Hot dog, all around. Small fry. Raspberry lime rickey. Maybe a grilled cheese if I’m feeling extra—don’t sleep on Sully’s grilled cheese. Everyone’s got a go-to order for Sullivan’s Castle Island. For nearly 75 years, it’s been the unofficial nostalgia capital of South Boston—a place where memories are made with every crinkle fry.
My earliest memory? Going to the original Sully’s with my dad and brother—back when the building sat a little closer to the middle of Fort Independence. It was smaller, squarer, with a silver railing you could lean on while eating your meal. The smell of the ocean. Seagulls on stand-by. Ketchup-stained napkins flapping in the wind. Pure joy.
Lunch was always followed by a trip to the playground—swinging, sliding, and climbing on cement statues of monogrammed animals, until we were out of breath. Then a hike up the hill to peek at Fort Independence. Those massive green heavy doors were usually closed, and my dad would whisper that a giant lived inside. We believed him, of course. After that? A run down to the obelisk monument commemorating Donald McKay, legendary shipbuilder, near the fish pier—playing tag with Dad as he darted around the base and somehow vanished around each corner like a magician.
My dad’s love for Castle Island and Sully’s came from his dad, Jim Dahill, who passed it down to the next generation, like eye color. There’s a park named after my grandfather—James F. Dahill Harborview Park—tucked right behind Sully’s and leading down to the pier. Family history is literally rooted in Castle Island.
Me with my grandfather Jim and my brother Richie on O Street circa 1975…