A few of us recently made a trip down to Virginia, just outside of Washington, DC to visit this site member "mack". He had asked us to join him for a few days and he was making arrangements for us to visit a few places in the DC/Va area. Many of us here know that "mack" is a frequent contributor to this site, but he is also a volunteer firefighter with the Fairfax County Fire Dept assigned to Fire Station 10 (Bailey Heights, Va). One of the busiest in the County.
For some on here, they might consider this as one of those Senior Citizens Outings/Trips, as I think the baby of the group was 57 years old. But those old guys can still party with the best of them. A few of them could replace some of those Downtown Manhattan Comedy acts. Laughs weren't really scheduled, but they came with the trip. As somebody said; "they missed their calling", referring to a few of these guys. As part of that group, it was really a Great time. So I'll tell you a little bit about it. This will probadly take some time, so grab yourself a coffee.
"mack" earlier this year asked a few of us to come down to Virginia to visit and he would show us around. First thing he did for us is set us up in a really nice hotel. Every morning we started off with a Free Country Breakfast. It was all you wanted to eat, and for me, it sure beat the McDonalds Big Breakfast meal. After breakfast, 'mack" would come by and we would begin our tours.
Actually the first day didn't really go so well for myself and one other member. We were supposed to get a personnel tour of the Pentagon. "mack" and a few other members got in. But myself and one other member were NOT allowed to get in because we did NOT have the required TWO PHOTO GOVERNMENT forms of ID. It is our guess that since the Boston Bombing, things there have gotten much tighter. Once we were refused admittance, we were asked to leave. We stepped outside and I went to call "mack" and the others that we were not able to get in. As I started to call, an armed guard carrying a machine gun told us to leave the property. We tried to joke a bit with this guard about it, but that's not really what this armed guard had in mind. Just leave. So for the next 2 hours or so, while the others toured the Pentagon, we roamed around a mall as two homeless individuals. Somebody else will have to tell you how that Pentagon tour actually went, because there was NO WAY we were getting in. They are NOT messing around there. But the truth is, as we know today, this MUST be done, and it's nice to know that these armed guards are there in an attempt to protect our national security.
Next was a visit to Fort Myers Army Base. There "mack" showed us around many of those buildings including the house that Genreral Patton lived in. "mack" had spent some time there during his military career and knew the area very well. Then we spent quite awhile at the Fort Myers Fire Dept on Base. The rigs were out on a detail and one firefighter had remained in quarters. We were told by him that they also have another station that is in close proxmity to the Pentagon. These Federal Firefighters besides covering the Fort Myers base and Pentagon respond on automatic mutual aid outside their own response area to the surrounding cities, in some areas first due. This entire area is all completely covered by automatic responses regardless of boundary lines. Something that isn't quite done here in the northeast. In fact the closest unit is assigned if picked up by the computer as closer while on the street. Along the inside walls of the firehouse hallway are pictures from the Pentagon attack of 9/11. The Chief there, although he was pretty busy at the time, presented us all with a new Fort Myers Fire Dept patch. An Asst Chief of Dept was able to talk to us for a long period of time, and when the first rig came back, we also talked to the members of that crew. We spent a lot of time there and for me, it was very interesting. Of course at one point, I got on a roll about buffing the FDNY WAR YEARS, and I think they were kind of impressed with that too.
Thank You to the Chief, Asst Chief and to all the members of the Fort Myers Fire Dept who took the time with us on that Wednesday morning April 24th '13. We all appreciate you making our visit a very enjoyable one. We also ate lunch later on base. I believe in the Officers quarters. It was Excellent.
The next day which was Thursday was Great too. We visited Fairfax Fire Station 10 and 18, and also the Fairfax County Dispatch Center for Fire/EMS, Police, and State Police. A very impressive day. And later that evening we went to Nationals vs the Cincinatti Reds ball game. So there's more to tell. But I have some chores to do now. The rest of the story I'll have to tell later.
For some on here, they might consider this as one of those Senior Citizens Outings/Trips, as I think the baby of the group was 57 years old. But those old guys can still party with the best of them. A few of them could replace some of those Downtown Manhattan Comedy acts. Laughs weren't really scheduled, but they came with the trip. As somebody said; "they missed their calling", referring to a few of these guys. As part of that group, it was really a Great time. So I'll tell you a little bit about it. This will probadly take some time, so grab yourself a coffee.
"mack" earlier this year asked a few of us to come down to Virginia to visit and he would show us around. First thing he did for us is set us up in a really nice hotel. Every morning we started off with a Free Country Breakfast. It was all you wanted to eat, and for me, it sure beat the McDonalds Big Breakfast meal. After breakfast, 'mack" would come by and we would begin our tours.
Actually the first day didn't really go so well for myself and one other member. We were supposed to get a personnel tour of the Pentagon. "mack" and a few other members got in. But myself and one other member were NOT allowed to get in because we did NOT have the required TWO PHOTO GOVERNMENT forms of ID. It is our guess that since the Boston Bombing, things there have gotten much tighter. Once we were refused admittance, we were asked to leave. We stepped outside and I went to call "mack" and the others that we were not able to get in. As I started to call, an armed guard carrying a machine gun told us to leave the property. We tried to joke a bit with this guard about it, but that's not really what this armed guard had in mind. Just leave. So for the next 2 hours or so, while the others toured the Pentagon, we roamed around a mall as two homeless individuals. Somebody else will have to tell you how that Pentagon tour actually went, because there was NO WAY we were getting in. They are NOT messing around there. But the truth is, as we know today, this MUST be done, and it's nice to know that these armed guards are there in an attempt to protect our national security.
Next was a visit to Fort Myers Army Base. There "mack" showed us around many of those buildings including the house that Genreral Patton lived in. "mack" had spent some time there during his military career and knew the area very well. Then we spent quite awhile at the Fort Myers Fire Dept on Base. The rigs were out on a detail and one firefighter had remained in quarters. We were told by him that they also have another station that is in close proxmity to the Pentagon. These Federal Firefighters besides covering the Fort Myers base and Pentagon respond on automatic mutual aid outside their own response area to the surrounding cities, in some areas first due. This entire area is all completely covered by automatic responses regardless of boundary lines. Something that isn't quite done here in the northeast. In fact the closest unit is assigned if picked up by the computer as closer while on the street. Along the inside walls of the firehouse hallway are pictures from the Pentagon attack of 9/11. The Chief there, although he was pretty busy at the time, presented us all with a new Fort Myers Fire Dept patch. An Asst Chief of Dept was able to talk to us for a long period of time, and when the first rig came back, we also talked to the members of that crew. We spent a lot of time there and for me, it was very interesting. Of course at one point, I got on a roll about buffing the FDNY WAR YEARS, and I think they were kind of impressed with that too.
Thank You to the Chief, Asst Chief and to all the members of the Fort Myers Fire Dept who took the time with us on that Wednesday morning April 24th '13. We all appreciate you making our visit a very enjoyable one. We also ate lunch later on base. I believe in the Officers quarters. It was Excellent.
The next day which was Thursday was Great too. We visited Fairfax Fire Station 10 and 18, and also the Fairfax County Dispatch Center for Fire/EMS, Police, and State Police. A very impressive day. And later that evening we went to Nationals vs the Cincinatti Reds ball game. So there's more to tell. But I have some chores to do now. The rest of the story I'll have to tell later.