Seafair

The Mayor took Boookie, Ela and Semi downtown to see the Navy ships down at Fleet Week.  The line was long, but the sun was shining, the sea breeze was blowing, and we all were still in good spirits when we finally stepped on board.

The two ships at the pier we went to; we got to go on board the USS Gridley (DDG-101)

Boookie snapping a crisp salute next to the first weapon he could find on board, an M2 50 cal, which as our sailor tour guide repeated unnecessarily after Boookie announced it, "...has been in use, pretty much unchanged, since World War 2."

 Seimi, still working on his salute crispness, next to the M2

Salutes in front of the 5-inch main gun

 Salutes at the bow of the ship

 Salutes in front of the Phalanx 20mm Close In Weapons System

No salute?  Drop and give me 20, sailor!

 An F-22 Raptor flying overhead on the way to the airshow.

 

On Friday, when the Mayor announced he had seen an F-22 flying over downtown, Boookie scoffed in disbelief.  The look of amazement and joy on Boookie's face is sufficient apology for doubting the Mayor.

US Navy C-130 "Fat Albert" on the way to the air show.  We saw glimpses of the Blue Angels but everyone was hot and hungry by that time, so we caught the end of the show just listening to the roars overhead from our booth at Taco Del Mar.

 

  At the end of the tour

After the tour, all went to the Mayor's office to write on the whiteboard walls, have chair races, play golf around the office, eat snacks and dinner, run, scream, and otherwise pilfer our weasely guts out.