Red Hatters September 2018

RED HATTERS FOR SEPTEMBER 2018

Well summer is officially over and we are on our way into the cooler fall season.

September 6^th and we were heading for jail. Yes that is right; we were off to have lunch at the jail in Concord Ma.

This is a trip we have done for many years and it is always fun.

The culinary department of the Concord Jail has a small lunch area outside of the jail complex, where the staff and convicted men cook, serve, and clean up from the outstanding lunch they provide for a limited amount of people in a limited amount of time.

Lunch is served at 11:30. The rules are; no bags, cell phones or cameras allowed. A picture ID must be supplied; you must sign in and only have the cash necessary to pay for your meal, which is $3.21. We usually call ahead for our group, this trip we had 9 members going and the dining room is very limited.

Our meal today consisted of vegetable soup and salad, either eggplant parmesan sandwich with fries, or beef stroganoff with vegetables. The drinks were cold drinks and the dessert was fudge brownie or choc. Chip cookies (2 cookies). The food is always hot and good, as it was today.

We left the jail and decided to check out the five and ten cent store in West Concord. The weather was hot again but six of the members drove the five minutes, looked around the store and decided it was too hot to walk around town. One member indulged in an ice cream cone and we were on our way back home.

We had a good day and as we drove in the air conditioned car we were happy that we are Red Hatters.

On September 16 it was the Old Timers Baseball Game in Newbury. This was also a trip we have been doing annually and another fun time. We bring our own chairs to sit close up to the playing field and cheer for whatever teams are playing.

The game is played with the 1864 rules of the game. The distance for the pitchers, who throw underhand, is 45 feet from home base, (as opposed to the 60 feet, 6 inches distance today)

Players are in knickers and use no gloves. There is only one umpire who decision is final; and there is no arguing a call. If he feels the pitcher is not delivering fair pitches to the batter he could warn the pitcher and if the pitcher continued to throw bad pitches the umpire can call the pitches balls. An out can be called if the ball is caught on the first bound, or on the fly.

Due to some of our members having senior medical issues only three members attended this outing. We watched Lowell and Lynn battle it out for a double header where Lynn took both games. This was not the reason we came; we cheer for both sides, and with only three of us we cheered for our entire group. It really was a wonderful day, weather wise and other wise.

After having hot dogs at the intermission of the ball games, we had our lunch on the way home at the 466 restaurant in Topsfield. This is always a good spot for a variety of foods. Once more we shouted and laughed and just enjoyed another great Red Hat day outdoors.

September 24^th we planned a sightseeing trip on the Charles River. Some of our members had done this trip some years ago but we thought while the weather was with us; why not again!

Well the weather was a bit cold and gray but that was only a minor issue. We all wore sweat shirts and jackets and had a really great trip.

We boarded the boat at the Galleria in Cambridge for a 70 minute cruise around the Charles River Basin with historic sights pointed out by a very knowledgeable guide.

There is the Boston skyline and the famous Citgo sign. There are the great views of Cambridge and the historic places our guide pointed out. Beacon Hill, Esplanade Park, the Back Bay, and our famous colleges, Boston University, M.I.T and Harvard. It was a good 70 minutes on the Charles River followed by lunch.

Now our lunch today was at the Cheesecake Factory and of course it was also very good.

A real fall day on the river followed by good food, good friends, nothing is better than that.

So ends our September journeys but look for what we are up to in October.