Fun stop at an A&W Drive-In somewhere between Fairmont and Faribault.  Not many other customers-- it was 90+ degrees.  Who sits in a hot car to eat a hot dog on a day like that?  Well, we enjoyed it.  Look closely-- just over Chris' shoulder is Nana in the back seat deconstructing a BBQ sandwich.

 Nana at St. Mary's, where she went to high school, most recently 76 years ago.  (Class of 1937)  This is the Dining Hall.  Nana told us that the raised platform was where the headmistress ate, and when students first arrived at school they were seated close to the platform so she could pass judgment on their table manners.  Nana got off probation quickly, and (as you all know) is still a stickler about table etiquette.  I still get a lecture if I set down the napkin with the crease facing her.  NEVER DO THIS!

 Things got very interesting when some very friendly St. Mary's administrators (the Head Master of Shattuck St Mary's and the Head of the Middle School) sat down to show us Jean's yearbook.  (He brought along John's yearbook from Shattuck as well-- we found out that John, or "Yil" as he was known, was a handsome devil at the age of 18.)  We had great fun paging through the yearbook and finding Jean's face in pretty much every club portrait.  Best of all, though, was her class picture, under which were cryptic notes about her.  Most of the girls had little nicknames or words like "perky personality" or 'Bridge addict." 

This was what was written under Jean's picture:  "Dark Corners.  Anonymous Letters.  O.U.L." 

Doesn't that sound like an abbreviated Dan Brown novel?  She doesn't remember what O.U.L. stands for, nor what the other phrases refer to.  The mystery deepens, but we can't help but think that Cubby's somewhere in the mix....

 The Drawing Room where the girls had coffee after dinner; now it is just a student lounge. 

 Above, inside St Mary's Hall; below, the graduate in front of the sacred building.  In her day the whole school was in this one large building: classrooms, dinning hall, and dorm rooms.  Now it is the middle school and there is a new building for the high school.  But as much as its changed, she felt very much at home and remembered a lot about the good old days.  She had a lovely time, and everyone was happy to take her around and talk with her. 

The Birthday Boy-- we will fete him when the whole family is together in DC next week.