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THE GREAT "SUMMER WINE" CAPE MAY CAPER
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| Hi everyone! Well, we did it again. We had a very successful Summer Wine lunch in beautiful Cape May, NJ. We had fans from four states (Virginia didn’t make it.) Pam drove about four hours or more from the tip of Maryland, Linda and John drove about two hours or so from Delaware (they were the closest!), Terry and Alex drove two and a half hours from northern New Jersey and Mary, Gladys, Rosie, Dorothy and Zoe Anne drove FOURTEEN HOURS from Illinois!! They get the prize for coming the furthest. Never in my wildest dreams would I expect fans to drive that far to partake of a SW lunch and good chat with fellow fans…but they did!! Our day started at 7:00AM in preparation for the trip. Fix the house, make the coffee, cocoa and sandwiches for the trip, put on the living room lamp so it looks like someone is home, fetch the newspaper from the lawn, make the bed, shower, dress, feed Tinker, pack the car and head out by 8:10AM. Whew, it’s a wonder we weren’t already exhausted. Rain was predicted, but luckily it was kind enough to stay in Western NJ (near Pennsylvania) for the duration of our trip. We only passed quickly through one or two showers along the way. As we drove further south (157 miles) the clouds were breaking and the sun peeked out. At 11:00AM sharp we pulled up in front of The Highland House, a seven bedroom colonial farmhouse dating back to the 1800’s. It is an adorable B&B in a nice residential area of West Cape May. Dave Ripoli, the owner, was there to greet us and show us our mini-apartment. There was a big four-poster bed, a white wicker chest of drawers, a sofa, two tables, a stove, fridge, sink, microwave, toaster, coffeemaker, dishes and utensils. We thought we were renting just a bedroom, so this was quite a nice surprise! Best of all, it had two big glass sliding doors which led to a little fenced-in backyard for Tinker! She could run in and out as she pleased and it made life very easy for us. We enjoyed our stay so much that we plan to go back for four days in October. At 12:30PM after unpacking, walking Tinker and settling in, we left for The Ugly Mug Restaurant. It was only a short distance from the B&B, about three-quarters of a mile. After scouting around for a parking spot (they are rare in Cape May!) we finally found one and put our quarters in. The time limit was three hours. We started walking and found our way to The Mug. It was about four blocks away. Once there, I put on my Holmfirth cap that David Conyers gifted me with last year. Alex went walking around the open-air pedestrian mall while I tried to spot SW fans. After a few minutes, a group of three ladies appeared. They saw my hat and came over to me and said, “Dinky?” I said, “Mary?” and she said, “Yes.” Then we laughed and laughed. I said, “I was looking for five sisters.” Mary said, “Oh, the other two are coming behind us!” So, we introduced ourselves and proceeded to take a lot of photos of each other holding up the Holmfirth Magazine cover that Patrick gave to me last year. Mary is going to Holmfirth for eight days in June, so she was very interested in meeting some fans and discussing the town. Four of us have been there – Linda, John, Terry and Alex! So we all gave her ideas of what to expect when she arrives. At 1:15PM Pam came along. We screamed when we saw each other and hugged and kissed. We met in July, 2003 at the Ephrata, Pa. SW fan lunch. She is a little doll – always happy and smiling! We e-mail each other and keep in touch and she told me she is moderator on our Yahoo SW Group! Good for you Pam! Life is full of surprises! At 1:30PM the hostess of The Mug called out, “Summer Wine Group – your table is ready.” Pam reserved it for us earlier in the day. Thank you, Pam. So the eight of us went in and sat at a large table set up for twelve. We expected four more fans. We ordered our soft drinks and I began passing around my Holmfirth photos, articles, Summer Wine books and various other memorabilia while we waited for the others to show up. Soon we ordered our food and began to eat. About 2:15PM, Linda and John from Delaware came in. They were a little late, but they were easy to spot. Linda was dressed in full “Pearl” regalia, complete with a knotted scarf on her head, long underwear, a floral-patterned dress and a full red apron on!! The whole restaurant was looking at us and smiling! Linda is quite a good sport to go out in public like that!! Anyway, it added a fun touch to our lunch. More photos, more lunch, more SW chat until 2:45PM. All of our parking meters were running out at 3:00PM, so we had to scoot back to our cars pronto. The five sisters left to go shopping and we said our fond farewells and wished Mary all good things for her Holmfirth trip in June. Pam left to go back to her camper where her hubby and the two Chihuahuas were waiting for her. Linda and John were free until 5:00PM, so we invited them back to our apartment to meet Tinker and continue some SW chat. Linda changed out of her “Pearl” clothes in our bathroom and back into her “Linda” clothes. At 4:00PM we had tea and cookies, just like the ladies’ coffee mornings – only it was afternoon! At about 5:00PM they took off for Delaware, happy and contented at meeting other fans. Linda and John met in Rome and have been married eight years. They love Summer Wine and The Thin Blue Line. Everyone had a great time and they all said it was worth the trip. I have e-mailed all the attendees to see if they liked the lunch and to be sure they all got home ok and they did. Our next lunch is scheduled for Saturday, July 30th at 12 Noon at The Sizzler Steakhouse in Rockaway Mall, Rockaway, NJ, just off Route 80. We have six fans interested in this lunch so far. It has really been planned as a “local” lunch for some of us northern NJ and Pa. residents. But, all are welcome! A fan named James is having a lunch in Delaware in October. Linda and John said they are interested in attending that one. So, let’s keep the meetings going! Long live Summer Wine!! |
Enjoy Dinky's fabulous
snapshots of the Cape May, New Jersey LOTSW event. Top Photo - Four
States are represented here - Mary, Illinois, Linda and John, Delaware,
Alex New Jersey and Pam Maryland.
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I
am your new reporter from the Greater Metropolitan Area of NYC. I grew up
in a small town called Fair Lawn in Northeast New Jersey, about eight
miles from the George Washington Bridge.
I work as a controller of a multi-million dollar company in Newark, N.J. I earned a Business Administration Degree from Passaic County College in Paterson, N.J. and also graduated from The Cambridge School of Business in NYC where I majored in Accounting. I attended The University Per Stranieri in Perugia, Italy for two summers.
I was a child of the 50's and led a "Leave It To Beaver-like" existence. As a teen of the 60's I was not cool in High School. I wore saddle shoes, anklet socks and rode my bike.
In the 70's I married a chef from Italy, whom I met on "The Love Boat", A.K.A. "The Sea Venture". We now live in the beautiful city of Clifton, N.J., about 10 miles from NYC.
I
enjoy reading, writing, gardening and roller-skating. I am a royal watcher
and love all the British TV shows, especially Summer Wine, Vicar of Dibley
and Father Ted! I have several pen pals in England. One of them lives only
45 minutes from Holmfirth!!
I hope you will enjoy hearing the Summer Wine news from my side of the Atlantic. I will be telling you all about our TV system. Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have about life in the NYC area.
All enquiries to Dinky
can be sent via our Summer Wine email - summerwinechat@yahoo.com
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