"F.O.A.D." wrote in message
m...



I might be up in New Haven in a few weeks for my first trip this year
to
the old stomping grounds. I plan to share at least one clam pie for
dinner at Pepe's, and to check out Katz's deli on the Woodbridge side
of
the Merritt Parkway bridge over Whalley Avenue. A lot of my old
friends
like it:

http://katzsdeli.net/menus/deli/

I'm pretty sure we won't be mooning cars from the top of the tunnel,
as
we used to do in the 7th grade:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Heroes_Tunnel.jpg

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For some reason I can't exactly place that tunnel, although I remember
the Merritt Parkway and Whalley Ave.
I got my first driver's license in CT. When allowed to use one of my
parent's cars for a date, I somehow often ended up on top of West
Rock, by the tunnel on the Wilbur Cross Parkway. I remember the
winding, "S" turns climbing to the parking spots on the top. Never
had much time up there as it was always patrolled by the police
looking to "bust" you and your girlfriend just for the fun of it.

I remember the Wilbur Cross Parkway was concrete at the time. Miles
and miles of "ker-plunk, ker-plunk, ker-plunk, ker-plunk" as the tires
hit the expansion joints.

Les Shaw's restaurant was on "our" side of the tunnel. I worked
there for a while as a bus-boy wearing a stupid chef's hat, apron and
bandana, walking around the dining room handing out "popovers" to
anyone who wanted one. My girlfriend and her entire family (her
idea) decided to have dinner there one night, unknown to me, and I
was mortified with embarrassment. Les Shaw's is one of the last
restaurants I can remember that required a jacket and tie for the guys
to be seated. They actually kept small inventory of them in the coat
room that could be borrowed if you didn't wear one and wanted to have
dinner. Don't know if Les Shaw's still exists. Probably closed.
The link is a picture ... taken in the 50's but it looks about how I
remember it from the 60's.

http://images.marketplaceadvisor.channeladvisor.com/hi/45/44721/ct10-6033a.jpg