10/06 - guess I was a junior or senior in High School- A friend
of mine got me a job there as a houseboy- which meant vacuuming
rooms and hallways- we assisted the maids, a couple of whom were
a very "out" lesbian couple, which for that time was
pretty fascinating ( not quite like Ruben's Fascination- was it
in the Casino or Convention Hall?) to a bunch of us 15-17 year
old boys....the only celebrity connection staying at the hotel
that summer were the elderly and distinguished parents of the
somewhat popular folksy-bluesy singer, Maria Muldaur. There were
some drag queens that stayed there that performed in the bar of
the hotel. That was bizarre, too. I told my dad about it. He
said to be sure to have someone with me when I vacuumed their
room. He was not too pleased. I cannot remember any other
guests by sight or name that stayed there that summer. The
head housekeeper was a Jamaican woman, a Mrs Caserly or
something....at the end of the Summer, she cooked for the staff
the best Jerk Chicken I've ever had, and likely the 1st jerk
chicken I've ever had!! That last day, we wrote our names
in paint by one of those earns that line the roof- I
wonder if our names are still there, 30 years later.
On one of my trips back about 4-5 years ago, me and my dad
toured the restored hotel. It was a cool November day. The only
people we saw were the front desk staff and a bellperson. We
walked to the restaurant. It was a fine-dining restaurant. It
was somewhat pricey, and only open from Wednesday-Saturday or
thereabouts. We wondered how good it could be, and how
fresh, especially if you came on Wednesday.
Many years before, probably on a visit home from college, we
went to to the Royal-Armenian for dinner, tucked a way in
some white clapboard hotel on 3rd or 4th Avenue, and it was
awesome... and probably later that evening, when I got
home and met with my old HS buddies, as my parents drifted off
to Johnny Carson or his guest host Joey Bishop, and we
slipped out the back porch headed to the Colonial Terrace Golf
Course, in the dark of the night and drank Rolling Rocks and
inhaled
Paul B - Chicago...10-24-06 what happened to the
Mets this year?
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