Rod and Danny worked until 11:00 p.m. and then they headed out to Washington, D.C. They drove all through the night and arrived at 6:00 a.m.. Rod’s mother-in-law, Ethel, had a big Southern breakfast ready for them: ham and eggs, grits - the whole nine yards. As the men sat down to eat, Jay reached into a large ice bucket and brought out a bottle of champagne. Ethel asked Danny if he drank. What a question! Danny was practically a candidate for a liver transplant and Ethel asked the man if he drank. Foolishly, Danny told Ethel he could probably drink her under the table. Rod told him that he just made a really big mistake in telling Ethel that he could drink her under the table. Danny didn’t know it then, but he was about to meet a couple of real professionals.
After the champagne breakfast, Jay, Ethel, Rod and Danny headed southeast of Washington, D.C. to the Patuxent River, where Jay had his boat docked. They got on the boat and motored down the river and out on Chesapeake Bay. There was word that the “Blues” were running and Jay listened to the boat radio chatter to find out if the Bluefish were hitting on “rubber” or on “hardware.” That day the fish were hitting on “rubber” - 14" lengths of medical rubber tubing, with leaders and hooks configured to mimic an eel. They rigged their fishing poles with lead weights about 7 to 8 feet from the “rubber” bait and trolled for “Blues.” The lead weights bounced along the bottom and the tubing wove back and forth through the currents of water. The fish began to hit.
Jay yelled at Ethel to get him an Icepick. She mixed vodka with iced tea and took it to him. Then she prepared a gin and water for herself and the two of them began their fifth-a-day weekend drinking habit. Rod and Danny were drinking beer and soon found themselves pretty wasted because of lack of sleep and the inability to keep up with the advanced drinking skills of Jay and Ethel.
Jay’s boat cost more than $38,000 when he bought it in 1967. That was a time when Rod earned only about $125 per week and he thought that a boat that expensive was, well, rather extravagant. But it was a decked-out boat. Ethel went to the galley and began to cook something.
After drinking for hours, Jay turned the boat toward the shore when he had consumed his requisite fifth of vodka. Ethel matched him drink for drink, and Rod was amazed that the two of them were able to dock the boat and disembark with a steadiness that would belie their day’s drinking. Rod and Danny had a difficult time getting off the boat without assistance.
They all went to a shabby crab restaurant that looked like a highway department maintenance building: a plain concrete block building, with unpainted walls, in the middle of a crummy neighborhood. It certainly didn’t have the look of a restaurant or even the look of a place one would like to go to. The tables inside were covered with brown wrapping paper instead of tablecloths. The floor was sloppy with spilled beer and remnants of crab legs. They ordered “a bushel of crabs and a gallon of beer.” And Rod said that the crabs were the best crabs he ever tasted.
After their supper, they drove back to Washington, D.C. Rod and Danny were badly sunburned and absolutely exhausted. When they got to Jay and Ethel’s place, Danny went to the shower and Rod sat down in an overstaffed chair, waiting for his turn in the shower. He promptly fell asleep. He had intended to jump in the shower after Danny got out. But he found himself early the next morning in the same chair, fully dressed, hung-over, and still needing a shower.
There was no time for a shower, however. Jay was calling the men to breakfast, saying, “if they didn’t hop to it they would be left behind.” And he meant it. They gobbled their breakfast and drove down to the Patuxent River. Soon, they were back on the Chesapeake, “rigged for rubber,” looking for Blues. The sunlight was bright and blinding and made Rod feel even worse than he thought he felt. But Jay was calling for an “Icepick” and Ethel was starting on her day’s-long journey through the gin bottle as well. The very thought of alcoholic drinks repulsed Rod, and it wasn’t until after noon before he could attempt his first beer. Danny was a bit more aggressive than Rod and got into the beer cooler before he did.
The Blues weren’t hitting on rubber and Jay suggested that they switch to “hardware.” They used a “Tony” and had much better luck. The hours stretched by slowly, and the toll of lack of sleep and beer finally caught up with Danny and Rod. They both looked like something the cat had dragged in. Just like the previous day, when Jay had reached the bottom of his vodka bottle, he turned the boat around and headed toward shore. When they got to the dock Danny and Rod were both asleep on the cushions at the stern. Ethel looked at them and shook her head. “I thought those boys said they could drink,” she said.
After the champagne breakfast, Jay, Ethel, Rod and Danny headed southeast of Washington, D.C. to the Patuxent River, where Jay had his boat docked. They got on the boat and motored down the river and out on Chesapeake Bay. There was word that the “Blues” were running and Jay listened to the boat radio chatter to find out if the Bluefish were hitting on “rubber” or on “hardware.” That day the fish were hitting on “rubber” - 14" lengths of medical rubber tubing, with leaders and hooks configured to mimic an eel. They rigged their fishing poles with lead weights about 7 to 8 feet from the “rubber” bait and trolled for “Blues.” The lead weights bounced along the bottom and the tubing wove back and forth through the currents of water. The fish began to hit.
Jay yelled at Ethel to get him an Icepick. She mixed vodka with iced tea and took it to him. Then she prepared a gin and water for herself and the two of them began their fifth-a-day weekend drinking habit. Rod and Danny were drinking beer and soon found themselves pretty wasted because of lack of sleep and the inability to keep up with the advanced drinking skills of Jay and Ethel.
Jay’s boat cost more than $38,000 when he bought it in 1967. That was a time when Rod earned only about $125 per week and he thought that a boat that expensive was, well, rather extravagant. But it was a decked-out boat. Ethel went to the galley and began to cook something.
After drinking for hours, Jay turned the boat toward the shore when he had consumed his requisite fifth of vodka. Ethel matched him drink for drink, and Rod was amazed that the two of them were able to dock the boat and disembark with a steadiness that would belie their day’s drinking. Rod and Danny had a difficult time getting off the boat without assistance.
They all went to a shabby crab restaurant that looked like a highway department maintenance building: a plain concrete block building, with unpainted walls, in the middle of a crummy neighborhood. It certainly didn’t have the look of a restaurant or even the look of a place one would like to go to. The tables inside were covered with brown wrapping paper instead of tablecloths. The floor was sloppy with spilled beer and remnants of crab legs. They ordered “a bushel of crabs and a gallon of beer.” And Rod said that the crabs were the best crabs he ever tasted.
After their supper, they drove back to Washington, D.C. Rod and Danny were badly sunburned and absolutely exhausted. When they got to Jay and Ethel’s place, Danny went to the shower and Rod sat down in an overstaffed chair, waiting for his turn in the shower. He promptly fell asleep. He had intended to jump in the shower after Danny got out. But he found himself early the next morning in the same chair, fully dressed, hung-over, and still needing a shower.
There was no time for a shower, however. Jay was calling the men to breakfast, saying, “if they didn’t hop to it they would be left behind.” And he meant it. They gobbled their breakfast and drove down to the Patuxent River. Soon, they were back on the Chesapeake, “rigged for rubber,” looking for Blues. The sunlight was bright and blinding and made Rod feel even worse than he thought he felt. But Jay was calling for an “Icepick” and Ethel was starting on her day’s-long journey through the gin bottle as well. The very thought of alcoholic drinks repulsed Rod, and it wasn’t until after noon before he could attempt his first beer. Danny was a bit more aggressive than Rod and got into the beer cooler before he did.
The Blues weren’t hitting on rubber and Jay suggested that they switch to “hardware.” They used a “Tony” and had much better luck. The hours stretched by slowly, and the toll of lack of sleep and beer finally caught up with Danny and Rod. They both looked like something the cat had dragged in. Just like the previous day, when Jay had reached the bottom of his vodka bottle, he turned the boat around and headed toward shore. When they got to the dock Danny and Rod were both asleep on the cushions at the stern. Ethel looked at them and shook her head. “I thought those boys said they could drink,” she said.
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