Yesterday was the first day I’ve missed an update in long time. The 17th of
April (okay, I couldn’t update on the 18th either, but that’s when I wrote
this part), but my ride was in the morning, not midnight. I wore a t-shirt
because it was downright balmy in Columbus, checked out of Hotel 12.0k and
got on Route 23 just as planned. As I drove a little south of Delaware, I
kept an eye out for Mom Wilson’s on the right but still managed to miss it –
or, maybe it’s gone? I hope not, stopping there has been a part of the trip
for over 20 years. I’ll make sure I don’t miss it on the way back. They have
the best bacon you ever tasted, lean and smoky.
I did take the side trip into Deshler and got a couple of good photos of the
Corn City Bar. When I was growing up, it was considered an “evil” place. I
also took some picture of the old train station and control tower there.
Since the B&O railroad had tracks going north-south and east-west
intersecting there, it was a pretty busy place during the heyday of
railroading. Now it’s pretty run down, but still a favorite spot for the US
version of trainspotters. The rented Rivera (not Geraldo) has climate
control, so I hadn’t noticed the temperature drop. It was cold enough that I
should have had a coat on. Sprinkles of rain were falling and the wind was
gusty. Rayne had suggested I bring a coat, so I got in out of my suitcase in
the trunk. This happened last year when I came up in March as well. Warm in
Columbus, downright cold in northern Ohio. Thanks, Rayne – I might not have
remembered if you hadn’t mentioned it in the comments. I also drove by our
old farmhouse and took a couple of pictures, but they didn’t come out so
well. Like Mom Wilson’s, I’ll try again on the return trip.
I got lost in Toledo, but eventually found my way to my sister’s house. Her
hubby drove us all to Kilgus where we loaded up from the best collection of
old world sausages I have seen in a long time: Kielbasa, fresh and smoked,
old style natural casing wieners, Bavarian ham, and a lot of things I forget
but will remember tomorrow when we pig out on them. We also stopped at Sofo’
s, an Italian grocery/deli, where I bought some Greek olives and a jar hot
giardiniera.
When we got back, my sister made catfish her way – coated with crushed
jalapeno Cheetos and baked in the oven, served with refried beans,
guacamole, and jalapeno/tomato chunks that put just the right amount of bite
into the beans. We did sample some of the Kilgus meats with goodly amounts
of beer later in the evening. Tomorrow will be more of the same.
Tomorrow is now yesterday. It is now very early on the 19th. The 18th was
Good Friday and the 228th anniversary of the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.
He used to go out riding and carousing late at night and then spend all day
making copper cookware. We went carousing all day to celebrate.
First, let’s get some names out of the way. If you’ve read some recent blog
entries, you already know Sister Ruth. I let everyone have the choice of
picking their own blognames if they wish. My other sister, the one in
Toledo, decided she would like to be “Bubbles”. Bubbles it is. Sister Ruth’s
friends from Anna, OH brought here up here yesterday. Her friend decided to
be “Fifi”, if I remember correctly. Their hubbies weren’t around when I
asked people to name names, so I’ll give them temporary names. Fifi is
married to Wernher; Bubbles to Hans. They’ll probably hate those names but
might appreciate that I chose German names. Okay, that’s done.
Good Friday began with Hans and Bubbles taking me to Rudy’s Hot Dogs for
breakfast. They go there for breakfast nearly every weekend. We had chili
dogs and chili or breakfast. Hans prefers Rudy’s over Tony Packo’s. After
breakfast, they took me over to Durdel’s Music, something I had requested.
Durdel’s had just opened and I was a bit reluctant to go inside. It’s not
the same store. This store is on Central Avenue, but 40 years ago they had a
store downtown. Scott Williams, the new owner, said it had burned down many
years ago. It was there that I bought my first Fender guitar. Not a Strat
like everyone else, I bought a Jaguar – the most expensive Fender at the
time. Later, I also bought a Gibson Echoplex there, which was the coolest
special effects device you could get at the time. Scott informed me that Mr.
Durdel had passed away a year and a half ago. I said that he was one of the
nicest gentlemen I had ever met and that’s true.
But the real reason I went there was to find out what ever happened to Dave
Yorko. He was the lead guitar player of Johnny & The Hurricanes when they
were the hottest band in Toledo. Later, Johnny Paris split from the band and
the left-out Hurricanes formed The Fascinators who played weekends at The
Peppermint Club and, later, across the street at a another club, both in the
neighborhood of Durdel’s, the one that burned, which was then called Durdel’
s Stars of Tomorrow Studios. I went to the Peppermint nearly every Saturday
night in the summer of ’63.
Last I heard about Dave Yorko was that he may have attended his high school
reunion in 1991, even though he did not graduate. He quit school “the minute
he turned 16” and next day drove by in a brand new convertible to show off.
That may or may not be true. Scott said he saw Dave occasionally, but that
he “still has a problem with alcohol.” I never knew he did. Now, as Scott
says, “The drinking and the guitar playing seem to go together, so he doesn’
t do much guitar playing.” It made me sad to hear that, because he was (and
probably still is) one of the best. If you’re a rock aficionado, you will
remember that The Beatles were an opening act for Johnny & The Hurricanes in
London. Lionel “Butch” Mattice, the bass player, is still well. I had heard
that Paul Tesluk moved to Boston when The Fascinators broke up, and had
gotten into the wholesale carpet business. I’d also seen on the web
somewhere that the group’s drummer, Bill (Little Bo) Savich has passed way
at the beginning of last year. Johnny still plays and Scott said he had
probably gone through “about 300 musicians, all Hurricanes.” The standing
joke is when someone says they play with Johnny & The Hurricanes is “Who
didn’t?”
After Durdel’s, we came back to the house and soon Wernher, Fifi, and Sister
Ruth arrived. We had a lunch of beer, liverwurst, smoked salmon, corned
beef, Greek olives, and many other delicacies that Hans found in his
refrigerator. Then we went on to the Van Gogh exhibit at the Toledo Museum
of Art. The subject was “Fields”, so it was mostly landscapes, not Van Gogh’
s forte, but still an excellent exhibit. I bought a cookbook of recipes
inspired by Van Gogh’s travels and life (no ear jokes!) and I’ll post some
more about that when I get back home and can post pictures.
After the museum we all piled in one car and headed for the Libbey Glass
outlet store. Led by Hans, we gradually streamed out of there and ended up
with a couple pitchers of LaBatts at a neighborhood bar. Primed, we headed
out to “the east side” (cue “The Jeffersons” theme) and Tony Packo’s. Yes.
More Labatt’s, hot dogs cut in half with chili, paprika dumplings (Hans
called them spaetzle), and cabbage rolls. After that it was dark and we
headed home.
5:23:16 AM 
|
|
