Hijinks, Fun, and excitement while ashore Part 2
So the last time we left our hero, Southern Air Pirate, he found out that he was going to have a port visit and in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area.
So it came to be that we were pulling in to be part of a Ft. Lauderdale's Fleet week celebration. One of the things that the chamber of commerence arranged was an "Adopt-A-Sailor" program. Basically a situation were a sailor gets to spend a day with an adoption family, have a home cooked meal possible go out and see some of the sights and in general be ambassadors. So they had this listing posted outside the MWR office of what sort of people were willing to adopt sailors. There were the usual civic minded groups, a couple families, but the most interesting was there were a number of single women in the age range of 25 to 35. What was even more interesting is that on the listing was what these women suggested they would do their adoption. Most of them had listed shopping and dinner. One lady who was in her mid 30’s had put down and I quote, “I have a red 2 person sports car and like to go to the beach for fun and am willing to cook a dinner”. Now I am not a smart man by any means, but a sports car, a lady in her 30’s, and dinner may lead to something else. I was a chicken and did sign on for that one. Rather I went with something safe and went out with a nice family one the first night in port. Had dinner with a nice couple and their kids and had a great dinner. A friend of mine with the lady in the sports car, they had dinner and then some.
The second day I had the duty and was tasked that morning at duty section quarters to be a tour guide. A number of us were posted at selected positions around ship to describe what was going on and how that portion of the ship did. I was put underneath an F-14 that was in the kneel with the wings out and looked like it was ready to take the cat stroke and fly. We were handed a cue card with what to say, but since I was a big fan of the F-14 and USS Oldship and had been studying for my air warfare wings, I knew it all. The tour guides were all told that we would be posted for about 4 hr rotations and the tour groups were going to come onboard starting around 0830. We had to be posted around 0815.
I went up to my positioned and enjoyed watching as the Indian summer sun rose in the east. Now we were tied up at the Cruise liner piers and facing the way to the out bound channel. The real funny thing was that since it was an Indian summer there were a number of people out on boats. There were a bunch of us standing there on the flight deck when down the channel came some louder then normal music and in the slight distance was a decent sized Bayliner with a number of nice looking girls onboard. They had a paper sign on the side that said “U of Miami welcomes USS Oldship to Miami”. Just as they passed this group of tour guides we heard them scream hello and wave. We waved back and then just like they these girls, all flashed us. Upon which really got our attention and caused us to cheer and wave just a little bit more. A few guys were looking for paper to fold up and throw down to them with their cell phone numbers. This little boat was getting ready to turn around and flash us again when the local Dade County Sheriff’s police boat showed up and told them to move on.
I have a ton of respect for the police, but they do know how to ruin a moment of joy and a chance to get a pretty girls number.
So it came to be that we were pulling in to be part of a Ft. Lauderdale's Fleet week celebration. One of the things that the chamber of commerence arranged was an "Adopt-A-Sailor" program. Basically a situation were a sailor gets to spend a day with an adoption family, have a home cooked meal possible go out and see some of the sights and in general be ambassadors. So they had this listing posted outside the MWR office of what sort of people were willing to adopt sailors. There were the usual civic minded groups, a couple families, but the most interesting was there were a number of single women in the age range of 25 to 35. What was even more interesting is that on the listing was what these women suggested they would do their adoption. Most of them had listed shopping and dinner. One lady who was in her mid 30’s had put down and I quote, “I have a red 2 person sports car and like to go to the beach for fun and am willing to cook a dinner”. Now I am not a smart man by any means, but a sports car, a lady in her 30’s, and dinner may lead to something else. I was a chicken and did sign on for that one. Rather I went with something safe and went out with a nice family one the first night in port. Had dinner with a nice couple and their kids and had a great dinner. A friend of mine with the lady in the sports car, they had dinner and then some.
The second day I had the duty and was tasked that morning at duty section quarters to be a tour guide. A number of us were posted at selected positions around ship to describe what was going on and how that portion of the ship did. I was put underneath an F-14 that was in the kneel with the wings out and looked like it was ready to take the cat stroke and fly. We were handed a cue card with what to say, but since I was a big fan of the F-14 and USS Oldship and had been studying for my air warfare wings, I knew it all. The tour guides were all told that we would be posted for about 4 hr rotations and the tour groups were going to come onboard starting around 0830. We had to be posted around 0815.
I went up to my positioned and enjoyed watching as the Indian summer sun rose in the east. Now we were tied up at the Cruise liner piers and facing the way to the out bound channel. The real funny thing was that since it was an Indian summer there were a number of people out on boats. There were a bunch of us standing there on the flight deck when down the channel came some louder then normal music and in the slight distance was a decent sized Bayliner with a number of nice looking girls onboard. They had a paper sign on the side that said “U of Miami welcomes USS Oldship to Miami”. Just as they passed this group of tour guides we heard them scream hello and wave. We waved back and then just like they these girls, all flashed us. Upon which really got our attention and caused us to cheer and wave just a little bit more. A few guys were looking for paper to fold up and throw down to them with their cell phone numbers. This little boat was getting ready to turn around and flash us again when the local Dade County Sheriff’s police boat showed up and told them to move on.
I have a ton of respect for the police, but they do know how to ruin a moment of joy and a chance to get a pretty girls number.
posted by Southern Air Pirate at Thursday, April 06, 2006
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