Dinner At The Tinnery

Sunday March 8, 1992

Up at 6:30 a.m. and into the shower so we can leave at 8 a.m. for the gospel hour at the Jazz Festival. I really enjoy this singalong of old church songs. I know most of the songs by heart. They hand out song books. Frank sings all the songs too. Surprising for a Catholic. He seems to enjoy it. We sit with Bob and Sharon for awhile. They head home.

At noon we are on the wharf eating clam chowder soup from the center of a loaf of San Francisco french bread. What a treat! Great chowder. We spend the afternoon on Fisherman's Wharf in different places, listening to Dixieland Jazz until 4 p.m. We shop for rings for me. I buy 3 fabulous fakes. I'm too fat to wear any of my good rings and I need these for the cruise. I call Chris and Justin.

We take a lovely drive and have dinner at The Tinnery on the water. A beautiful view and a wonderful unique dinner. Home for a movie at 8:30 p.m. Pretty tired.

I never knew that Catholics don't sing! Come to think of it I have never heard Frank sing, but I also have never heard my dad sing, my husband sing, or my boys sing. I guess singing is a girl thing. I'm sure some of you guys reading this will disagree, but I'm just speaking from the perspective of the men in my own life.

This sounds like such a fun romantic weekend. Thank you Frank for being so kind and generous with Mom.

I Think of My Dad Often

Saturday March 7, 1992

Awake at 7:20, time to get up, but we just snuggle back to sleep until 8:30. Wonderful! Our queen-size bed in the trailer is very comfy. Frank walks around the Laguna Seca Campground while I get ready. By 11:30 we're on our way to our second day at the Monterey Jazz Festival. We spend most of the day on the wharf in 2 of the 4 rooms featuring jazz. We see our square dance buddy Bob Holmes and his new girlfriend.

What a great day! So much fun, good music, toe tapping, hand-clapping, reminiscing and feeling close to Frank. I didn't realize how much we really needed this fun weekend. It's so easy to forget your troubles here. Lots of laughs and sing-alongs. Some songs touch a tender spot and bring tears to my eyes. I think of my dad often. He sang so many of these old songs to me. We hold hands alot and dance some.

Feeling real good. Some low abdominal pain.

Wow, that sounds like fun. Although her life at home is busy with friends and activities, I think she was appreciating that this weekend was just the two of them enjoying their time together, laughing and singing, sometimes even crying. While Mom's father Gerald was an abusive alcoholic to his wife and stepson, to his daughter he was absolutely devoted. She was a princess in his eyes. I never heard that her dad sang songs to her. That is very touching. He died of lung cancer (a heavy smoker) in 1954, when I was just 1 year old. The photo above was taken of him in 1926, still a young and vital man.

Monterey Jazz Festival

Friday March 6, 1992

Up and finally ready to leave for Monterey about 9:30 a.m. pulling our 5th wheel trailer. It's a great trip of 6 hours except for the last 2 hours when we do hit rain.. It's raining lightly when we pull into the Laguna Seca Campground which is 20 minutes from the Jazz Festival in Monterey. It takes about an hour to get all set up. We have dinner from the microwave oven, then clean up and head for the Jazz Festival. In the dark (6:30 p.m.) we accidentally find our way to exctly where we want to be at the wharf parking lot. We buy our $40 tickets and head into the first show, Black Dog Band. We see several groups and really enjoy them. We leave for home about 10:30. We're in bed about midnight. I continue to feel real good.

Wow, that was a long tiring day, but Mom was going strong until midnight. I'm so impressed by her energy. After a 6 hour drive I would have just chilled for the night.

The Monterey Jazz Festival is the longest-running annual jazz event in the world. It premiered on October 3, 1958 with San Francisco jazz radio broadcaster Jimmy Lyons as its founder. Over 43,000 fans attended the 54th edition of the two-day and three-night festival September 16-18, 2011. The festival featured over 500 artists performing on eight stages spread over the 20-acre Monterey Fairgrounds in Monterey, California.