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| Me and Bear |
Yes, I know today is Wednesday, the previous weekend ended three days ago. The next weekend begins in three days. Today is, as they say, hump day. I am not a fan of the term, though it has its uses. One being providing a means for identifying silly people.
What?
Go to any zoo which has camels. Wait long enough and there will be some guy (it's always a guy) yelling, "What day is it?" at the camels. I witnessed this out in Sandy Eggo at their lovely zoo. Every zoo has "that guy" who does that.
But I digress.
You might remember me mentioning (here) that The Missus Herself and I arose rather early on Friday last for to travel to the Washington D.C. area for an event which happens every year around this date. Which was briefly mentioned here and will be expounded upon in more detail at some date in the near future. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
Anyhoo...
Sleep was a precious commodity not to be found on that Thursday evening prior to our flight. It was toss and turn from ten of the post meridian to the stroke of midnight and a bit beyond before Your Humble Scribe managed to drift off to sleep (perchance to dream). Only to awaken at the stroke of two with an urgent need to (how do I say this politely) pee. Yes, that works. It's a natural thing. (You in the back, stop that infernal snickering! Stop it now I say!)
Yes, two of the ante meridian, roughly an hour before my planned awakening. What the heck, I got up, shaved, showered, and downed a cup of coffee. While I was "awake" when it was time to shift colors and get underway to the aeroporto, bright-eyed and bushy tailed I was not. While The Missus Herself is nearly always the picture of health and beauty (even in the wee hours) I don't recall her feeling any more chipper than I.
But we arrived, got the vehicular conveyance stashed in the long term lot, got our boarding passes, checked our bags, and stumbled through the security organs in time to sit at the gate for 30 minutes or so. Flight was smooth, we arrived at Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA), claimed our bags, met up with The Nuke and her hounds and were off on our weekend adventure in the environs of Our Nation's Capital.
As The Nuke's presence was required at the Navy Yard for an hour or so, her duties are many and vital, we accompanied her to that location after dropping the dogs off at doggy daycare. While she did her thing, we were set loose in the National Museum of the U.S. Navy. A simply marvelous place, one you should visit someday, though it ain't that easy. It's doable (see here) but it's much simpler if one has a DoD issued ID card. Which I (and The Missus Herself) do. We've got that going for us.
An hour and a half and some 270 photographs later, we were ready to head out. Yes, that museum is superb and you will get to see some of those pictures later. I mean I have to save something for later, right? Okay, okay, here's a couple photos from the museum...
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| Reproduction of one of the "fighting tops" of USS Constitution. Marine on the left, sailor with grenade in hand on the right. |
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| Yours Truly expounding on the care and feeding of one of Old Ironside's long guns. |
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| John Paul Jones, he set the standard for fighting captains. |
Friday was pretty much a chill out and relax kind of day. We watched a movie on the tube back at The Nuke's place, the latest Jack Reacher film, Never Go Back. While I know that a lot of folks don't care for Tom Cruise, I don't mind him at all...
What? Who is Jack Reacher? He's a character in a series of novels by Lee Child. Action-packed with twists and turns in every chapter. While Tom Cruise is really too small to play Jack Reacher (who is well over six feet tall), somehow he pulls it off. I liked the movie, YMMV.
Saturday night we honored the memory of Captain LeFon, which is a story which requires its very own post. All I'll say now is that I met some people I've known for a while. For the first time. It was like I'd known them forever. Good folk. Men and women of honor.
Sunday was a trip to Udvar-Hazy, like I'm going to go to D.C. and pass that up! Didn't take as many pictures as I might have, as I had "been there and done that" before. I just wanted to bask in the presence of all those amazing flying machines. Discovered that they're in the process of fixing up the Apollo 11 command module. Ya know, Collins, Aldrin, and Armstrong. Yeah, the first men on the moon. (Well, Mike Collins manned the capsule all alone in orbit. Tough job, but someone had to do it.)
Seeing that bit of history was somewhat amazing, to say the least.
Sunday night was beer and pizza back at The Nuke's place, where I reacquainted myself with this...
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| (Source) |
Another movie was watched, this time it was Hacksaw Ridge. Sobering, an excellent film. Left me wondering if we could do all that again. While some might doubt the character of today's youth, I don't. There's plenty of kids out there who could, and would, shoulder the burden if the country really needed them. Don't pay any attention to the shrinking violets, social justice weirdos, and special snowflakes that the MSM likes to push down our throats. I believe they are a minority. The kids you don't see are the ones actually studying, or working, ya know, being citizens.
My but I do go on...
Monday we went to a place in D.C. name of Jaleo. Oh boy oh boy. Want to experience Spanish cuisine? Go there, make haste. Great service, great food. And that's not the Cuba Libre talking (which is not simply a "rum and coke," no sir, no way), which were made using Mexican Coca-Cola. Which, if you have to ask, is the best Coca-Cola on the planet. In my opinion anyway.
Who knew that tapas was a thing? I didn't, I do now. Won't forget soon either, delicioso! (As Dora the Explorer might say...)
There will be more on this trip, but my rack is calling. Reported aboard Chez Sarge at 0100 Monday morn, made it to bed by 0200, then up at 0800 for a late report to my place of gainful employment. Yeah, long day. Long weekend. Do it again?
Absolutely. I had a blast. Though this crossed my mind once or twice over the weekend...
But it was fun. Oh yeah.
I think the "What day is it guy" (very funny observation BTW) is the same guy who yells, "It's in the hole" after every golf shot on TV.
ReplyDeletePretty sure it's the same guy.
Delete"There's plenty of kids out there who could, and would, shoulder the burden if the country really needed them."
ReplyDeleteSince we both have kids that fit that description, let me fix that for you.
There's plenty of kids out there who could, and would, and do shoulder the burden if the country really needed them.
Other than that minor piece of wordsmithing, Sarge, another excellent post. I look forward to the future posts on the Navy Museum (3+ years in the DC region and I didn't know it was there!) as well as the Meetup AAR.
True, there's a bunch of America's finest who have already stepped up and shouldered the burden.
DeleteThe Museum is excellent, as was the Meetup.
Yeah, you had a blast. Good deal.
ReplyDeleteTapas. I gotta tell ya, that word dredges up a heck of a lot of fond memories.
Fun post, looking forward to more fun stuff!
:)
DeleteHonoring Lex, 2 museums, then ending it with pizza and beer? Sounds like a phenomenal weekend. I'm jealous. By the way, does the cat get along with bear?
ReplyDeleteIt was an awesome weekend.
DeleteThe cats do not, repeat not, get along with Bear. Nor do they get along with Kodi, my other granddog, Bear's "sister."
Thanks for the link for the NMUSN access.
ReplyDeleteIt just made my list of places to visit in DC.
I'm thinking the sailor in the tops is a lot more comfortable than the Marine.
Folks who want to dress Navy like the other services are just plain sadists.
The museum has two buildings, not sure if the website made that clear. There's the main building and then there's the "Cold War" annex (go out the front door of the main building, the annex is at 11 o'clock). I put Cold War in quotes because the annex includes Korea and Vietnam. Which were hot wars indeed.
DeleteYeah, the sailor looks comfy.
One interesting fact about Mike Collins. He was in charge of building the National Air and Space Museum on the Mall. Mike is a no nonsense take charge guy. He promptly decided that there would be NO change orders on the job. Everybody who came into his office with "a good idea" about changing this-or-that, or adding this-or=that, was told NO! The result was that the building came in under budget and ahead of schedule. I'll bet that you can't find any other major government projects that have done that. And, as anyone who has visited it can attest, the museum is downright spectacular.
ReplyDeleteThe NA&SM is a big favorite, on the Mall and over at Udvar-Hazy. I had no idea Mike Collins was involved with the main museum. Well done Sir!
Delete(The Nuke surprised me over the weekend with a membership at the NA&SM, pleased I was.)
I knew I liked that guy!
Delete:)
DeleteThanks for the post, outstanding as usual.
ReplyDeleteTwo things: first, when I saw the USS Constitution she was in water ( in Boston, if I remember correctly ) and second, are you a pilot, that sure looks like a pilot's watch in the first photo. Or did you just strip one off of a pilot as he was distracted be looking at his aircraft?
Paul L. Quandt
Should be "by looking". Proofread, remember proofread.
DeletePaul
Constitution is still in Boston, the museum has artifacts and such but the real ship still exists.
DeleteIt is indeed a pilot's watch, given to me by my daughter, The WSO.
Distract a pilot, heh.
Profreading is overrated.
Delete(Yup, that was intentional...)
La Grande Tappa in San Diego. My mom talked them out of their Sangria recipe. It's in the cookbook, natch. I had not known of a museum in the Navy Yard. We'll have to check it out the next time we're there but it is so hard. So hard. When DC is the stomping ground there is so much to stomp from the National Building Museum by the Mall (former home of the Veteran's Bureau and creator of 'red tape' to the Udvar-Hazy. When you're done with all that you can go for a sail in a Flying Dutchman out of Bellhaven (on the Parkway enroute to Mount Vernon, no sailing quals required or asked for) or canoe/kayak up the C&O canal or Potamac River from the Georgetown boat dock. It's my old town. I miss it, a bit.
ReplyDeleteThere is an extraordinary number of things to do in the DC area. I have only scratched the surface.
DeleteI miss it every time I leave.
"I miss it every time I leave."
DeleteGet in closer to the target or use a bigger weapon.
Hahaha!
DeleteRoger that juvat. 20 megatons should do for DC.
DeletePLQ
Ahem, I have family and friends in the area.
DeleteLet's not get carried away...
Ok. But something needs to be done, soon.
DeletePaul L. Quandt
Things will sort themselves out.
DeleteOK, so never mind the para thing hanging out there on the left, it's a Flying Scott, not a Dutchman but the rest is all totally true. I swear.
ReplyDeleteAnd I believe you.
Delete:)
Love that Navy museum. Miss the Destroyer they used to have though.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the empty spot on the river was a little sad.
DeleteIf you ever find yourself in southern Maryland, you may want to check out the Patuxent River Aquatic Aviary. They have an fair mix of waterfowl, and the anatomy exhibits should be particularly interesting.
ReplyDeleteBruce Jones
I might wander over there someday.
Delete