The East - West Summit of 2016

Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks by Ilya Repin (Source)

Last year Tuna and I met up here in Little Rhody for our first Chant du Départ East - West Summit, well, it happened again this year. (The opening painting is a reasonable facsimile of what these meetings look like. At least that's how they look in my head. Repin has painted in all of the guys we would have liked to have been there but weren't. (As to what goes on in my head, don't ask, it's relatively benign, just "odd." Yeah, that's the ticket, odd.)

For those who simply have to know, that's me in the white hat in the right foreground, belly laughing (I do that a lot). The guy immediately to my right (to the left as you view the painting) with all the hand gestures has to be Juvat (you know how fighter pilots love to talk with their hands), and the light haired fellow to Juvat's right (to the left as you view the painting) with the missing tooth is Tuna. Also waving a hand about, must be an aviation thing. Oh, heck. let me make it easy for you.

Actually, Tuna has all of his teeth and none of us have mustaches. But if we did, they'd look just like that.

They better be at least like this! (Source)

Anyhoo.

This year The Missus Herself was actually here and not out in California so I invited her along. I'm not good-to-go as far as getting behind the wheel just yet as the structural repairs are not quite ready for an FCF (Functional Check Flight).

We're getting there though, bit by bit. Ran a big experiment at the restaurant wherein I consumed two Sam Adams Octoberfest with no ill effects. (Though at one point The Missus Herself scanned me with her gimlet eye and queried, "Are you drunk?" I assured her that I was not, it's just that when I get together with Tuna I tend to loquaciousness. Yeah, she mentioned that as well, and there I was, thinking myself to be the soul of discretion. Of course, I do get chatty when I'm in my cups, mostly what I say then is "Who's buying?" I read that somewhere, might have been George MacDonald Fraser.)

As to the restaurant, we went to a place I've been meaning to check out, Anthony's Seafood in Middletown, RI. This place -

(Source)

Full particulars, to include the menu, is at the source of that graphic above. (FWIW, their fried whole belly clams are perhaps the best I've ever had, and I don't say that lightly!)

Inside Anthony's Seafood

Not a fancy place, kind of reminded me of the Blue Water in Sandy Eggo. Yeah, this place -

Just down the street from Shakespeare's...

Both of those fine establishments have been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, a show I rather enjoy, in fact I watched a number of episodes the first night in hospital.

"How can you watch those food shoes when you can't have any solids?" asked Danielle, sweet nurse o' mine.

"Easy, it's what I'm gonna do as soon as I can!"

Food was good, company was superb, and the conversation was sublime. (No, I'm not drunk!) We'll do it again next year, someday maybe we'll even plan things and not be so damned spontaneous. Then Juvat can be there as well, I know he wants to.

Après le diner.
Okay, I do look a bit buzzed.

No retired military were harmed in the making of this post. No really, damn it, I only had two! So did Tuna, he doesn't look buzzed, does he? (Note the obligatory Lex coin.)

Seriously though, I had a blast.


Update:

Juvat actually does have facial hair, I was looking at an old picture of him when I wrote this. Juvat suggested in the comments that I was in error. Revisiting the archives I must confess my error.