Once again I have neglected my blog; mainly a combination of being busy and being lazy. Yea I will admit it when I am being lazy but I have to take advantage of it when I can. In about a month and a half I will not have that luxury. Speaking of luxury I had the Memorial Day weekend off, four whole days off!! What a wonderful memorable Memorial Day weekend it was. I had a very special visitor who came all the way from the great Northwest to spend some quality time with his Seabee!
I met Jon at the Gulfport airport on the 27th of May and after a few long embraces and a bit of wonderment we took off in our rental car for a lovely mini vacation getaway to Ocean Springs Mississippi about 20 miles east of Gulfport MS. We checked into our B&B, settled in and took off on foot in search of some southern cuisine. We ended up at a nice little Italian restaurant, far from southern where we sat outside enjoying the south coast evening weather, the sound of tropical birds and the smells of the magnolia trees. The evening was nice, the weather was beautiful and the company was more amazing then I could have hoped for.
There was so much to catch up on, so much to explore and experience. I had declined a few trips to Ocean Springs because I wanted to explore it for the first time with Jon. We had four days, no concrete plans and we were ready to just take it slow, relax, enjoy being with each other again and pray that time could just stand still. Thankfully time didn’t zip by like we feared it would but still the time did go and sadly so did Jon. But before we bid our farewells and very sadly and reluctantly parted ways we created life lasting memories that I will carry with me and drift back to when times get tough and I get to feeling those “blue devils” as Jon would say, creeping in and attempting to settle down.
The day following Jon’s arrival we decided to drive to the coast line (6 blocks away) to explore the long white post Katrina rebuilt beaches. The day was clear and sunny, warm if not hot and the water of the Gulf was calm and brown. After a nice long stroll we drove further down the coast into Biloxi and dropped by the Hard Rock Casino for lunch at the Hard Rock Café. We enjoyed their famous pulled pork sandwich and donated $20 each to the slot machines. By that time the heat and humidity was taking its toll and making us quite tired so we called it a day and it was back to the B&B for a little rest and relaxation. That evening Jon got to experience his first southern thunderstorm. It put on quite a show, like a strobe light in a night club and a torrential down pour unlike those in the North West. The rain drops here are quite large and cover ground with lightning speed. The thunderstorms kept at bay during the day time and were predictable to the late afternoon and evening.
I can see this being a very long entry so I wont torture you all with the complete details but just tell you that we had the most wonderful time exploring the coast, paddle boating Seabee lake, scouring the bayou in search of gators which we did not see due to the local gators on a holiday weekend of their own. We sampled the southern fried catfish, soft shelled crabs, fried crawfish tails, and ended up with a belly ache or two. We spotted a variety of wild life including tropical birds, funky ugly spiders, snakes, BUGS, and Jon even committed his very first cock roach murder (sorry Jon). In his defense the cock roach was threatening my Tillamook beef jerky and made a run at Jon so he did what he had to do to defend him self and me!
Jon departed on the 1st of June, we said our tearful goodbyes and I watched him drive away with deep sorrow in my heart. Saying goodbye for the second time may have been harder then the first time but I would not have traded our time together for anything. It is now back to business as usual with school but the missing is much stronger. I miss my entire family and with out my loved ones behind me supporting me in this “adventure” it would not be as meaningful as it is now.
My fellow Seabees are packing and getting ready to head out tomorrow for the three week field training exercise that I have to great fortune of not having to attend due to the length of my school. While I am happy that I wont be camping out playing “Army” in the Mississippi heat and humidity, getting little sleep, no shower, and fighting the bugs and snakes and “enemy” attacks, a part of me will miss being out there side by side with my comrades. I will wish them luck and safety and drink one for them in my air conditioned room watching my favorite TV shows. I will get hell for this I know it but someone has to protect the home front for with out a cable splicer who would fix their a/c in Afghanistan??? Just something to think about.
I met Jon at the Gulfport airport on the 27th of May and after a few long embraces and a bit of wonderment we took off in our rental car for a lovely mini vacation getaway to Ocean Springs Mississippi about 20 miles east of Gulfport MS. We checked into our B&B, settled in and took off on foot in search of some southern cuisine. We ended up at a nice little Italian restaurant, far from southern where we sat outside enjoying the south coast evening weather, the sound of tropical birds and the smells of the magnolia trees. The evening was nice, the weather was beautiful and the company was more amazing then I could have hoped for.
There was so much to catch up on, so much to explore and experience. I had declined a few trips to Ocean Springs because I wanted to explore it for the first time with Jon. We had four days, no concrete plans and we were ready to just take it slow, relax, enjoy being with each other again and pray that time could just stand still. Thankfully time didn’t zip by like we feared it would but still the time did go and sadly so did Jon. But before we bid our farewells and very sadly and reluctantly parted ways we created life lasting memories that I will carry with me and drift back to when times get tough and I get to feeling those “blue devils” as Jon would say, creeping in and attempting to settle down.
The day following Jon’s arrival we decided to drive to the coast line (6 blocks away) to explore the long white post Katrina rebuilt beaches. The day was clear and sunny, warm if not hot and the water of the Gulf was calm and brown. After a nice long stroll we drove further down the coast into Biloxi and dropped by the Hard Rock Casino for lunch at the Hard Rock Café. We enjoyed their famous pulled pork sandwich and donated $20 each to the slot machines. By that time the heat and humidity was taking its toll and making us quite tired so we called it a day and it was back to the B&B for a little rest and relaxation. That evening Jon got to experience his first southern thunderstorm. It put on quite a show, like a strobe light in a night club and a torrential down pour unlike those in the North West. The rain drops here are quite large and cover ground with lightning speed. The thunderstorms kept at bay during the day time and were predictable to the late afternoon and evening.
I can see this being a very long entry so I wont torture you all with the complete details but just tell you that we had the most wonderful time exploring the coast, paddle boating Seabee lake, scouring the bayou in search of gators which we did not see due to the local gators on a holiday weekend of their own. We sampled the southern fried catfish, soft shelled crabs, fried crawfish tails, and ended up with a belly ache or two. We spotted a variety of wild life including tropical birds, funky ugly spiders, snakes, BUGS, and Jon even committed his very first cock roach murder (sorry Jon). In his defense the cock roach was threatening my Tillamook beef jerky and made a run at Jon so he did what he had to do to defend him self and me!
Jon departed on the 1st of June, we said our tearful goodbyes and I watched him drive away with deep sorrow in my heart. Saying goodbye for the second time may have been harder then the first time but I would not have traded our time together for anything. It is now back to business as usual with school but the missing is much stronger. I miss my entire family and with out my loved ones behind me supporting me in this “adventure” it would not be as meaningful as it is now.
My fellow Seabees are packing and getting ready to head out tomorrow for the three week field training exercise that I have to great fortune of not having to attend due to the length of my school. While I am happy that I wont be camping out playing “Army” in the Mississippi heat and humidity, getting little sleep, no shower, and fighting the bugs and snakes and “enemy” attacks, a part of me will miss being out there side by side with my comrades. I will wish them luck and safety and drink one for them in my air conditioned room watching my favorite TV shows. I will get hell for this I know it but someone has to protect the home front for with out a cable splicer who would fix their a/c in Afghanistan??? Just something to think about.
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