{"id":54919,"date":"2014-09-04T11:51:30","date_gmt":"2014-09-04T15:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=54919"},"modified":"2014-09-04T13:49:35","modified_gmt":"2014-09-04T17:49:35","slug":"the-traveling-enigma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=54919","title":{"rendered":"The Traveling Enigma"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since this time last year I have been to 20 some odd states. I love to travel. I love being on the road and meeting new people. I have learned that no matter where I go. I can always find someone who is proud to be from wherever I am. I have seen the human race at it’s best and at it’s worst. There are many time I rediscover someplace that I have already been and in a few cases lived. Norfolk Va and the surrounding area is a perfect example of that. I thought I knew Norfolk, it was my home port.<\/p>\n

I was fortunate enough to spend some time there again over Labor Day Weekend. I went on a harbor tour aboard the Victory Rover<\/a> I saw a sight I have not seen in 2 decades, pier 12 at Norfolk Navel Base from the water. The last time I saw it I was manning the rails as we pulled into port. This time I was standing on the bow of the boat as a pod of dolphins swam around us. A big shout out to the Captain and crew of the Victory Rover, it was a very informative and fun trip. The Captain knew his business and it was well worth the very reasonable cost.<\/p>\n

While in Norfolk I spent some time at Nauticus<\/a> There are two Museums there as well as the USS Wisconsin (BB-64).
\nThe Hampton Roads Naval Museum <\/a> is operated by the US Navy. I was hoping to be awed but sadly it fell short. I noticed several discrepancies in displays and the in my opinion it failed to tell a story. The admission was free and I did enjoy seeing the exhibits but it could have been so much better.<\/p>\n

My experience touring the Battle Ship was less than stellar. So much so that I reached out to Nuaticus about it. They were very concerned and took the time to to listen to my complaints and respond. What I learned opened my eyes. Its no secret that I am not a big fan of Museum Ships. I feel like most of the places that have them let them run down to the point that they are no longer safe. Norfolk and Nauticus learned from other ships and are taking the time to make sure that the spaces that are opened are ready for the public. They spend a great deal of time and money on preservation, as they should. They get very little funding from the State of Virginia, none from the government and a little help from the city of Norfolk. Yet they have been able to maintain the condition of the ship. They open it free of charge to Military and Veterans groups for Celebrations and events such as retirements and other services. They are constantly trying to find better ways to educate the public. My complaints were heard and acted on. I will visit again.<\/p>\n

I also went to the Mariners Museum<\/a>. It was great. I felt like I had stepped back in time. I highly recommended anyone going to the area see it. The admission price is very reasonable and well worth it. This is also the USS Monitor Center. Seeing the artifacts and the Herculean efforts put into preserving them was incredible. I could write pages on what I saw but to keep it short I can only say I was fascinated. I could spend days there.<\/p>\n

There was one place that really kind of got to me. I will admit I had to wipe a tear or two away. It was the Armed Forces Memorial<\/a> There are letters written home from service men cast in bronze, They look like they have been scattered by the wind across the paving stones. It was only as I got ready to walk out that I saw inscribed on the wall at the entrance gate these words “We leave you our Deaths Give them Meaning”
\nI have seen so many War Memorials that were good. This one is great because of its simplicity.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
\n\"VWM<\/a>
\n\"photo<\/a>
\n\"photo<\/a>
\n\"photo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since this time last year I have been to 20 some odd states. I love to … The Traveling Enigma<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":644,"featured_media":54985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,217],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-navy","category-we-remember"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/644"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/54985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}