8-20-2016 GIG HARBOR, WA PART 1

A few follow-up notes:

As Marianne Moody Jennings said, “The truth always percolates to the top.”  Now, I just learned that my pulled ham sandwiches of last week were almost inedible, way too salty.  Maybe as you simmer the ham, the juice evaporates and leaves the salt behind?  I’m a salt-o-holic so I’m no judge.  In that story of Sodomy and Cremora, I’m the one who turned into a pillar of salt.  A salt lick sandwich?  Works for me!  Next time, I’ll rinse the ham before serving, maybe with a beer.  Your culinary tip for the day.

Two more things:

First, per the cheesemeister Joyce, use plastic or wax wrap to handle cheese.  Touching it with bare hands causes growth of those green fuzzies.  Second,  I forgot to tell you about nettles-gouda cheese made at Pleasant Valley Dairy.  Yup.  They add pickers to the cheese!  Turns out pickers are a spice.  Who knew?  Joyce said people who do the Paleo diet like to eat nettles.  OK, I see it!  You can probably lose weight if you eat pickers instead of, say, ham sandwiches, ice cream or, say, pretzels & beer!  So THAT’S the secret!  My doctor says I’m not getting enough pickers!

B2 at Gig Harbor RV Resort

On Friday, we battened down the hatches and headed just a short 2 hours down the road to Gig Harbor.  Well, it was predicted to be a short drive but the traffic through Seattle pretty much sucks and driving a 54-foot long train isn’t so easy, changing lanes, dodging boy-racers, rude lane-hoppers and clueless mergers who may also be texting.  We made it, though, with sunshine to spare and had the camp set up in minutes in pretty Gig Harbor RV Resort tucked under the tall pines.

Today’s adventure takes place a little further north in Bremerton.  William Bremer, an immigrant from Germany, sold 190 acres of land to the US government for 50 bucks an acre and it was made into a shipyard.  The naval shipyards are still a mainstay here in Bremerton and several ships are on reserve here including 2 air craft carriers. 

Bremerton Naval Shipyard

The SS Independence is scheduled to be scrapped.  The SS Kittyhawk is “mothballed,” meaning standby status in case it is needed in service again.   The USS Taylor Joy (DD-951) is permanently moored here and is a museum, open to the public.  This ship is a destroyer class, built in 1957-58.  Admiral Charles Taylor Joy is a hero and highly decorated WWII and Korean War hero, honored with this ship christened in his name.

Destroyers were small, light weight and easily maneuverable and were a favorite hot rod of many a Navy seaman for that reason.  However, because the hull was not as thick as other ships and more easily penetrated by incoming, they were nicknamed “tin cans.”  The Taylor Joy served in many battles in the Viet Nam War, defending our troops from the sea, and could fire as many as 600 70-lb. rounds at a time.  The ship’s claim to fame is the victory in the “Tonkin Incident” and also is known to have fired the last round (from a warship) of the Viet Nam War.

USS Taylor Joy (DD-951)

Wearing a hat comes in handy!

In the engine room

Heading up to the bridge

We had not toured a destroyer before.  Everything seems done in ¾ scale compared to an aircraft carrier and the layout and organization was obviously done with great care and creativity to pack that many tons of shit into a one-pound bag!  I don’t know if a smaller stature was required of destroyer seamen, nicknamed “tin can sailors,” but I envision many an injury in tight quarters, many a cracked skull on the low bulkheads.  Rob’s head cleared the average ceiling by about two inches.  There is a thoughtful, quiet Viet Nam POW Memorial on the ship, now, and that, along with my imagined view of the hustling heroes who made this machine purr left me with feelings of awe, reverence and gratitude.