Stranger In A Very Strange Land (Day 3) Saturday

  Yeah, I know. It's been a month to the day since I last posted (Mea Culpa) uh, my fault in Latin. Anywho, on with the story...

   (According to my Voice-Recorder)


   My mom was on time for the meet this morning, and dad escorted her to it while I was just finishing my McMuffin. When dad came back, I started my shower minus the seat because the seat had no back and yesterday, tossed me twice out of the bathtub, and onto the floor, into the toilet. Wound up wrenching my back out of place. I'm afraid it was permanent.
   Despite my wanderings, we got a good start, left the hotel on time, and around 25 minutes later, we reached the WW2 Museum.  After a parking snafu, we were off for history. Our first clue was an Army jeep with a live crew with a tent.
   The place was made up three or more buildings with more to be built in later years.
   Speaking of buildings, we entered the farthest one, and I was surprised and delighted to see hanging from the ceiling: SBD Dauntless, P-51 Mustang, F-4U Corsair, B-17 Bomber, and a B-25 Mitchell. On the floor were an Army truck, and a jeep towing what looks like a General's mini-office.
    Dad bought two tickets to a 4D show. I was unaware of such a thing. Could it be possible? And how?    So we started making our way to the movie building. I heard in my head my mom's voice saying that when a car purposely speeds around you and arrive at the same red light... yeah, I wish we could do that. 10-15 minutes later we finally got in, and yet, there was something amiss with the screen. I believe it was eight square rectangles. Most times there were doubles on the screen about how the war started before we entered. For December 7th, there was a whole new theatre awaiting us.
   We were ushered into what looked like a cinema, and boy, was I wrong. This 4D had Zeros flying right at you at Pearl Harbor, German flak flying at you as you flew B-17 Bomber into the Richeland to deliver a load of bombs. There was even a real half-cockpit descended from the ceiling to add to the effect. The snow in the Ardenns Forest, in Belgium seemed to fall in our seats. To this day, I do not know whether or not I got snowed on. Believe me, folks, you gotta see this show for yourselves! And the best thing of all, you didn't have to wear those silly glasses.
   When we got done with the movie, we tried out the diner at the end of the building. It was in 1950's deco and a classy joint with a theme name and locations in different   cities. I got to set at an actual bar with an actual 90 degree angle and a vertical  side to the bar. The waiters actually wore mini-tuxes, and the service was quick. It was quite an experience!
   After that, we returned to the original building and bought tickets to the U.S.S Tang exhibit. Seeing that we were ahead of the game, we looked around in the museum gift shops. Only looking, not buying, searching for something rather well, unique. I'd know it when I saw it. 10-15 minutes later, the program started. "The Last Mission of the U.S.S. Tang." It took a certain amount of people for the program to work, and that's why they handed out cards to us in order to familiarize us with the actual officer or crew member of the ill-fated submarine. Once we did that, we entered what looked to be a fake sub conning tower into the bridge. We parted ways to our different stations, #10 was my number. I believe that would be Henry Flannigan. I misplaced my card, but I remembered just before I lost it, that the last name was Irish. There were no survivors, but nine. I was leveled at the loss, my dad was okay with it, but I for one, will never forget it.
    Next up, were the ever higher levels of airplanes, four to be exact. On the level with with the B-17; B-25's were on the very top floor, looking down on the F-4U Corsair just about 20 feet down.
   We made tracks for another building where there were more exhibits from American motorcycles, to a DUKW, a vehicle that could do land or water (Think "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull") when the teen was fencing with the older lady. They were standing on DUKWs. An LCVP "Landing Craft, Vehicle, and Personnel Carrier (Used en masse to get the troops ashore during the assault on Normandy) were on display, too. A British Spitfire, the equivalent of a an American P-51 Mustang, the plane in the original building, was on display overhead.
   So why did the WW 2 museum get put here in New Orleans? Eisenhower put museum here for all the machinery that rolled out of the city
    Also for viewing and learning purposes, was the Pullman train passenger cars at the back of the room on real tracks. The videos in the back seat of each chair chronicled the way young men went to war, on trains.
    The higher we climbed, we kept on finding new exhibits, like the German view on Normandy from their bunkers and pillboxes. And a German phrase on the wall, "Kein Licht bei geöffneter Scharte," meaning, "No light at the open notch," whatever that means. Seems to make sense though.
  We went up to the fourth and final level where a Waco CG-4A glider from the Normandy Invasion awaited us. These would swoop down from the B-29 bombers, the C-5 Galaxies of today, and deliver the troops behind enemy lines.
  By then, my feet were beginning to hurt (Out of shape, I'm afraid,) but were nearly done with THAT building. The rest were just exhibits and tangible items, although we went through that part anyway.
    In the gun display,  the Grease Gun, hand grenades, M1 Garandes, bazookas plus ammo etc... were definitely worth the look.The cypher machine alone was gold itself.
   We wiled away the hours at the museum, until 1600 (4:00p) until we found out that we were late for mom's special dinner at the hotel. See, mom's friends were throwing a special dinner for their last night together, and the rest of the family members were invited.
  As mom's quilling folk took down their displays, they made room for dinner. The hotel staff catered the meal, then came the awards show. Ah, the awards show. People, laughter. I shine! They needed a few good runners to take the awards to the people. Guess who joined? Something sure punched my funny button. I actually like getting up in front of crowds, and improvisation is my middle name. One table got so many awards that that I could almost swear it groaning under the weight of those prizes, and yes, I would have embarrassed my brothers. I acted my wage, and not my age, since I skipped my immaturity lesson. I could be a future Jay Leno.
   Afterwards, dad bought another night at the hotel, which would be Sunday. Meanwhile, I sat in a extra-comfy chair out in the lobby while mom continued to talk to her friends, which, in my opinion, was long overdue.
   When I returned to the room, we were all more than a bit bushed so we dropped off to sleep pretty quickly.