A Home Cooked Meal

Today was a relatively easy day. Up at 7, breakfast at Denny's, then ride 180 miles with only one objective along the way, and I found the point of interest!

Near the tiny burg of Fort Pierce there is an island, a part of what I would call the outer bank but the locals just refer to as The Islands. It is the site of the National Navy Seal UDT museum. 

This is where the history of the SEALS is told, from the inception of the Frogmen in WWII to the elite Special Forces teams of today. Through film, artifacts, displays and their own words the often untold stories are presented. They also had large boats, helicopters, personnel delivery vehicles, space capsules, you name it, on display and they hasten to remind you that these items are not mock-ups but the real thing.

 They even have an obstacle course (in case Colin wants to see if he can still excell on it). Starting with a 4 minute film recalling the horror of the uncertainty of the events of 9/11/2001, you walk back through the history of the SEALS, back through Vietnam, Korea and the first teams of Frogmen, trained as UDTs (Underwater Demolition Teams) of 6 after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. 

The story of the Terrorist Attacks on 9/11

The Honolulu paper from the afternoon of 12/7/41

Then you walk through the vehicles, Huey's and river boats from Vietnam and special submarine type vessels to allow the teams access to enemy positions underwater without detection. There was a Memorial to those who gave their lives carrying out their mission.

Then back inside, in a theater near the entrance, was an almost continuous daily showing of movies depicting the SEALS operations in each major conflict of the last 70+ years, each era lasting almost an hour, so that one could sit through the movies until they'd seen them all, then discover they have no time left to see the museum! A must-see for anyone remotely interested in military history or the training and operations of the most elite Special Forces in the World.

From there it was another hour and a half or so to my destination for tonight.

I've been taken in by my good friend Colls' sister Mary Ellen, her husband Bill, and her Father-in-law Bob.

They've been kind enough to supply a Home Cooked meal, a bed for the night, free Wi-Fi and laundry services. But wait, there's more!

These kind people have treated me like family, despite having never met me before. Colls apparently forgot to warn them that I sleep in the nude and sleep walk!

Seriously though, Mary Ellen is a retired nurse who relocated here just last September. Her husband Bill writes books about Microsoft Excel and supplements that with seminars for CPAS. In his spare time he pursues his passion for rockets and outer space by documenting all of the rocket launches at Cape Canaveral, through cameras he and his team place on the launch pads at the Cape. They have just published their first book of photos. 

This and his volunteer work, along with Mary Ellen, garner him the coveted press pass and behind the scenes access to launches conducted by NASA, the military and other companies like Space-X. Tomorrow he is taking me to the museum at the Cape. Pictures to follow!

The third member of this former Ohio crew (Cleveland/Akron area) is Bill's father Bob who just moved down here a couple of months ago, after spending years as a snow-bird. He was a WWII vet who served in the 7th Armored Battallion (I hope I got that right, I even asked him to repeat it!) in the ETO, primarily in France. He was an Honor Flight member from Cleveland about three years ago and recently recorded a one hour oral history.

So tomorrow we're going on a field trip! Good times with good people, what more could you ask? Oh, and Colls, Mary Ellen is spilling the beans about your wild years!