A Fitting Tribute
~Thursday, November 11, 2021~
Day 515
Happy Veteran’s Day to all of our men and women who have served our country and helped shape the way we live today. Forever grateful!!! 🙏🇺🇸.
Forecast was for rain later in the day. There was a point in the morning when the skies were very dark and thought we were in for quite a downpour, but zilch. Not that it mattered since we were going to be inside all day at the No. 1 attraction in New Orleans. It wasn’t a bar. It wasn’t a restaurant. It was the National WWII Museum
and quite fitting that we do this on a day that recognizes our veterans. But why here, why New Orleans? It was one of my burning questions when we checked in. Evidently, New Orleans is home to the LCVP (landing craft vehicle personnel), or the Higgins Boat. This was the landing craft that brought US soldiers to shore in every major amphibious assault during World War II. Higgins Industries was a small boat company in New Orleans owned by entrepreneur Andrew Jackson Higgins. In fact, General Dwight Eisenhower once claimed that Higgins was “the man who won the war for us”. Recognizing the significant contribution that this company made for the “cause”, Dr. Stephen Ambrose, a renowned military historian, decided that New Orleans would be the perfect location for a WWII museum. After decades of research and a firm commitment, the museum was founded in 2000, where it was known as the D-Day Museum. Since then, it has expanded into 6 sections, with continued expansion and has the feeling of a small college campus. You’d need a week to get it all in. In 5 hours, we only managed to tour 2 buildings but became completely immersed and engaged unlike any history class I’d ever taken. It really took us to the inside story of the war…...why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today. One of the highlights was the 4D cinematic experience called "Beyond All Boundaries", narrated by one of my favorite actors, Tom Hanks and well worth the additional $7.00. Before the film, the docent introduced a WWII veteran guest. As he stood up to be recognized, he was given a huge applause. Then he asked all Veterans to stand up so they could be thanked as well. That was classy! Like the Gettysburg Museum and Battlefield experience, I wish we had brought our children here while they were studying all of this in school.
As we were getting onto our bikes to head back to our campsite, I had a little mishap. I would call it a slo-mo fall, and of course there was an audience. As I was swinging my leg over the seat to put my foot on the pedal, my shorts got caught on my bike seat and I lost my balance and basically said “I’m going down”. Nothing I could do would correct it. A young lady was nice enough to pick up my sunglasses that had fallen off my face, and Jeff quickly came to my aid. Anyway, the bike fell on my lower ankle
where I could feel immediate swelling on my lower calf which increasingly became more painful. The actual bruising was pretty minimal, but the swelling was pretty bad. Time for some ice and elevation, which did offer some relief.
With our brains completely overloaded from the museum tour and knowing we had a few upcoming packed days with my sister and brother-in-law (flying out from Oregon), we decided to pace ourselves and stay “home”. And we managed to get some much needed tasks done….laundry, defrosting the freezer and Sadie’s overdue bathtime. Now we’re set for a frolicking good time for the duration of our time in New Orleans.