REST IN PEACE, IN HEAVEN THERE IS NO BEER

Hello Speakies:



I just read a post by one of my favorite readers Skip. Skip and I grew up around the same neighborhood in North Trenton. There across the street from my parent’s house was the famous Top Road Tavern. The tavern were my mother ordered those delicious fish and chips for Friday night dinners that were made by that sweet Italian lady. A tavern that made great tomato pies comparable to the ones in the Burg. I was glad my sons were privileged to savor the taste of those pies covered in the various toppings offered. I myself strolled in the bar and enjoyed a beer or two with the Polish men who seemed to own certain stools and never uttered a word to you but you did not care you were drinking on holy ground.


Yes the TOP ROAD TAVERN has closed its doors and will be sorely missed in the Brunswick Avenue neighborhood. For me I have my memories of the food and drink enjoyed. Farewell Ye Old Tavern.

AS BOB HOPE WOULD SAY, "THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES"

Happy Fat Tuesday Speakies:


That’s right it’s “Fat Tuesday”, the big party day in New Orleans before Lent which begins tomorrow. Yes Lent is here that season of fasting I remember growing up with a Catholic family background. All I can say is it did not kill me but times have changed just like the sands in the desert. So party today and tonight all you like.

I love talking about food but a few days ago I was recalling some of my favorite restaurants I’ve enjoyed dining in with Roe and even in my single days. I would like to share those and for those readers back home let me know if you ever have eaten there too.

Circus Room was a very fancy restaurant located near Columbia, SC when I was in the service. Known for its steaks the restaurant’s motif was a circus tent and made for an enjoyable evening.

Rossi’s Tavern and Ernie’s Tavern in Trenton for burgers without a doubt.

DeLorenzo’s and Papa’s for a true Trenton tomato pie. Never can be duplicated and I’m still searching down here. A place that closed was also great LaRoma or as we called it Sam’s Tomato Pies on South Broad St. and Hudson in Trenton. Top Road Tavern also made a great tomato pie and is still around today on Brunswick Ave.

Nino’s Pizza on Chambers Street for Sicilian pizza, cheese steaks and fries.

LaGondola was a favorite and special place for Roe and I. Great food, good friends, top shelf service and the best Mussels Marinara and Shrimp Scampi ever. They also had a mean Veal Parm sandwich for lunch. We got engaged there.

Rusty Scupper in Princeton was a nice place to dine on a Sunday evening, great salad bar and good food.

Crecco’s a great Italian restaurant; nice bar and Roe’s Aunt Angie made the best salad ever. Loved their clam’s casino.

The Intimate Tom Moore’s in New Hope, PA was a place to take a date for that first impression. Very elegant with white lights trimming all the trees outside and a very romantic atmosphere inside to dine and impress. Sorry Roe the place was closed when I met you.

Georgine’s Italian Restaurant in Bristol, PA is still there today, I checked it out on the web. Family style place, large portions as I remember, veal parm was great.

Del Rio’s on Hamilton Avenue great place for sandwiches and drinks. They had a room with a giant fireplace and on a cold winter’s night you could enjoy a steak basket and a nice Manhattan on the rocks.

For an Italian Hot Dog it was the Casino hands down, now also gone but never forgotten.

There was a great Chinese restaurant on Beatty Street across from Bob’s Bakery, clean and good fresh food.

I guess there are more to recall but for now I’ll stop and wish you all good memories of the places you dined.

WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE SNAKES

Good Afternoon Speakies:

Here is a true story from Joey Z; I’ll call it “JOEY Z VS. THE SNAKE.” Now we have a lot of snakes where I work mostly Black Racers and a variety of smaller ones all non-poisonous. Approximately two months ago I left my desk to put some clothes in my car. It was a nice sunny day and a little on the cool side feeling good to be outside I took my time going to the front door. As I opened the door I noticed a snake move back on the other side of the glass. This snake did not have the usual round head and it also had diamonds on its body, said to myself “this is no racer” as I made a fast dash through the door into the lobby like a cartoon character. The snake was captured and turned loose in another area I was told or it could have ended up as a belt. The snake itself was a four foot Eastern Diamondback Rattle Snake. The picture you see was taken by one of our biologists.

Joey Z’s advice “WATCH WHEN YOU WALK, KEEP THOSE EYEBALLS TURNING.”

TO BEST FRIENDS

Happy Thursday Guys and Dolls:

Do you know what today is? In the Land of Holidays today is “BEST FRIENDS DAY.” I wrote a part of this from another book I was writing but I thought I would like to share some of it with you today. Did you ever have a wish to go back in time to a part of your life if only for a day or a weekend? I do and I would go back to any weekend from 1962 to 1965 while I was in high school. I’m recalling the weekends I spent at my grandmother’s house and reunited with a great bunch of guys. She lived on Home Ave. and around the corner was Beatty Street and there lived my buddy Lou a tough guy half Italian and half Hungarian. Down the street lived my cousin Tommy and across from him lived Richie. We all seemed to reunite one Friday night at Lou’s front porch, just shooting the breeze, some of us smoking the cigs and all of us checking out the girls as they passed by. We formed a band that night and with each weekend our friendship grew becoming like brothers to each other. We would go for tomato pies at Sam’s on a Friday night, play basketball at the church lot on Saturdays and walk downtown to a movie that night and even go to church on Sunday. We had fun doing everything we wanted plus trying to meet all the girls we could.

Lou was the protector of our group, strong and did not take bull from anyone, Tommy my cousin was the joker, always coming up with wise cracks that made us all laugh and always kept a smile on our faces. Richie was the shy and silent type but a steadfast friend to each of us. As for me, I was just trying to be me growing up and thinking what life had in store. Along the way we adopted my friend Jack from high school, his brother Jim and another guy from the neighborhood good old Ralph. Jack loved hanging with us over the weekend that he made a point of missing the last bus on Saturday night so he could spend the night at my grandmother’s house. Good old granny never cared and always treated him like another grandson. I could probably write a book on the “BEATTY STREET BOYS” alone who knows maybe one day I will. To me life was simple then, a kinder world to live in and friendships that are hard to find now a days. As the years passed we each went our separate ways but recently, I have been in contact with Lou and Tommy, I’ve heard from Richie and maybe one day we could all hear from each other.

I cannot forget another best friend and that is my good buddy Joey G. who I worked with for a number of years. In fact two weeks ago he and his lovely wife Kim spent a week with Roe and I and we all had a ball. Joey is like a brother I never had and as long as I’ve been away from NJ our friendship has never wavered. Thanks Joe for being a good friend.

I think that will wrap it up for today and with that let me add one more thing, “bums are with us each day trying to be friends; but best friends come around only once in a while.” Have a great day.

MOMMY WHEN I GROW UP I WANT TO BE A

Good Morning Guys and Dolls:

Thursday is upon us again and as always I wish you all a pleasant good day. Today is “WHAT SHOULD I BE DAY.” To me it sounds like what would you like to be little guy or doll when you grow up? Hell I wanted to be everything and I’m sure most of you did too. Remember I was a wee lad in the 50’s and I’m going to list what I dreamt of being. Kids then wanted to be what they saw on TV, in comics and in their imagination so here is a list of Joey Z’s fantasy occupations:

Davy Crockett – until I saw how the movie ended and wanted to live longer than Davy did.

A Safari Hunter – that “Ramar of the Jungle Show” made me want to dream of this future position in the wild.

Pro Football Player – I loved playing football in the dirt and mud and putting on my helmet.

Pro Baseball Player – what boy never dreamed of this? I wanted to be a pitcher that could really smack the ball or the greatest second baseman ever; for some boys their wishes came true, mine flopped at the local dirt mound.

An Army Soldier – got enough of that stuff in the 60’s, I chose wisely and picked the Air Force longer life span in those days.

A Detective – I watched too many Dragnet shows with Joe Friday and 77 Sunset Strip.

A Captain of a Sailing Ship – got that idea after watching “I Sailed to Tahiti with an All-Girl Crew” a movie starring Gardner McKay.

And now for my true professional dream job as I got older are you ready? NO IT’S NOT A DOCTOR, LAWYER, INDIAN CHIEF OR A FIRE CHIEF BUT A “DENTIST”, YES A DENTIST. I was fascinated with all those tools and the job they do restoring teeth. As you can see there is no “DR. JOEY Z” posted in big letters on my blog. I can’t complain about the work I did in my life I enjoyed it all and I hope all you Speakies do too. So if your little ones come to you and say “Mommy, Daddy I want to be a circus clown or a ballerina” let them dream just encourage them to choose the right road in life to travel down and that’s being good. See you all soon.

THE FASHION GURU REMEMBERS WHEN

Greetings on Hump Day Speakies:

Wild night in Florida yesterday, thunderstorms, lightening and tornadoes made for a fun evening, some areas are still recovering from the storms. I’m sure the weather here was seen across the US on the news or the Weather Channel. It is cloudy right now windy and looking like more rain; at least it’s not snow.

I had a chuckle this morning from a comment made by a co-worker yesterday. We are doing a collection for Cancer at work and there are coupons available for purchase for dress down day with the money going to Cancer research. Dress down usually means sport shirt and jeans, but my friend said what if his dress down was a Hawaiian shirt and shorts which brought a laugh from both of us. This got the old JoeyZ’s brain thinking of the fashion stuff I wore growing up and I’m sure if you are my age (and I’m not ancient) this might bring some memories back for you. Let’s bring back the good old days of fashion from being a kid to a teenager:

White tee shirt with a pocket and blue jeans the stiff ones.
A Davy Crockett tee shirt, come on you had one.
Ked’s sneakers either white or black and they only cost around $5.00 then.
Desert boots.
Madras shorts with penny loafers and no socks, worn with a button down shirt on the outside.
Dobie Gillis shirt that’s the shirt with ¾ sleeves (catch an old Dobie Gillis TV show and you’ll see it worn by the Dobie himself).
Stadium coats for the winter they had the toggle buttons. Mine was navy blue with a zipper at both ends so when you sat down just unzip the bottom for more comfort.
Boat neck shirts.
Clam diggers worn by both Guys and Dolls.
Tiki necklaces purchased on the boardwalk at Seaside Heights. These necklaces were made famous by the TV show Adventures in Paradise with Gardner McKay.
Nehru jackets.
Sport coats with no collars. My cousin Tom had a beige or gold colored one it looked sharp on him.
Sharkskin suits with fence climber shoes. Your shoes had to have cleats and Cuban heels.
Hi-Boy collared shirts for dress.

Well there you go Speakies some of the fashions I remember and wore. There must be plenty more out there so come on and comment I would like to see both Guys and Dolls but their fashion notes on this post. Have a great day and like always be careful out there.

THOSE LAZY DAYS OF SUMMER MEMORIES

Happy Wednesday Speakies:

It’s that Hump Day I wrote about yesterday and the week is on the down slide. I was thinking about more childhood memories yesterday and trying to remember what sort of things I did on summer vacation as a kid or those special little things you remember about summer. So if you smell smoke it’s just the old noggin of JoeyZ trying to recall old summers past. I’m going to try and remember the younger day’s first just small things maybe not important to some but a happy moment for me. Feel free to add your comments to this post it may bring back the sunshine to you.

Spending time at my Grandparents house being my mother and father both worked. Helping my grandfather in his garden, at his work bench in the cellar and just talking with him and playing with Teddy his dog. Running to the corner store for my grandmother and buying bread, milk and lunchmeat and having Mr. Leslie write down the amount in her grocery book for which she paid him every Friday. On Sundays mom and dad took my grandfather to Seaside Heights, NJ to walk on the boardwalk, he loved sitting on benches and just watching the people walk by. I remember going on all the rides and eating all the good food they had. I loved the shooting games, they had one that you held a gun and shot at a bear and when you hit the sensor light the bear would get up and start to growl and then you really let him have it sending spinning around in circles. Heading to Atlantic City, walking the boardwalk and seeing my aunt Helen. Dad and mom would always take me for a pork roll sandwich at Taylor’s Pork Roll stand. Going to shows at the Steel Pier and seeing the jumping horse.

Playing baseball, we played baseball all summer long whether it was handball or with a bat. Flipping baseball cards for keeps, I hate to think of all the Mickey Mantle cards I may have lost. Playing flashlight tag after dark in the alleys. Cutting down punks and drying them on the tin roofs during the day to dry them out and light them at night while we sat on the porch watching people and cars ride by. I can still smell them burning. Learning to ride a two wheel bike.

Going down to the Delaware River fishing with my dad or to Point Pleasant and fishing in the canals for anything we could catch. Seeing the Phillies play at Old Connie Mack Stadium, what an old magical baseball stadium that was. I saw some of the best play, Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn, Roberto Clemente, Sparky Anderson and I will never forget Chico Fernandez.

On those hot summer nights heading to Stanley’s Tavern and drinking cokes as mom and dad downed a few beers. Walking to Cassianni’s Tomato Pies on Brunswick Ave with my parents for an occasional Friday night pie. Seeing movies at the old Brunswick Theatre on Saturday afternoons, previews, cartoons, newsreels and a good horror or outer space thriller all for 25 or 50 cents. Dad taking me to his friend Stanley’s house, Stanley did barbering on the side and had his own little shop in the cellar. I would get my summer buzz cut to beat the heat.

Well I probably have loads more but I’ll call it quits for now. Send me your summer memories, be glad to post them for you. Have a great day Guys and Dolls. Now I leave you with a summer song by Nat "King" Cole.

KOOL-AID AND CATFISH BUT DON'T FORGET THE ICED TEA

Happy Hump Day Guys and Dolls:

The day that balances the work week is here, we can now officially say are on the downside of the work week. The weather here continues to be hot, humid and wet and probably will remain that for the rest of the week.

Today we celebrate that holiday we all remember as kids “Kool-Aid Day.” Now my Kool-Aid never came in an ice filled glass pitcher with a nose, eyes and a big smile more of a plastic pitcher filled with that sugar flavored powder, water and ice. To tell the truth I was never a big fan of Kool-Aid.

Iced Tea was my favorite summer drink growing up. I remember both my mother and grandmother having a big pot on the stove filling it with water and about 2 dozen Lipton tea bags firing up that gas stove and waiting for that water and tea bags to boil. After the tea was brewed I can still hear those words, “wait till it cools.” Mom and Granny would get the ice tray out of the freezer bend that handle back to crack the ice cubes free and fill the glasses with ice. Speaking of the glasses, they used the regular clear glasses but I remember those aluminum glasses in blue, red and silver. Now they kept the tea nice and cold. I still wish I had a few of those around today just as a keepsake. I could swear both my mother and grandmother must have made about 3 pots of tea a day. My Dad was another iced tea fanatic. Today I just grab one of those little tubs of tea, Peach being my favorite, fill the container with ice and water, give a little stir and I have my tea ready. Funny thing I always have to have a glass on the night stand and when I awake, take a nice sip and back to dreamland I go. So pour yourself a glass of ice cold Kool-Aid or Iced Tea, sit back and remember your childhood days of how Mom made yours.

Now no ideas for dinner tonight, well JoeyZ has one for you. It is also “National Catfish Month.” I never ate catfish till I moved down south. Those farm raised catfish are great breaded and fried, some fries and cole slaw tops them off. So there is a hint for dinner tonight. Have a wonderful day and evening gang. Happy Birthday to my Guys and Dolls celebrating theirs today and many more.

NATIONAL MILK CHOCOLATE AND BRUNSWICK DRUGS

Good Day Speakies:

Happy Hump Day Gang. Today is "National Milk Chocolate Day", so grab a piece of that chocolate candy or whatever you like that comes in that chocolate flavor and enjoy it. I use to be crazy about ice cold chocolate milk and probably still am, I just haven't had chocolate milk in years but I did notice some in the break room refrigerator at work today in those small little cartons. HMMMM !

I'd like to wish a Happy Birthday to any of my Speakies celebrating theirs today, so have a great day and enjoy your birthday and eat your cake, hey it might even be chocolate.

I've had fun writing about my memories growing up in North Trenton and at my grandmothers in South Trenton. When I was in high school, there was a small hole in the wall drug store called "Brunswick Drugs." It was across the street from my parents house and it became a hang out for a bunch of us guys. The entry was very narrow with a telephone booth on the left hand side, a soda fountain set-up and cigarette, cigar etc area on the right hand side. If you walked back there was the pharmacist's location, to me it always looked like a pawn shop window with all the supplies stacked around the store. A great and funny guy named Charlie worked part-time at the soda fountain, he also made deliveries in a Chevy Corvair that we all rode in if the boss wasn't around. The drug store fountain became our hang out in the evenings and we just shot the bull, smoking cigs, calling the babes on the phone and crowding the aisle. Charlie made some great sodas and ice cream dishes. Our favorites were the flavored cokes, mine was a vanilla coke and when you walked in Charlie had it ready for you. What service for a dime. I'm trying to remember the guys who hung out there. There was Jack, Rich, even Charlie when he wasn't working, Butchie and I know a few other guys. I remember at times we would all hop in Rich's car and head downtown where everyone made a loop driving around and seeing who they could pick-up. Rich was a good looking guy and never seemed to have problems. We had lots of laughs and fun, a good memory.

I guess if you ever watched Happy Days on TV, I guess Brunswick Drugs was our Happy Day hang out growing up. Have a great day Guys and Dolls and be careful out there.

HERE IS TO THE BEATTY ST. BOYS

Happy Tuesday Guys and Dolls:

Thinking of the places and things you did growing up brings back fond memories not only to me but I’m sure you readers too. I had a great time growing up in North Trenton, we played baseball all summer long, played cards in the evening, we lit up punks to keep the bugs away, played flashlight tag in the alleys at night and we were never bothered by anyone. My Dad took me down to the Delaware River about 3 times a week to go fishing, it was a special time he and I shared and I’ll never forget him for that.

My time was shared between my house and my grandmother’s in South Trenton. After my grandfather passed away, I kept her company and helped her over the weekends with errands around the house and running to the local stores. It was in my first or second year of high school I reunited with an old friend name Lou, along with my cousin Tom, a new friend Richie and there as always Ralph tagging along at times. A classmate of mine Jack and his brother Jim joined in at times and we all got along great. We called ourselves the Beatty St. Boys and on a Friday night you could find us on Lou’s front porch checking out the girls walking by and hoping to connect. The evening was spent having fun in general and I mean good clean fun, there was respect in the old neighborhoods for the people who lived there. I have to admit we did chug down a few beers that we smuggled out from time to time. Now of course at times my buddy Lou had to kick some A_ _ to a few big mouths but that was neighborhood cleansing. As for me I wasn’t much of a fighter I was a lover.

Once Lou met a girl named Georgette who lived in the Chambersburg part of Trenton and her house became a Saturday night hangout for us. Her mother making homemade pizza, we listened to records and just had a grand old time. We all remained friends until the times changed and we had to go our own separate ways. Jack married Georgette later in life and it’s my understanding they are still going strong. There were so many other things we did I can not recall them all but they are lying somewhere in my memory.

I reconnected with Lou who lived in Florida and now resides back in the Trenton area. My cousin Tom found me on Facebook and we have spoken several times. I even found Richie on Facebook and spoke to him. I’ve written a tribute to those guys in my second book that I hope to publish shortly.

Sometimes I wish I could close my eyes, make a wish and go back in time to spend one weekend in my youth with those guys again. That was what friendship was about with those guys and I’ll never forget them. Have a great day Speakies.

LOLLIPOPS AND SUMMER NIGHTS

Good Day Speakies:

Tuesday is upon us and today we celebrate “NATIONAL LOLLIPOP DAY.” You can call them whatever you like, lollipops, pops, suckers or a dum-dum. They come in all kinds of flavors to suit anyone’s taste. You can’t forget those Tootsie Roll Pops you know those hard candy lollipops filled with that chewy chocolate Tootsie Roll inside. Man you had to suck those things for hours before you got to that tootsie. I also remember those lollipops that had a loop stick instead of the straight kind, can’t remember who made them but they were good. Personally I was never a fanatic fan of lollipops or chewy candy. To those Speakies out there who are true lollipop fans and I’m not forgetting you Roe Dear (she loves dum-dums) enjoy those pops today and for that fact any day you want.

Watching the news last night there is a heat wave spreading across the US. When I was a kid I always thought it was hot in the summer and the things we did to try and keep cool. I spent a lot of time at my grandmother’s house because my mom and dad worked all day. I can remember the firemen coming around several times a week and opening the fire hydrants to cool all of us kids off. It was like a battle to get near the water but it sure felt good to get drenched with that cold water.

Ice pops were always a good choice to smooth the mouth during the hot weather or running after the ice truck man and asking for a piece of ice as he delivered to the bars. I liked taking a bath after dinner and than loading down with talc powder to keep you dry during the night. In those days we all sat on the front porches at night watching the people walk by or just listening to the old ladies chatting in Polish and trying to figure out what they were saying. We had the ice cream man come around, along with the waffle guy and there was a pizza truck too. Those are some of the fond memories I had as a kid and I’m glad I had those times to share with the ones I loved.

Have a wonderful day Speakies and maybe tonight sit outside and have a lollipop or an ice pop and remember your childhood days on those hot summer nights.

GOOD OLD TV DAYS

Good Morning Guys and Dolls:

I was just thinking TV sure has changed. I remember growing up and all the new shows started in September and ended in May or June. I can’t recall the summer had new pilot shows or not, I think we just watched reruns or found something else to do. Of course one did not have the choices as we do today, cable, satellite and soon I expect some new TV wonder to pop up. There are so many choices to watch, comedies, sports, reality shows, movies, specials of all kinds, PBS channels, game shows you name it and it’s on the tube.

The highlight of summer evening TV for me growing up was watching New York Yankee baseball on Channel 11, with Mel Allen, Red Barber and Phil Rizzuto. I would also catch my team the Phillies mostly on the weekends with By Saam, Richie Ashburn, Claude Haring and Bill Campbell direct from Connie Mack Stadium. Oh the sponsors, TastyKake cakes and pies, Frank’s Soda and a host of other Philly favorites.

Friday nights I remember watching the Friday Night Fights with my Dad brought to you by Gillette Razor Blades, “Look Sharp, Feel Sharp.” There was professional wrestling with such greats as Antonio Rocco, Johnny Valentine, Buddy Rogers, Gorilla Monsoon, Dr. Jerry Graham and of course my favorite “Killer Kowalski.” They had a couple of Indian Chiefs, Chief Big Heart and Chief White Owl also wrestled on the side of good. Throw in those midget matches and a couple of female matches and you had an evening of fun.

During the week on Channel 9 from New York at 8 p.m. there were movies and the same movie showed all week long at the same time period. This is where I first saw the original King Kong and remembering my mother telling me that I would have nightmares from watching it. Never did Mom, but thanks for trying to scare me.

Have a great day Speakies and be careful out there.