Newport Day Uno

After D.C. I headed on up to Newport R.I. I loved the drive there and stopped at an awesome little Rock Wall that jutted out into the Atlantic that you could walk on. It was in a pretty remote area. The rock wall was made out of giant slabs of you guessed it...rock! About 1/2 mile long. About 1/4 mile out from shore it became pretty uneven and almost impassible. I went out as far as I could and just loved being surrounded by the water and crashing waves. There was no one else around just me and the water. Here is part of my journal entry I wrote right after I made it back to my car;

"My hands are to cold to write. I just got back from chilling out in the middle of this Rock wall in the Atlantic Ocean. The waves were crashing all around, Easy to loose your mind in the middle of it all. Not many thoughts rolled through my head. Just the peace and sound of the water."

Huh I find that interesting...the Peace? I was totally at peace and relaxed and excited yet the water was far from peaceful. It was captivating and violent yet I was at ease and comfortable just day dreaming. It was a pretty exciting experience for me and I called my mom and buddy Jeff while i was out there trying to share and express with them both what I was experiancing. My mom understood being from the ocean herself but I think Jeff thought I was nuts. Lol.

After this I drove into Newport myself and explored the city a little, while getting lost looking for parking. I found a big parking lot and garage next to a Marriott hotel. This was going to be my home for the next two nights and almost three days.

Newport was a pretty neat city but I could tell I didn't fit in very much. It was full of east coast white collar workers and an overall rich crowd. Newport is a big vacation area for the people in New England as it sits along the water and is a big spot for sailing. Never the less I was comfortable in my plaid with my shaggy beard walking around this town. I didn't look to much like a bum, but there was no question I wasn't from around those parts.

I found a main street with a bunch of bars and restaurants and was trying to find somewhere to hang out for the night and also eat. Everything is so expensive so I went and ate at a Panera Bread Co. That was only my 2nd time there ever and I loved it. I found a blues restaurant playing some music for a 5 dollar cover and then another one down the street playing stuff for free that seemed more my crowed as far as age goes so I went there. I was an hour early so I went into the bar to have a drink and watched the band set up. They started playing and well I am not one to leave live music but I left...Lol.

I decided to try my luck at the blues cafe and told the bouncers at the door about the band down the street not being of any worth and had him convince me that staying here was worth my time and money. So I forked over my 5 dollars...I know I am cheap huh...and went in. As soon as I walked in and saw the band I laughed and immediately felt more comfortable and in my element. The last bar was full of a bunch of young kids there looking all nice and business like and the men where hounding out the women. Not much my style. Now the blues place was full of older people, a few young, but most were nicely dressed taking out their aging wives for a nice glass of wine and dinner and there to just enjoy the evening. So on that point about the evening my goals already matched that of the atmosphere. Second when I walked in the band was finishing setting up and they were in stark contrast to a nice upscale blues cafe. They looked like a bunch of old drugged out biker dudes. They all were probably in their 50's maybe hard 40's with long hair and pony tails, beer guts, cut off shirts, jeans, shorts, and tattoos going up their arms. Now I really felt like I was home and fitting in. I was the one dude not cleanly shavin much less showered wearing plaid and a Carhart jacket in the middle of this older rich crowed. So I fit in with the attitude of the atmosphere and fit in with the band in not fitting in with the materialism of the place. Oddly enough I new it was going to be good.

Once they started playing it was awesome! The blues club turned into a rock and roll fest and the old people became excited and brought out the rocker in them and all of a sudden every thing that seemed so abstract about the night turned into a fitting puzzle piece. So I let the jack and coke run free off my tab for the remainder of the evening. During the bands intermission I went up stairs to go sit down and have a drink and I noticed some guy that I saw rocking out to the band that I decided to go talk to. We sat and chatted for a bit and he was explaining to me how crappy it is that kids aren't allowed to smoke weed without being afraid of the cops but senators can have 76 martinis if they wanted to. The convo got pretty good and I concluded he was pretty dead on. He was a software engineer and had been for the last 20 or so years. He was in his late 40's and his son happened to be there and he introduced me to him. So now I had friends for the evening.

One thing that kinda deserves its own section is something he said to me that caused me to think as I had read the same thing in USA today a little earlier. Upon finding out that I was just recently back from Iraq and after talking with me he told me that I didn't seem fucked up and like I still had my head on pretty straight. He brought that up like he was surprised and really expecting something very different, like I was to be crazy or he needed to be cautious of me. I thought about that because I had read that employers where hesitant to hire vets because they figured they had to many emotional issues to sort out. I began to wonder if that was really the general thought about all of us coming back or not. Most people thinking we are all going to be to disrupted in the head to still be a functioning part of society. I have some thoughts on that that I could go into but that kinda will re route this entire bar/Newport story. However this trip has been needed and good for me to take and it has helped me calm down a bit from when I first came back, so to a point his concern made sense.

Alright so the band started playing again and I had made friends with the bass player a little earlier and bought him some beer as he was the only one drinking in the band. I figured he was the last one with a liver still intact. This second set from the band, I moved a little closer along the dance floor as I am not one to just stand still listening to music to much and started standing and dancing to myself. Well i get this tap on my shoulder and its an older lady still kinda cute but never the less she just wanted to dance with the one dude that was out there totally enjoying himself not caring about anyone else. Good sense of taste I would say lol. So we proceeded to dance and had a good time doing it. I think I was getting stared down by all the older men in the place and thats one thing I hate about bars and the whole enviornment of trying to pick up a chick. I am not much of a dude that likes to make others mad, i would rather everyone be happy and just enjoy themselves and put egos aside for a bit. General thinking though i assume people think that is kinda weak because all you ladies want a guy to fight for you. To that I say, "well meet me some other way then at a bar." Any case me and her danced and pissed off some people I am sure lol, who knows...and I went sat down with her and her friend and bought them a drink and just chatted. They were interested in what I was doing and couldn't believe I was just crashing in my car.

Well me being a nice guy I danced with her friend and saw a good opportunity to have lady number one meet the weed smoking computer engineer. So I brought him over and introduced them to each other and well my good deed for the year was accomplished! We all enjoyed the rest of the night together listening to rock and roll in a blues cafe.

By the nights end I new the bartender, the door lady, the bouncer, the bassiest, two older women, a computer engineer and his son by name and they all new me. This all set me up well for the next evening. (to be continued)....

My time on the Mall

Wow...not feeling like writing much more so I will make this quick.

My time on the Mall...

It was touristy. Saw all the sights walked the thing twice, which is pretty freaking long. It was a rainy cloudy day but enjoyable. I just processed thoughts and tried learning about and feeling America. This was my second time out there so it was kind of a remembrance of being there with my dad as well.

A couple funny things...

I was walking along and saw a bunch of black SUVs, dudes in suits and road blocks. I figured there was a big meeting going on with a bunch of high level people. I went to one of the front gates where it was a check point/car search area, a lot like Iraq honestly, and asked over the fence to a K-9 police officer what was going on. He told me nothing at the moment. I thought that was kinda odd and asked what they all were guarding. He looked at me and said, "well....The White house is just right over there...." WOW am I a tourist or what. He tried making me feel better by saying the reason you can't see it from here is because of those trees but we both knew...I had no clue where i was.

Second I got lost in the tunnels under the Senate and House Of Representative offices. And it was after hours so out of four buildings there was only one door that I could use to exit the area. I had to find that door! I was the only bum looking dude in the place with a shaggy beard and hair and un-showered for a couple days. Everyone else was walking with purpose and big stacks of paper and business suits with ties. Man did I feel out of place.

Once I did find the door it was good. I got to see something I never would of thought about. There was a wall, well two walls, with the names of every servicemen killed over in Iraq. It was an awesome memorial. It was categorized by month and year. Now thinking about it it was like my Vietnam wall. I was able to find the names of all those that I knew who had been killed in Action during my two tours. I took pictures of it all.

Gettysburg and Fort McHenry

Upon being stationed at Fort Campbell back in 2004 I found out that I was close to many new things full of history and I was full of desire to explore them all. One of the places I swore to go to was Gettysburg, I never did. So while on this trip I had to make that one of my for sure stops.

My buddy Wagner and I went down there together and I wasn't to sure what to expect. I envisioned a big field with birds chirping amongst the trees and the silence.

I entered the visitor center and asked at the desk if we just walk around the park. The guy looked at me and said well the park is 27 miles around I wouldn't recommend it. I kinda was taken back and surprised. He informed us that there are driving tours you can buy in the gift shop and then follow it all with the audio in your car. You stop at the points of interest and you get a history lesson while you drive. It was a really cool way to explore the park honestly.

Before we hopped in the car there was a museum set up inside the visitor center building. We got to watch a neat video but the best thing we saw was this GIANT Cyclorama measuring 377 by 42 feet. Longer than a football field and higher then a 4 story building. It was an awesome painting depicting different battles fought over the course of the 3 days. The painting was displayed in a big room that you stood in the middle of and they dimmed the lights and played an audio show along that went along with different lighting effects on the painting. It really did a good job of bringing you close to the art work and feeling the experience of what was going on in the painting.

Driving around the park itself was amazing and I thought it was one the most interesting and captivating "museums" I had experienced. The location was huge and there were working towns all around the park. It was a monumental place still living within the active community around it. There were people jogging along some of the roads, it looked like something you would of seen in Wash Park in Denver.

I could go on and on about it all but I wont. I will explain the picture though. I found this to be one of the most intriguing lessons to be learned and explored in thought. The picture is of a "reunion," I know that just sounds crazy, where a Union and Confederate soldier are shaking hands over the wall that was once covered in the blood of their comrades during the Battle of Cemetery ridge.

Fort McHenry:

Two points of a little history lesson first....

1. On my first day in D.C. my friend took me to the Museum of American History along the Mall. The thing we really went there to see was the original flag that Francis Scott wrote our National Anthem to upon witnessing the British bombardment and seeing the flag the next morning bigger and bolder in all Her glory about.

2. My first deployment in Iraq I was stationed on a FOB (Forward Operating Base) called FOB McHenry. We took a picture of my battalion on this small little base with a flag that they flew out from the states that flew over Fort McHenry during the civil war. Our picture was said to be posted at this museum so I wanted to go and see it.

Once we arrived to Fort McHenry we found out that they had removed that picture of our battalion about 6 months prior. It stood hanging for a little over a year. Next we were taken into this room and watched a video about the bombardment and the writing of our National Anthem. In the room along one of the walls was a curtain that stretched across the entire wall. At the End of the film the volume increased and your senses were penetrated and full of a beautiful version of our National Anthem. As soon as the Anthem came on the curtain started to roll away and exposed a sign that said please stand. As it continued to roll back across the wall you discovered what it was hiding. It was an all glass wall exposing Fort McHenry and at the center of the Fort was the American Flag flying High and proud in the wind.

At that moment I was hit with a feeling that I had once held onto and was always excited about but had damn near forgotten about, lost, or hadn't experienced in such a long time,

Patriotism.

Being that proud and excited American. The feeling I had after Sept. 11th with everyone on the same page rolling around with American flags all over their cars, hanging on almost every house, big flags flying from the beds of pickup trucks! WOW! That feeling and love for America! Where has it gone?

That moment was short lived but ingrained into my mind. Seeing a recreation of what Francis Scott must of Seen himself and even felt! My mom would of been crying and I might of had a thing or two in my eyes.

So In just a matter of days I had seen or experienced an amazing part of American History full circle. From seeing the "Star Spangled Banner"(name of the flag flown above Fort McHenry) to visiting and seeing the Fort that was the battle grounds and the inspiration to a poet in Love with His country, where our Nations Anthem was created.

Saint Patricks Day!

Wow, its now the 1st of April and I was in D.C. several weeks ago.

D.C. was broken into a few themes. Saint Patricks Day, Gettysburg (I know that's in P.A. but its about an hour from where I stayed in Maryland), My own time on the mall.

So we will start with the 1st one. Saint Patricks Day;
Originally I was planning on spending this day in Boston with my one of my Army buddies however we discovered Boston was much further from D.C. then we thought and figured it wasn't worth our time nd money to travel there. So Instead I spent Saint Patricks Day in China Town in our Nations Capital. It really doesn't matter to much where you celebrate this Holiday if your just looking for the Green and the Drunken Irish times. All over New England is full of Irish Heritage and Tradition so D.C. ended up working well.

The pub we ended up spending most of our money at was set up similar to a pub that I spent some time in in Dublin. I thought that was kinda cool. They had just one dude on Guitar singing Irish Drinking songs and he was alright but it could of been better. I think that the best thing that came from that night was meeting a group of 5 people that were all so interesting and smart. I was waved over buy one of the guys to take a shot with him cause he said I looked like a chill guy. We had a shot....of beer...cheap I know...lol. But it was a greeat bonding moment that lasted the rest of the night! Lol.

His name was Boe. He thought I might of needed a friend so he called over some chick and tried to hook us up, that went well. I straight said no, I was like man I am just here to enjoy myself and meet people, not looking to hook up with any women. He was taken back but said man, I like your style, so we had another shot....of beer...

He introduced me to all the people he was with and throughout the rest of the night I talked with each of them feeling intrigued by all their professions.
One of the girls was a Nuclear Physicist, i can't even spell that right. She was only 21 and had completed college in a year. Yeah one of those people! She was really cool and pretty excepting of an uneducated chap like myself.

Another Girl was a Chemist. Enough said.

One of the Guys worked on space shuttles. He had a metal piece on his key chain and asked me if I wanted to touch something that had been in space? I said yeah so I got to rub this little piece of metal that he proudly carried and displayed on his key chain.

Boes girlfriend I didn't really get to talk to but judging from the crowd she was another brilliant soul. She was also kinda just a fun person, I could tell.

Now for Boe. Well he was a professional Hockey Player in Switzerland for about 8 years and he moved out to Baltimore where he now runs a Hockey Clinic.

They found out that my Buddy Wagner and I had just been discharged and we all had another beer shot to that one. The rest of the night was just fun and full of laughs and a cool old dude in a kelt with a bagpipe that I got to talk with for a bit. He said he was exhausted by the end of the night because he had been celebrating this one day all week!