<p>I think they are all ducks too.</p>
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<p>That must be new. We were not Reservists in my day. We had AD military ID’s.</p>
<p>Midshipmen are issued green ID cards, which means they are on active duty. Pink ID cards are issued to reservists. Upon graduation, midshipmen are commissioned as officers in either the regular Navy or Marine Corps. There was a period of time when midshipmen were commissioned in the reserves; however, that was changed for the Class of 2006 with the Defense Appropriations Act.</p>
<p>Back on topic… I would just like to suggest to anyone who has never been to Philly before to go to Pat’s after the game. It is at 9th, Wharton and Passyunk Ave in South Philly.
Best. Cheesesteaks. Ever.</p>
<p>Oh, and I think Annapolis mids are issued the CAT cards with the chip in them, and at KP we still have the green ones.</p>
<p>The last time I had a cheese steak at Pat’s it was so disgusting I thought about drinking hydrogen peroxide to give my arteries a fighting chance. The surly service is good fun, tho.</p>
<p>But if you’re at KP you’re young enough to survive the experience and you could put the calorie load to good use.</p>
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<p>Mental note: Scratch Pat’s off the potential-future-places-to-visit list. :eek:</p>
<p>Upstairs At Varalli’s is a lovely restaurant across from the Academy of Music on Broad St. Great view, great red wines. No jeans - throw a sports jacket over your turtleneck. Reservations required. Two could eat for less than $100. Italian epicurean seafood emphasis. Piping hot food.</p>
<p>If I could only eat in one restaurant in Philly it would be City Tavern only because it’s so old, so Philly and has/had an interesting menu. Reservations required and I forget the dress code. If the head chef walks the dining room it’s worth the effort to shake his hand.</p>
<p>Bookbinders! If you have not been at least once, well worth the trip!</p>
<p>Ummm, don’t like Bookbinder’s -over-rated, over-priced and over buttery. (But the tomato based soups are pretty good.) Had a leathery lobster there once. And almost died from something else there another time. They offered me a free dinner but I want to live to see my grandkids.</p>
<p>Le Bec Fin (Yes!) if you just have to spend a lot of money. Four Seasons (downtown) is nice as well and pricey</p>
<p>Okay, I’ll be with 2 teenagers. After the game, one will be a sad cadet and the other will be a high school junior. If I dared ask either of them to dress up for dinner, they’d mutiny. Dress code should include clean blue jeans.</p>
<p>So, what are some good restaurants downtown? I want to make sure to have decent food (as in “please don’t kill my arteries” that teenagers will also love.</p>
<p>I’ve thought it over and I still think you should go to Villa di Roma. My teenage boys love this restaurant. It has great food, moderate pricing and large portions. The service can be surly but that’s S. Philly. Tell them a friend recommended it and let them know you have a kid in the service. They love our soldiers and sailors in S. Philly. You should make a reservation and there’s no dress code.</p>
<p>Get the villa salad, the house chianti, mussels marinara and whatever entree your heart desires. Take a cab to Montrose and 9th streets and tell the cabbie to come back in an hour and a half (make him promise.) But don’t worry you can always call another cab from the bar. </p>
<p>Good luck! I won’t be at Villa this year but hopefully next year :)</p>
<p>PS Villa is CASH ONLY.</p>
<p>Just to let you know, as we rush after the game to try and beat you to it, Villa Di Roma does not accept reservations on Saturday night.</p>
<p>The reserve status can be confusing. In our day, I believe officers were USNR(reserve) until such time as they chose to “augment”. DH was “active duty” for 20+ years, but always had the “USNR” designation since he never augmented. I’m not sure what difference it actually made, but in our case, for some reason the benefits of augmenting didn’t outweigh the advatanges of staying USNR. </p>
<p>The benefits of augmenting vary for each individual, and I’m not sure how it will play out for someone graduating from an academy, but it is possible to be “USNR” and still be considered “Active Duty”.</p>
<p>There is a difference between being a “reservist” and being “active duty reserves”. Clear as mud, right?</p>
<p>^^^^^
Service members in the Regular Navy (i.e., USN) count against the Navy’s end strength as authorized by Congress. Those service menbers in the Reserve Navy (i.e., USNR) do not count against that end strength even though they are on active duty. The Navy uses this ploy to play the numbers game and to stay within the Congressionally manadated end strength. On the civilian side, the Navy hires “temporary” employees to accomplish the same thing. We would lay those “temporary” employees off on 30 September so they wouldn’t count against ceiling points. On 1 October, those “temporary” employees would be back on the payroll.</p>
<p>You could try Monte Carlo Living Room - your kids would think you’re the absolute coolest. It’s upscale - the dining is upstairs and a club is downstairs. Nice casual clothes. Pricier and plusher than Villa.</p>
<p>Then there’s Franca Maria’s but the neighborhood is iffy. The wait staff there is great however they might not let you eat dessert if they think you’ve had enough.</p>
<p>Update on gate pass:</p>
<p>We were able to get 1 gate pass to accompany our mid to the gate…I had reqested 2 so that both parents could go in, but had to settle for one. As for the parents, we had to duke it out as to who would get lucky this time around… 
guess who won!</p>
<p>Our airport has been good about giving us 2 gate passes so that we can wait with our cadet. The first time, we were told it was for those with deployment orders duty only, but the representative came and found us outside of security and told us that after checking, we could get passes and gladly gave them to us. On Sunday we had no problems at all. I guess we are lucky; they bill themselves as a “military friendly” airport </p>
<p>Does anyone have tips on how to keep warm at the game? I have heard all sorts of suggestions from bring hand and feet warmers, to bring a sleeping bag (which sounds a bit extreme).</p>
<p>Sleeping bags are good. Bring a cushion to insulate your butt from the seat. Its amazing how much heat you can lose there – and not just from the peppers on cheese steaks! Just wear lots of layers. I think Army is on the sunny side this year.</p>
<p>LOL - thanks LFWB dad</p>
<p>Definitely dress in layers. With today’s hi-tech fabrics (which didn’t exist even 10 years ago), you can get pretty toasty without too much bulk. Definitely bring a warm hat and something for your ears. Gloves, too. A scarf or neck gaiter would be advisable.</p>
<p>I have a pic of my mom at the one game she went to. Looks like a mummy, poor thing. It was flippin’ FREEZING that year! </p>
<p>I like LFWB Dad’s suggestion of a seat cushion. Definitely a good idea.</p>
<p>Bring lots of money for hot chocolate and coffee. I don’t know if they allow thermoses anymore.</p>