The Flaming Arrows Join the Navy!

(Hey, since I'm posting Boy Scout stuff instead of meaningful ADT stuff, what the heck)...

My youngest is about to cross over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts and hang with the big boys, so for his den's "last hurrah", we took them down to the USS Lexington (CVN-16 - the "Blue Ghost") of WWII fame. It's now a museum docked in Corpus Christi bay. They have a really cool "live aboard" program for youth groups such as Boy and Girl Scouts. You go down on a Saturday Morning, get mustered in, spend the day on board, then after the tourists leave, you have the run of the ship. Ghost stories in the engine room, movies on the hangar deck...

We slept in the old chiefs' quarters. I must say, 30 years after my own tour of duty on board the USCGC Rush (WHEC 723), the smells still brought back memories, some good, some bad ;-).

The boys all had a great time. If you ever have a chance to do something like this with your kids, I highly recommend it! Well organized and very well done. I know there's other ex-Navy carriers around, such as the USS Yorktown, that host similar types of activities!



The boys are being mustered in, in the image above. Toes on the line! Hands out of the pockets! Shirts tucked in! Anybody caught running does the chicken dance tomorrow! (And yeah, there were a buncha kids doing the chicken dance the next day ). "Hey, 'Cool Breeze' - you better tie your shoes!" The kids loved the verbal abuse! Actually - the guy really had a way with the boys. He gave 'em a hard time, but they really liked his style, and he made sure they knew it was all in fun.



In this image I'm looking kinda fat... what's up with that? I think I'd better lay off the chicken fried steak for awhile... anyway - me and my youngest on the flight deck.