Today I did some 'research' at the Maritime Museum - that was my excuse, anyway.

Here I am on HMS Surprise with Ed - a cool docent that works there. This is the ship that was used in the movie Master and Commander.
































Then I took a tour of the Star of India















At the helm on the Star of India - and having fun

This past Saturday I got invited to join the crew of the USS Nmitz on a day cruise.

I got to visit the bridge - this is me with the Officer of the Deck, and I got be a look-out too.

Busy night on the ship tonight - we had two over-lapping SE's going on.

I gave a walking tour of the Flight Deck to the first group at 5:pm - then a tour of the Mess Deck to a separate group at 6:30pm. Safety was there to make certain the groups didn't mingle - because we can't have that ! ( why not ? )

This afternoon I gave tours thru the Island and that was fun - as usual, but I met an usual vet during one of my guided tours. He had an Army cap and an Air Force tee shirt. I asked him if he was a fan of both, or just fashionably confused. He said that he went thru West Point and then served 20 yrs in the Air Force. He also told me that he was on a B-52 during the Cuban missile Crisis carrying 6 nuclear bombs over Moscow.

Pres Kennedy wasn't bluffing - but, we all knew that.

There was a ceremony on board to commemorate 9-11

These guys looked sharp:

These guys made a lot of noise - most of it good:

Individuals from the FDNY were here to conduct the ceremony:

They played Taps and rang the bell for the event:

An easy day on the ship this afternoon. The guest count turnout is much less, now that Summer vacation is over.

That's ok - more time to show the guests that do come out some of the finer points of the ship. Today I worked in the Island - giving tours through Pri Fly, Chart House, and the Bridge.

They are working on the Navy Pier now. The parking will be a challenge for a while.

We had a celeb on board today - Vanna White from Wheel of Fortune fame.

They were filming a promo spot and she toured the ship. I didn't see her, but I saw her limo - does that count ?

So much as happened in the past couple of weeks: Our friend and pal, and fellow docent Truman Brooks passed away. He had a stroke on the ship and passed away the following afternoon. We attended services for him this past Friday.