Last week The Wife and I went up to Williamsburg. She had a work thing, so we did a quick combined vacation thing. It helped her cousin lives up there, so we had a place to crash.

  1. I did the musket event. It was the first time I’ve done black powder. I enjoyed the hell out of firing a Brown Bess and a colonial fowling piece. And yes, now I have a hankering for a black powder rifle. I will say, the only down side was my beard smelled like burnt powder for the rest of the day. If you are willing to spend the hundred bucks, I would recommend it.
  2. On Sunday, while The Wife was at an all-day work thing, her cousin and I went down to Norfolk. He’s a retired chief, so we went on base and went down to sight see at the ships tied up. It’s always neat to see those huge machines. From there, he took me downtown so we could go to the USS Wisconsin. This is an Iowa-class battle wagon turned into a museum ship. Another high recommendation.
  3. I’ve been listening to Max Hastings’ book on Vietnam. It doesn’t pull punches on any side. It’s a great companion piece with Ken Burns’ recent Vietnam documentary series. It’s been really good for someone like me who is trying to understand that conflict, since I didn’t live through those times. It’s scary how much the reasons the US failed to get out of Vietnam mirror why we haven’t left Afghanistan. Both the publicly stated reasons, and the true reasons of those in power.