February 20-21, 2008

Inn At Port Gardner
Everett, WA

The February event was held at the Inn at Port Gardner which is on the pier adjacent to the Naval Station.  On Friday a small group enjoyed a long detailed tour of the Flying Heritage Collection at Paine Field.  The planes were purchased and restored by Paul Allen who has opened this museum to the public for young and old to appreciate the War Birds of WWI and WWII.  If you missed this tour or wish to view the planes when they are flown check out the website at flyingheritage.com

The club members were ready to go on Sat morning for our tour of the destroyer the USS Momson.  We car pooled to the pier and were escorted to the ship which is moored next to the Abraham Lincoln.  Our tour of the Momson took over 3 hours.  We saw everything except personal quarters and the engine room.  We all left with a great appreciation of the crew and the great pride they all displayed in their team and their ship.  It was a tour not to be forgotten and was far more than we had anticipated.   Due to the length of the tour we cancelled the drive to Snohomish and the antique shops and headed for the nearest restaurant, the Scuttlebutt Brewery for home brewed beer or root beer.  The tour reinforced the commitment our military personnel give to our country insuring our safety and presence in the world.  As we left the tour we were all speaking of the crews youth, their enthusiasm and pride in their ship, their respective jobs and their future in the military.  What started as a tour ended with a deeper appreciation of the lives of those young sailors.

Saturday ended with a lovely dinner at the Inn where we all enjoyed wonderful food and great conversation. Doug Murray presented Pat Garrett with a clock for her service as club President the last two years and drew winners in a raffle (with car care goodies and the table centerpieces as prizes). TF's were driven by Joan and Paul Good, Jim Rothwell and Alex Waugh. Guy & Carita Boswell drove their A, and BGT's were brought by Joe & Susan Colombo and Bob & Stephanie Kampas (a special note for the 'almost driven B' of Larry Helser. It was requested that he bring a larger vehicle to help car pool people to the Naval Station - and we thank him for doing so).

Flying Heritage Collection
at Paine Field

USS Momson Tour
at Naval Station Everett

Dinner
at the Inn at Port Gardner

More pictures are to come, including a snapshot inside Scuttlebutt Brewing Company (and you don't want to miss that).