One of my childhood friends remarked during our 25 year reunion last year at the now defunct Eastlake Brewhouse that Class of '87 should meet up more often. Well, his idea was taken up by another buddy who organized this little meetup...
It was actually for classes '86 - '89. I'm not sure why the narrow range of years but I can safely say that many of us '87 alumni were there that night. The Tavern is a pretty big (and noisy) venue. There is a smaller, walled off private area with bowling lanes and an eating area. The rest of the venue is cavernous with a bar on the far right, a DJ set up, and long glass windows where you can view the bowling action.
We saw quite a few of our friends that night, including Bert's former childhood neighbors, and what seemed to be half of the black male population of our graduating class . Seriously, there were maybe about 8 in our class and about 5 were there that evening! Before you start getting offended, the brothers and the Filipinos all got along, so that's all I have to say!
The minority at our school were the white folk, but they were cool too. Filipinos, Mexicans and African American with a few Pacific Islanders and Vietnamese thrown in. There were hardly any Chinese or Korean but there were a lot of mestizo (mixed race) kids.
Anyhow, we hung out with a few of our good friends (not the regulars, but friends nonetheless)
We both had a long day so a drink was in order...
I'd eaten earlier with TC and her friend to celebrate her job well done for the Parol Festival. Afterwards, TC hung out at the grandparents for a few hours while we enjoyed our mini reunion.
Bert ordered the Swiss Dip sandwich. He was busy all day helping decorate the hall earlier and then taking down props and cleaning up. Below, the window wall/viewing area for cosmic bowling.
My moscato wine (I like it sweet) and Bert's stout (I forgot the name of it)...
Another classmate ordered some wings as well as a plate of fried zucchini sticks (peeking in the background) to share...
And there's that Swiss Dip for ya...
The food here isn't all that awesome but then, you're not really there for gourmet quality food either. The Tavern is a place to hang out and socialize or if you're so inclined, to bowl (they're a bit pricy). In any case, we caught up with a few friends and made plans to meet up again with one of them in the near future.
Eastlake Tavern + Bowl
881 Showroom Place
Chula Vista, CA 91914
(619) 565-2695
www.tavernbowl.com
Until the next Class of '87 gathering!
Here is just a sampling of some of the songs the DJ played that night:
"Don't Stop the Rock" by Freestyle
Oh shit, time to start doing those "popping" moves!
The DJ mixed a lot of old school "freestyle music" like this...
"Diamond Girl" by Nice and Wild
C'mon make that Diamond sign with your hands Astroboi (I know you're reading this you lurker you!)!
Of course, we can't forget this song either.
"When I Hear Music" (extended version) by Debbie Deb
Now THAT was a trip through memory lane, ha ha. As good as the music was, there's now way in hell that I would ever want to relive high school. It was really nice to see some of our former mates "grown up", established, seeing their kids' photos, and such (Asides from our regular cotery, which includes Superman, Thane, Thor, Ronin, Tatonka, Astroboi, and Mr. Saliva) that we see on a semi-regular basis, of course.
2 comments:
That was a good night to catch up with a few of the old classmates. Too bad that we were so close to the DJ. Hard to hear each other. Also, you meant "coterie" right?
Coterie, yes. I no can spell.
That DJ should not have mixed Depeche Mode with the Scorpions. That was so wrong.
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