's idea of "
chippendales," as the boys were dancing on tables in strategic locations, all around the bar.
..needless to say,
jean was the talk of the town as we made our getaway toward
rhode island, the following day.
left:
jean, dancing
instead of going straight to
boston, we stopped at
the university of rhode island, where we partied the night away and added three more people to our traveling crew.
..the following afternoon, after locating those who were "
missing in action," we hit
al & jo's house for some
pre-marathon meatball sandwiches and
pabst blue ribbon beer.
above: jean & boz.......................................... don't try this at home
anywaaaaay... that night, we got a hotel near
boston, and we parked the r.v. outside.
..it was
the night before the marathon, and we proceeded to take
the "t" into
beantown.
..apparently,
boston wasn't ready for our antics, and we got thrown out of a couple of bars, including the last one (when we crashed a private party at 3 a.m.).
...yes, on
the morning of the boston marathon.
above, jean & steve
....................................below, left to right: kevin, jack
............
the race start-time came too quickly, and (who would have guessed this) it was
raining.
..only five of us attempted the race, and we used
cut out garbage bags as
running-ponchos.
jack hit the wall after about 15 miles, and had to be taken to the finish area by the medics.
..i got a
charliehorse on
heartbreak hill (mile 22-ish), and i'd probably still be there if one of my former
u.r.i. nursing students didn't recognize me and provide a much needed leg massage.
as i jogged/walked toward mile 25, i saw my buddy
kevin,
completely disoriented,
walking in the opposite direction of the race!
kevin & i stepped into a convenience store, got a cup of coffee and a candy bar, and then went back out to finish the marathon.
yeah, so it took us
more than five hours.
..yeah, so we didn't win.
..but i doubt that anybody who finished before us had been
dancing and chugging drafties while standing on his head just a few hours prior to racetime.
yes.
..we lost our damage deposit on the r.v.
oh well.
..for whatever reason, uh...
jean, i don't think we can match that trip.
:)_________________________________ outtakes________________
left:
denny, trying to attract women on
the "t" which is
boston's version of an above ground subway.
..huh?
above: my buddy and fraternity brother (
bob) met his future wife (
ann) that night (
on the "t").
..25 years later, they are married, with great kids, and living outside of
boston.
below: lenny & jean finish a 10-k at purdue university
below:
denny (
not lenny)
and "the boz" meeting the local ladies on
the "t" on the way to
boston.
..denny is seen here, making a friend and nibbling on her shoe.
..later that evening, the courting ritual included
drinking beer out of her shoe.
below: rugby players singing rugby songs
one more time: friends don't let friends play rugby
:)
