DUNCAN: THE TOWN CLUB

THE TOWN CLUB

BY DUNCAN

This story is about two old guys who decided to have lunch together. The problem is He lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and I live in Indianapolis, Indiana. How to pull this off?

His name is Jack, and I have known Him for about thirty-two years. We met at a small bank that was located in Speedway, Indiana. I was a new hire, and Jack was a new Trust Officer.

We both had no idea what we were getting into. This was a small-town bank with small-town ideas of how to run a small bank. That may sound like I know better than the management of the small town bank. I don’t and didn’t. But some things happen in a small bank that are hard to understand.

The bank (Which was gobbled up by a bigger bank) is not what this story is about. So, let’s move along. Jack and I didn’t last long in this environment. Jack moved on to a new, bigger bank position in Tampa, Florida. I moved on to another mortgage company in Indianapolis.

Jack called and said, “When are you coming down to Tampa and pay us (Jack and Martha) a visit?”

Well, I was all over that invitation. It was right after Christmas and it was cold in Indianapolis. I decided I could thaw out for a few days with good friends.

I learned how to drink “Good Scotch” for my friend, Jack. He taught my taste buds everything they needed to know about Scotch.

Jack decided he wanted to work in Seattle. So I was invited to Seattle for an after-Christmas vacation. I wanted to see the Pike Fish Market. But first, we had to take a Ferry Boat ride.

This photograph is me on the deck of a Ferry Boat getting ready to pull into the docks of Seattle. The water we are on is called Puget Sound. (Yes, the wing makes me very cold.)

Been there … done that!

Photo Credit: Martha, Jack’s wife.

Jack, Martha, and I are having breakfast at the Sound View Cafe Seattle. This means we sat next to the window looking out over “Puget Sound” and watching the bustling shuttle boats coming and going, and we were seated over the Pike Fresh Fish Public Market.

Jack then decided to move back to his “roots.” Back to Wisconsin. Back to family and where life began. I went up to Wisconsin to pay Jack a visit at his new digs in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was also his birthday. So I traveled up Highway 94 through Chicago traffic and finally made it all the way to Milwaukee, and enjoyed their hospitality again.

Photo credit: Arielle, our waitress: Jack, Duncan, Martha The Restaurant: Zin Uncommon

Another photograph is of Jack and Martha watching me pay the dinner bill. Notice the glee in their eyes? It’s as if the dinner bill will explode or my charge card will catch on fire.

Well, here is the story I have been meaning to tell. Jack emails me and says,

“You keep going to lunch with all your friends; when will you have lunch with me?”

“I just had lunch and dinner with you back in June, on your birthday. What’s the matter, you feel left out or something?”

“Well, I want to “do” lunch too!!!”

“You coming my way, or am I coming your way?”

“What about a HALF-WAY lunch?”

“What’s a HALF-WAY lunch?”

“Well, let’s each travel HALF-WAY and find a place in the middle. You figure it out and tell me where we are meeting for lunch.”

I went to Google search and asked Google, “What’s HALF-WAY between Milwaukee and Indianapolis?” Google says Crown Point, Indiana. So I started looking for a mom-and-pop restaurant. I didn’t want a franchise place, I wanted something that had some character. I asked Google again, and Google came up with several places. I checked on each and then looked at their websites and decided on a Steak House in Highland, Indiana, called The Town Club.

For those of you that are wondering, it’s about a two-and-one-half-hour drive, one way. Yes, it might seem extreme to go that far for lunch. When you’re retired, you may need to escape the house once in a while. There is nothing like the thrill of fighting for position on an interstate highway with eighty thousand-pound trucks at seventy-five miles an hour; it’s a real kicker to your adrenaline. And when was the last time you got a kick to your adrenaline? It takes a keen eye, and a firm hand on the wheel, a heavy foot helps, and of course, rock and roll music in your hearing aids, BABY!!!

It was happening, that magic moment when a well-conceived plan came together. I pulled into the Town Club Restaurant and Lounge parking lot in Highland, Indiana. I looked for Jack, he was parked in the back parking lot and I walked to his Brown Subaru station wagon. Now Jack might call his car an SUV, and I won’t argue with that description.

After all, it's his car. Right?

He could have driven his two-seat BMW Z3. But he decided he wanted comfort instead of fashion. I worry about Jack from time to time. Jack is also on the Board of the Condo Association where he lives, and that gives me pause; you know how those HomeOwner Association types can be, Aye? Holy Smokes!!

BMW Z3

I jumped in the passenger side of his Brown Subaru, and we looked at each other and more or less said, “Well, here we are. We made it. How are you, Pal?”

Jack wanted to tell me the story of his Apple Watch and his Apple I-Phone.

It seemed his Apple watch was losing battery every day. In other words, it would stop working earlier every day. So he decides he needs a new battery. No one will work on the watch. Not Best Buy - not a Jeweler - NO ONE! Jack’s gotta send it to the Apple repair center for a new battery.

So he sends it through UPS. The repair center calls him and says the case has a hairline crack. Well, UPS must have handled it rough. No, the hairline crack is hardly noticeable. I doubt it was UPS.

How much is a new watch? That would be in the neighborhood of $400.00.

So Jack lets out a chest full of air and says, “Okay, go forward, send me a new watch.” He gets the new Apple watch, and it is not working. The damn thing is not syncing with his iPhone.

So he goes to the Apple Retail Center again, and there is an hour-and-a-half wait for a technician. A Salesperson said you can go online and update the thing by yourself.

Jack leaves and tries to perform the update. It’s not happening. He goes back to the Apple Retail Center and waits an hour and a half for a technician. Once he is in front of the person who can fix the watch, the Tech says,

“Oh, you have an old iPhone. This new Apple watch will not work with the older models of the iPhone. Didn’t they tell you that when they sold you the watch? You must buy a new iPhone compatible with this Apple watch.”

Owning a new iPhone and a new Apple watch is very fashionable.

“Jack, you need a drink. Let’s go inside, drown your problem, and enjoy a good meal.”

We decided to sit at the bar as we entered the place, and Nancy was our go-to barkeeper. Nancy has been a “Tender” at The Town Club for many years. Before that, she worked at Freddy’s Steakhouse in Highland.

Nancy tells us the Town Club Restaurant and Lounge was started in 1946. The Town Club has had four owners. The current owner (Mike) has owned the place for the last 26 years. And by the way, you two came from Milwaukee and Indianapolis? Nancy says Mike, the owner, says to “comp” us an Hors D'oeuvre. So we went for fried mushrooms. Apparently, the place wants us to return for another meal.

Little Cindy was at the end of the bar, and she gave us valuable information about the bar and the things that go in the back rooms.

“Why do they call you Little Cindy?”

“Because, when I started to work here, there was already a “Cindy,” and so they decided I would be known as “Little Cindy?”

Make no mistake, the decor in this place is dated. But, this is a neighborhood fixture for the area. It’s supported by the people who live in and around the place. Nancy and Little Cindy know everyone who walked in the place by their first name. And the people who enjoy this place wouldn't have it any other way.

We continued talking about the “Good Old Days,” and each enjoyed a steak sandwich with a side of fries.

Life is good.

All I need to do is leave the house and enjoy it with my friends. This beats "Facebook" every time.