Villas, NJ: The ʻBreakfast with Daveʼ traveling Thursday morning soiree continued its summer Lower Cape May Regional alumni tour by visiting the Back Bay Bistro and Pizzeria on Bayshore Road in the Villas section of Lower Township, which is owned and operated by LCMR alumnus Sherri Hemingway. This eatery holds a little ʻBreakfast with Daveʼ history in that this was the site of the very first ʻBreakfast with Daveʼ nearly two years ago when it is was called Bella Mangiata, attended by charter members Dave Smith, Paul Mathis and Jim Colubiale. Sherri has just opened the new eatery this past July 4th weekend and the gang thought it would be a nice gesture to patronize a LCMR alumniʼs business. This time around, Doug “D” Letterman, Paul Mathis, Eddie Jurewicz, Jim Colubiale and Captain Bill Garrison were in attendance on this beautiful July summer morning. Bill Carr and John Wilsey sent their regrets for this week. Again, lifeguard Dave Smith was watching the waves and could not join in on the fun this week.
The Back Bay Bistro and Pizzeriaʼs menu offers all the basic ingredients for a great breakfast, such as eggs of any style as well as pancakes and french toast. An assortment of omelets rounds out the morning offerings along with a few specials, like a 2-2-2 breakfast of 2 eggs, 2 pancakes and 2 pieces of breakfast meat for $2.22 (before 9 AM) and a delicious Eggs Benedict for $6.95. Our waitress, Crystal, who is also a LCMR alumnus, kept the fresh brewed coffee coming throughout the meal.
Once the group settled into their table and had their first cups of coffee and tea, breakfast commenced with the “Dave Smith Story of the Week”. Paul began with little vignettes of some of “Dave Smithʼs Greatest Hits” like Smitty coming into his class unannounced with an unraveled coat hanger and says to Paul in front of the class, “This wire just came for you”, or he would open Paulʼs classroom door and roll a penny across the front of the room. However, one of the most memorable was the time the music department wanted to include the faculty in its Christmas concert for the student body and gathered together everyone who could play guitar to come up on stage and strum along to “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”. In this group, which was really the first faculty band, were Paul Mathis, Doug Letterman and Jim Colubiale of the ʻBreakfast with Daveʻ contingent as well as Jackie Mcknew, Sunny Palmer, Steve Leadley and a host of others. Dave wanted to join in on the fun as well, even though he didnʼt play guitar, so he walked out on stage with a red scarf around his neck wearing sunglasses while pretending to play a stand-up bass he borrowed from the music room. Needless to say, he brought the house down.
Eddie J. followed up Paulʼs story with one that not only connected to Dave but also to the ʻBreakfast with Daveʼ slogan of “ITʼS NOT A SMALL WORLD; ITʼS A BIG CAPE MAY”. Many years ago, Eddie went to Nashville to visit the Steinberger factory where he met a man named Jeff. When Eddie told him that he was from Cape May and worked at Lower Cape May Regional, Jeff asked him if he knew Dave Smith, and said they were very good friends for many years. Jeff then proceeded to tell Eddie of a time he and Dave went to New York to see Woody Allen perform at a club and an unidentified man in a trench coat walked up to the stage with a bag in his hand. When he emptied the bang on the stage, all that came our was a pair of chattering teeth. So, Woody Allen then did about a 20 minute ad lib on the teeth.
As our food arrived and the gang began to enjoy their meals, Paul mentioned to Jim that he has been in contact with Jimʼs eldest son Vince via Facebook trying to calm him down about the current debt situation and the problems our government is having coming to a consensus with the debt ceiling. Jim asked whether Vince listed himself as in a ʻrelationshipʻ or not because he is presently dating a very attractive and intelligent girl named Katie. Paul responded that he wasnʼt sure what status was posted, but Jim stressed that “independent” Vince now no longer exists. Worlds have collided! So, we had our ʻBreakfast with Daveʼ Seinfeld connection for the morning at about 9:45. Then Doug provided a little history by pointing out the under then President Bush, the debt ceiling was raised at least 3 times in his eight year reign. The last time of the three, then Sen. Obama voted against raising the ceiling. And now, the Republicans are making him pay for that by fighting his proposals on this issue. Paul commented that the groupʼs mutual friend Jerry summed up this situation best when he said, “If Obama sneezed and pulled out a handkerchief, the GOP would say he is against the tissue industry!”
Once plates were bused and we all sat back to enjoy yet another round of coffee and tea, Eddie asked if anyone watched the All-Star Game Home Run Derby and saw that man who nearly fell 20 feet trying to catch one of the home run balls. His life was literally saved by the fans around him who grabbed his legs and pulled back over the rail. This would have been a horrible repeat of what happened just a week before in Houston when a man fell 20 feet to his death attempting to catch a foul ball. This triggered a whole foul ball story time which included the time a man caught a foul ball at a Phillies game and then gave it to his 5 year old daughter who then promptly threw the ball back on the field. The man was stunned, but he did nothing but just hug his little girl. We all agreed that he deserved an “A” as a father. Then, another time one boy caught two consecutive foul balls in a row. What would be the odds of that happening? Finally, Jim offered a story about a time when his dad took him to Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia to see the Phillies play the San Francisco Giants. Jim, who must had been 10 or 11 at the time, had the chance of seeing Willie Mays play in that game and had seats in the lower level along the first base line right about where the stands began to bend to meet the right field wall. Willie McCovey sent a screaming line drive right at them, and Jimʼs dad rose to his feet to try and barehand the ball. He reached out over the row in front of him, but the ball was hit with such force that it hit his hand and then plopped down in the lap of the guy sitting in front of him. Jimʼs dadʼs hand was swollen and black and blue for days! Switching back to the All-Star Game, Eddie wanted to know if everyone had a chance to see Matt Szczur, a Chicago Cubʼs draftee and a 2008 graduate of Lower Cape May Regional, play in the futures All-Star game on ESPN this past Sunday night. Eddie reminded everyone that when he retired, Matt autographed the cork board in his classroom. Now that autograph may soon be worth something. So, we all pledged that we would one day sneak back into the school real ninja-like and cut out the autograph before someone unknowingly paints over it.
Once the check arrived, Doug “the Calculator” figured that each of us owed $9.00 for this ʻBreakfast with Daveʼ soiree which is quite reasonable. The food was very good, the portions were more than filling and the service was prompt and gracious. Everything about the Back Bay Bistro & Pizzeria suggested that ʻBreakfast with Daveʼ had indeed come home.
[...] Most readers in one day. “Coming Full Circle at the Back Bay Bistro” [...]
I loveth Breakfast With Dave
Sincerely,
John Milton