Road Trip: Hot Dogs, Race Track, Elementary School Gym Teacher, 50 years.

Going back almost three decades, Bill Kessler, Frankie Pots and Pans, and I made regular trips to see live horse racing in Chicago. A combination of the introduction of off-track betting and our advancing age ended the practice almost fifteen years ago.

Determined to make a trip this year, we scheduled one for last Thursday. We were joined by Doug Moe of the Wisconsin State Journal, who not only enjoys horse racing but knows a good hot dog, and best of all, tells a great story.

Our itinerary was slightly altered when I got a surprise call from my elementary school gym teacher Ed O'Farrell, famous from that old spiritual, Go Down Moses*.

Coach was great then, and when we met him at Fat Tommy's he was as wonderful as I remembered him fifty years ago. Doug Moe wrote about our sojourn on Sunday,  

Colorful characters hit the track:

Before getting to Hawthorne, we stopped at a small restaurant called Fat Tommy's for another Soglin passion, a Chicago hot dog. We were joined by Ed O'Farrell, Soglin's 77-year-old former elementary school gym teacher. The two hadn't seen each other in 40 49 years and had recently reconnected on the Internet. They embraced.

After lunch, Kessler said, "Ed is a gracious gentleman."

Frank Pots and Pans nodded. "Something we're not used to."

I look forward to the next visit to see the Coach, another Chicago hot dog - (Fat Tommy's gets a B plus), a pleasant day of racing, and my Madison companions are great.

 

*Go down, Moses

Way down in Egypt's land

Tell O'Farrell

(To) let my people go.

At holiday assemblies our fifth grade class sang these lyrics repeatedly to the chagrin of our music teacher at Phillip Murray School in Chicago.

Comments

[anon]

Who's that old guy standing up with the white shirt?