Hurricane Prep and a Day Trip to Fort Pierce

Wauchula, Florida - Events of Friday, July 26 to Monday, September 2, 2019

We have completed most of our preparations and are currently in a holding pattern waiting for Hurricane Dorian to arrive. The storm is predicted to stay offshore, so we aren't expecting anything too severe. However, hurricanes are notably unpredictable, so we are hanging loose with a couple of backup plans should we need them.

In the meantime we thought we would post an update on a few things we have been doing over the last month. Back at the end of July, we tried a newly-opened Mexican restaurant in Sebring called Azul Tequila. 

Azul Tequila

The decor at Azul Tequila is very attractive with upholstered chairs that have carvings in the wood backs and with taller, barrel-type seats in the bar area. There are interesting silhouettes of rustic wagons and figures in sombreros in the upper windows, wagon wheels embedded in the walls, and attractive murals.

Azul Tequila has a menu that is typical of most Mexican restaurants with prices that are $1 to $3 higher than our favorite, Pancho's Villa in San Antonio, Florida. We both had chimichangas with queso sauce. Margery had ground beef, and Paul had shredded chicken.

Margery with her chimichanga

Azul Tequila is almost as good as Pancho's Villa, and it's about a 1½-hour shorter drive, so we'll definitely be going back. In fact, we liked Azul Tequila so much, we did go back less than two weeks later.

With Hurricane Dorian still a long way off, we took a day trip on Tuesday, August 27, to Fort Pierce to visit the Navy SEAL Museum located there. Admission is $15 for adults ($12 for seniors 65+, veterans, and first responders).

Entrance to the Navy SEAL Museum

The Navy SEALs originated in the early days of WWII when the U.S. Navy recognized the need for covert reconnaissance of beaches and enemy coastal defenses. The Amphibious Scouts and Raiders were formed just 9 months after Pearl Harbor, and a training center opened in Fort Pierce. Other names for the Navy SEAL predecessors include Naval Combat Demolition Unit (NCDU), Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT), and Frogmen. The special operations program was expanded in 1960-1961 during Vietnam and that is when the Navy SEAL name was adopted. The name comes from where the teams operate - in the SEa, in the Air, and on the Land.

The museum begins with the modern-day story of the SEALs starting with a display on the global war on terror that began with the 9/11 attacks. One of the things in the display is a section of a steel beam from the World Trade Center.

Section of a steel beam from the World Trade Center

This part of the museum also features a scale model of bin Laden's compound in Pakistan. The SEALS trained on a full-size replica of the compound built in Nevada before the actual mission took place.

Scale model of bin Laden's compound

Also in the modern era display is the Maersk Alabama lifeboat. SEALs rescued Captain Richard Phillips, who had been held for 5 days on the lifeboat, after the cargo ship of which he was captain was overrun by Somali pirates back in 2009.

Maersk Alabama lifeboat

Along with a Black Hawk helicopter, the modern day exhibit features examples of several types of land transportation used by the SEALs including a dirt bike, a 4WD truck, and the sand rail and specially-modified side-by-side shown below that were used in Desert Storm.

Sand rail and side-by-side used by the SEALs

Included in the display was an MCU/2-P gas mask. Paul worked on the development of the lens for this military gas mask, and its experimental predecessors the XM-29 and the XM-30, when he worked as a plastics engineer at MSA.

The masks feature a flexible lens that allows the user's eye to be pressed close to the scope of a rifle while maintaining protection against poison gas. It was extremely difficult to mold the lens with good optics because of the nature of the material that was specified, and Paul came up with a way for the molding operators to inspect the lenses for optics right at the press using polarized light. With defects being discovered at the press, adjustments to the process could be made right away to minimize scrap.

MCU/2-P gas mask

The museum has separate areas for displays on Korea/Vietnam and for WWII. There are also several excellent short videos throughout the museum that describe different operations conducted by the SEALs as well as the very rigorous SEAL training.

From the WWII area, visitors exit to the outdoor displays that include a number of boats and submersibles from WWII to the present day. The photo below shows several of these vessels. Also on display are two training modules for the Gemini and Apollo space programs (the white, conically-shaped objects in the far distance). Navy frogmen participated in the recovery of the space capsules after splashdown.

Boats, submersibles, and space capsule training modules in the outside display

Shown below is a MK-V Special Operations Craft. At 82' long, it's a lot bigger than it looks in the photo. It has two 2252 HP diesel engines and costs $4500 an hour to operate.

MK-V Special Operations Craft

Also outside is a memorial dedicated to SEALs and their predecessors who gave their lives for our country.

SEAL Memorial

From the outdoor displays, we went back inside to watch a longer video on the history of the SEALs. With that video, with the numerous shorter videos, and with all the exhibits, we spent about three hours at the museum. We highly recommend the museum for all patriotic Americans.

The museum is located adjacent to a beach, so we took a short walk before heading home.

View of the beach adjacent to the Navy SEAL Museum

We made tentative plans to have lupper at a nearby seafood restaurant. However, the restaurant closed at 2:00, and we spent so much time in the museum it was about 2:10 when we were done. Because we had a two-hour drive to get home, we decided it was also too late to go our second-choice restaurant because it was about a 25-minute drive in the wrong direction. Not only that, but they closed at 3:00. Therefore, we made a quick stop at Chick-Fil-A on the outskirts of Fort Pierce for some chicken nuggets, then made another stop on the way home about 30 minutes later in Okeechobee for dessert at Dairy Queen.

Shortly after visiting the Navy SEAL Museum, Hurricane Dorian intensified, and the predicted track had moved inland. We were doing a lot of running around gathering emergency supplies in preparation for the arrival of the hurricane. On the way home from Walmart last Friday, we stopped at the Pioneer Restaurant located two miles down the road from the Co-op in Zolfo Springs. We have visited most of the other restaurants in Wauchula and Zolfo Springs, but somehow we never made it to the Pioneer.

Pioneer Restaurant

Pioneer has mostly diner-type food. We heard they had good burgers, so we both had Texas cheeseburgers (about $6.50). The Texas burgers are probably close to half a pound. We split an order of fries (about $3). The food is all pretty reasonably priced, but the soft drinks - not so much. We paid $2.79 each for Cokes. The glass wasn't that big, and for that price they don't even give free refills.

The burgers were okay, but we think the ones at Dee's in Sebring are better. Dee's burgers are thicker, juicer, and are hand-pattied whereas the ones at Pioneer are pre-formed.

Margery with what's left of her Texas burger

When we got home following our lupper at Pioneer, we were happy to find the predicted track of Dorian had moved back offshore where it remains at the time of this posting. We're about 100 miles inland from the Atlantic, so we're supposed to get some rain and 20 to 30+ MPH winds, which isn't that bad because we can get gusts that high during some of our afternoon thunderstorms. We'll try to post a quick update after the storm passes, the timing of which will depend on power and internet outages.

Comments

[Rob]

Good luck with Dorian and stay safe. Could be a very nasty one but hopefully will stay off shore.

Very cool that Paul contributed to the production of those gas masks!

I had to look up that MK-V boat. Found one sold at auction in April. $54K opening bid, $220K winning bid. Be kinda cool showing up with one of those at the yacht club...

[Janice Evans]

Oh goodness. . .I feel bad that I haven't thought to check on you guys.

I've been tracking with the understanding landfall was expected closer to Titusville, and Daytona.

Knowing you guys were further south, didn't even dawn on me to be concerned for you. . .oops!

Seems as though you have a good plan in place.

That was a humongous plate of food at the Mexican Food place. . .LOL!