SoCal Bill McDonald

Since moving to SoCal in 2012, I’ve joined Boston College classmates each year for a BC football game in Chestnut Hill or on the road, except for the initial COVID year of 2020. All the trips have included visits to family and friends in the Boston area and on Cape Cod. So, did it again in mid-September for the BC-Michigan State football game on September 21.

A wrinkle this time was visiting daughter Julia and son-in-law Sam in their new home in Arlington, Va. I had seen them the previous two years when they lived in Ypsilanti, Mich. For whatever reason, getting from San Diego to Washington, D.C., ain’t easy. Well, it isn’t difficult, just inconvenient.

The airlines I fly, for ease of visiting my friends and kids, are JetBlue and Delta. Neither airline offers a non-stop to DC from San Diego. Delta has a stop in Detroit and JetBlue has a stop and change of plane in Boston. ?? I took the redeye on JetBlue to Boston and an early flight from there to Reagan Airport. I realized soon after I arrived that I had never flown into that airport. I had always previously flown into Dulles, which is much farther from the city. Reagan is very convenient to the city and to Arlington. 

As Julia and Sam had just moved in and their condo is small, I stayed with friends. Pat and Tom Sugrue are close friends and live in Alexandria, close to Arlington. It was “interesting” that my room in the Sugrues’ townhouse was on the fourth floor and Julia and Sam live in a fourth-floor walkup. During the three-plus days I visited, I set personal records each day in “flights climbed,” all in the mid-20s.

I had mentioned to Julia earlier that I was interested in seeing a new monument in DC. I had seen a feature about the National World War I Memorial on CBS Sunday Morning. It opened earlier in the fall, the most recent memorial and one commemorating US participation in a war more than 100 years ago. It’s a dramatic 58-foot long relief sculpture located in Pershing Park, dedicated to the US general who led American troops in the war.

The artist who created it said he wanted it to be realistic, as opposed to the more abstract memorials marking other conflicts. He said he wanted people to view and sense the mud, blood, and passion of the experience. The sculpture is called “A Soldier’s Journey” and shows different facets of the conflict and the diverse group of American soldiers who fought in it.

Here is a video of the dynamic sculpture (34 seconds). (Sorry for the occasional photo-bombing finger.)

On our walk to the Metro to visit that first day, we passed the Marine Corps War Memorial, with its iconic sculpture of the flag-raising on Iwo Jima.

On my second day, Julia and I visited Mount Vernon, the mansion and expansive grounds occupied by George and Martha Washington, and many others, on the shores of the Potomac River just south of DC.  While a national historic site, it does not have that status officially. The site is managed by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, the same group that purchased it in 1854 following decades of its decline. Both Virginia and the US Congress had declined to preserve the site. It is sustained now by admission fees and donations.

Reportedly, George Washington said he could not think of a better location for a home and farm. It’s pretty nice.

I left DC Friday morning, the day before the football game. Taking off, I realized we were flying close over the Pentagon and took a photo.

Julia was tracking my flight on Flight Aware, an app that lets you track flights in near real time. She saw that it was to fly over her location, looked out, and took a picture of the plane I was on as it passed overhead. I don’t think that has ever happened before with us.

The earlier flight from Boston to DC had been mostly over the ocean. Because of weather conditions, I believe, the flight to Boston was much closer to the shore. I noted when we passed over Baltimore harbor and was struck by seeing its broken bridge in real life.

Not long after, I glanced out the window and saw a dark colored rectangle below amidst the clouds. Central Park?

Indeed it was. And it’s the photo at the top of this post.

Once in Boston I began my traditional bus, T, commuter rail journey to South Acton, adjacent to the Acton home of Marcy Kenah, my home base for the next several days.  That afternoon, I joined Marcy, the Sugrues, Debbie and Ken Hamberg, Shelia and Dan Downey,  Jackie Hewitt, and Ed Hattauer for a wonderful dinner and get-together.

The weather forecast for Saturday’s game, which was to begin at 8 pm, was not good. The previous year, the same group had been at West Point for the game with Army. It rained, often heavily, all day. We all got soaked and most of us left at halftime to return to the hotel on base to watch the game on television.

The group gathered that afternoon at Debbie and Ken’s condo on Commonwealth Avenue, near Kenmore Square, to lunch, watch afternoon games, and prepare for travel to Alumni Stadium. There was constant attention to weather forecasts, which varied from rain ending by game time to rain throughout.

The Acton contingent of Marcy, the Sugrues, and me ultimately chose not to attend the game, but to return to Acton to watch the game in a warm, dry living room. The others braved the elements and attended the game, with varying degrees of satisfaction. BC did, however, come back to beat Michigan State and the vibe of the crowd in the stadium was electric.

Sunday was the start of my visitation phase, aiming first for a visit to Plum Island and the cottage there of my cousin, Kathy Gagne McNanamy. I had made a reservation at the nearby Avis location in Maynard for an inexpensive subcompact car. When Marcy dropped me off, I saw that there were many more cars there than usual.

The young man who was manning the site said that because of so many cars he needed them to move fast and I could have any car in the lot at no extra cost. I looked around and, for the third year in a row, I was able to drive out in a pickup. The previous two had been Toyota Tacomas. This one was a Ford 15o XLT. Nice truck!

It was a wonderful afternoon and evening with Kathy, highlighted by a meal of lobster and sides, and the presence of Maureen and Tony Raymond. I had worked with Maureen at BC, where Tony also worked. Soon after starting work at BC in 2000, I had learned from Kathy that one of her sons had married the daughter of Maureen and Tony. At that point, I went to Maureen’s office and said, “I think we’re almost related.” And our relationship has been closer ever since.

Monday was the trek to the Cape, where I met up with Susan and Reid Oslin, my hosts at their home in West Dennis. That evening, we joined Karen and Richard Sullivan at the annual dinner occasioned by my annual visit. And I split the next morning just “visiting” with the Oslins and later with the Sullivans at their home in Mashpee.

As an indicator of this stage of my life and the lives of my contemporaries, I was sadly unable to meet with two other friends because of their health issues.

Back up in Boston, I visited with Tom Burke and then went to the BC campus. Because of the size of my truck :), I was again unable to use the campus parking garages. Visiting with our alumni liaison, Dara Garrison, at the Cadigan Center on the Brighton Campus, I was able to use a visitor parking space for the day.

Several other people at Alumni stopped to say hello, including Mark Benjamin, whom I had not seen in years. Mark and I had a pleasant reminiscence.  Later, I had the chance to meet briefly with Bob Capalbo and also chatted with Lee Pellegrini, with whom I worked closely for many years.

On my final full day, I had the chance to see Leo DeNatale, old friend and best man at my wedding, and Nate Kenyon at the Law School. Spent much of the afternoon with Margaret Evans and Rob Sternstein, two very lively and lovely friends.

Back home, it was nice to be able to stay in one place for a while. I look forward very much to next year’s journey and the BC-Notre Dame game in Chestnut Hill! We also expect to have some “reverse action,” with classmates and friends coming West when the Eagles play Stanford.

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.