Fleet Week

Little can prepare you for the annual Memorial Day Atlantic fleet crossing of international ships that dock at the myriad piers on the west side making the women of New York swoon for crisp, ivory uniformed sea-faring mavens whose worldly charm can transform even a dive like Hogs and Hefers—a profane pit that reeks of day-old barbeque and stale domestic beer—into the set of a black and white movie when gentlemanly sailors held tightly to their hats to keep their hands from shaking as they asked the prettiest girl for a dance.