Heritage Museum

So we were looking our local guidebook and found a small museum run by vets to showcase local military achievements and remembrances. It was a small museum and the staff was so excited to have folks come look they gave us a personal tour. We saw many rare items and I noticed a certificate for becoming a shellback. A shellback is a person who has crossed the equator and a Polliwog is someone who has not. Our guide posed for a picture with me. Dad offered to donate his father's WW2 coast guard uniform since they did not have one and it would be rather rare. They also had a train. A little anecdote, my Grandfather was stationed on the Outerbanks during WW2 to save people from torpedoed ships, spot U-Boats and patrol the beaches (he was also a navy spy trying to catch some people doing funny business at the station). He said they would often see U-Boats off the coast and since neither side could hit each other they would often wave. Later he told me they were to be on vigil for a German landing party. But... my Grandfather only had 5 shots and seriously wondered what would happen if 6 people came.

Atlanta Botanical Gardens

For some reason, Mom decided we had to go to Atlanta. So what did we do, we went to Atlanta where our first stop was the Botanical Gardens. At first I thought that it would not that good but boy was I wrong. We saw rare statues, a tree that only two are growing in the U.S. and a vanilla plant in bloom. According to our guide, the vanilla plant only blooms once a year for one day so that was a treat. The weather was perfect and my Dad & I took it upon ourselves to start naming each other after goofy plant names. His name is Buggleweed.