Fishing, Baby!

Last Saturday was our annual fishing trip. We set off at dawn from Fairhaven Harbor- it was a glorious sunrise.

We motored out of the harbor.

Captain Pete was at the helm- we ALWAYS catch fish with Captain Pete. He says it must have something to do with the guy driving the boat.

We headed for Noman's Island, which is just off the coast of Martha's Vineyard.

Fishing rods- check.

Bait- check.

It wasn't long before I snagged a striper!

Hotdogman Jr. caught this bluefish.

My biggest of the day was this 36 inch monster. 

Mrs. HDM beat me by an inch- nice job honey!

We grilled up the bluefish that night. Baked striper Monday, fish and chips Wednesday, Fish tacos Friday. Another awesome fishing trip!

A Hot Dog a Day Number Nine: The James "Cy" Belmore Field House Snack Bar

Baseball and hot dogs go together like white and rice, so I drove down to Hunnewell Fields, where the Natick Little League plays its games, today to check things out. In the summer time, Natick hosts the Baystate Baseball League's 9-10 year old games on Saturdays. 

The fields are very nice, there are cool scoreboards, and- most importantly- there is a snack bar. All the proceeds from the snack bar go to the James Belmore Little League Scholarship Fund.

Last fall, we lost a very dear and long time friend of the league, James "Cy" Belmore. Cy gave over 50 years of service to the league, serving as a member of the Board of Directors, a coach, League President, and, in recent years, as the guy who ran the snack bar.

To honor his contributions to the community, the current Natick Little League Board of Directors named the field house after him. The snack bar is located in the field house.

Here's Cy in his younger days. Little Miss LOVED going to the field to get a hot dog from Cy.

Jackson Hookway was manning the snack bar today.

Hotdogman Junior and a couple of coaches were hanging around too.

There aren't a lot of fancy condiments- ketchup IS ALLOWED since many of the patrons are well under the age of 18. The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council says "Don't use ketchup on your hot dog after the age of 18."

There's just mustard and relish packs- it's a pretty simple set up.

I dressed my Kayem Old Tyme frank with some mustard and...

CHOWED DOWN!

Happy National Hot Dog Month!!!!

Check out the video of my visit on Hot Dog Stories

What Makes You Happy

It's funny how some things just make you feel happy. Like a sunny day. Or a good cup of coffee. Or even just a smile.

Today I am happy, but not for myself. I am happy for my son. You see, this past weekend, there were Babe Ruth baseball tryouts for our town. In the past, I have always coached my son's team. Since I have a six year old, I decided to coach Tee Ball this year. It's my son's last season in Babe Ruth, so it was a bittersweet decision to not coach him, but he plays for his high school and he'll miss half of his town league games, so I opted to coach Little Miss's more regularly attended Tee Ball squad.

When I picked Junior up from tryouts Saturday, he was just finishing and he looked a bit worse for wear after trying out in 35 degree weather. He said he threw very well but he was down because he felt he didn't hit as well as he could have.

There are two divisions in our town league, A and B. The A division is comprised of mostly high school rostered players, but since my son goes to private school, he has gone unnoticed in the past by the A division coaches. Since it's his last year in the town league, he really wanted to make an A team.

Sunday night, around 6 o'clock, I got the call from an A division coach letting us know Junior had been selected to his team. We were both very happy! My son was happy because he made it on his own merits (dad didn't pick him). I was happy because he made it and was picked by possibly the best coach in the program (since I graduated to Tee Ball anyway).

It's the next day and I still can't wipe the smile off my face. Here I am, a father of five healthy, intelligent, GOOD kids (the oldest is off to college next year- PRE MED) and the thing that gets me smiling is the fact that my son made A division Babe Ruth.

It's funny what makes you happy.