to New Orleans, Louisiana

HAPPY NEW YEAR . . . hoping that 2016 will take us to many new, fun places!  So it must be hard to have a birthday close to Christmas . . . I always thought a January birthday was bad but poor Colin has his birthday just five days after Christmas.  I always make a point to celebrate his birthday even if it is just family.  We always do something fun.  At this point, I was grasping for what to buy him and decided that from this year on we would celebrate his birthday with a fun experience.  I have been wanting to take him to New Orleans to visit the National World War II Museum for a couple of years so to New Orleans we would go.  I had emailed the museum asking if they could mail me a brochure to wrap for his present.  I explained what I was doing and they were so kind to drop in the mail several different brochures.  I think he wasn't so sure about this gift, but i knew once we arrived he would be so thrilled!  So to DFW airport we went . . . this was our first flight since being approved for TSA Pre-Check and it worked like it was suppose to!  We headed to the Admiral's Club to wait, and wait, and wait due to several flight delays.  It wasn't all that bad because since the flight was less than 500 miles, I would get a free upgrade and used one of my 500-mile segments to upgrade the birthday boy too!  So we board and wait, wait, wait and about that time this hippy looking guy with super long dreads came running to the front in a panic.  He was explaining very loudly that he left his bag in the restaurant and needed to get off and wanted to make sure they would wait . . . he was super spastic and the pilot came out to calm him.  All was well and he got his bag but I was like dude we have been delayed an hour and you are just now realizing you left your bag?  We arrived about an hour late which sort of changed our plans a bit but not that much.  We were #1 and #2 off the plane and darted to the first taxi we could find!  Since this is a quick less than 48 hour trip, we just had a small carry on bag.  Thankfully, our hotel room was ready, we dropped our bag, and grabbed another taxi to the National World War II Museum . . . oh my apparently every person in New Orleans decided to do the same thing today . . . but we were here!

We waited in the super long line to buy tickets and then came up with a plan.  Since we lost a couple of hours, I decided to pay the extra $6 for the two day ticket; best decision of the day!  We started our day at the Train Car . . . pretty neat.  As you enter the train car, you are given a card with an assigned person from WWII; it is called the Dog Tag Experience.  Throughout the museum there are displays to tap your card and hear about your person and what they experienced during the war.  Today we are  Augustus Hamilton (Colin) and Geri Nyman (Heidi).  We exited the train car and made our way to see some of the exhibits.  It was not enjoyable at all.  There were so many people that you just sort of walked in a crowd, shoulder to shoulder, missing so much of the displays.  We were both really amazed at the museum and time was ticking by so quickly!

There were a lot of videos playing and the people would stop and you were unable to proceed to the next exhibit.  We were able to spend about 4 hours exploring the various exhibits before time to see the movie, Beyond All Boundaries.  I had wanted to see the movie first but the only tickets available were for the 5:00pm showing; so we bought the tickets.  Great movie . . . if you don't know much about WWII it sort of gives you a broad, brief overview.  The best part was as closing time neared, the museum had fewer people so you could enjoy the exhibits more.  Colin has read many, many books on WWII and has studied about it too . . . he probably (no joke) knows more about WWII than I do!  The boy is fascinated with all things WWII and Pearl Harbor.  We were both amazed that we spent over 5 hours exploring the museum, but we were sure hungry!  There is also a full service restaurant in the museum to which I made reservations for dinner.  So as we exited the movie; into the restaurant we went!  I had read mixed reviews on The American Sector Restaurant+Bar but we had great service and good food too.  It happened to be happy hour so could not resist a Sector Lemonade.  I was impressed that Colin branched out and ordered short ribs . . .

. . . now granted there is no way he touched those fresh greens but they were very good I can tell you.  He said the short ribs were very yummy especially the sauce, and I thought it was hilarious watching him eat the short ribs.  I had shrimp and grits which were very good too . . . a tad salty but very tasty!

For dessert we split a piece of s'mores pie . . .

. . . it was sooooo good and Colin loved the candle!  After 5 hours of being on our feet, we were both so tired and ready to head to the hotel to relax.  Since we missed the evening reception at the hotel, we stopped by the executive lounge to grab a few bottles of water and low and behold look what he found . . .

. . .  I knew we would be stuck there for a while.  So what does one do?  Join the fun!

We had so much fun playing pool together and he wasn't upset that I beat him 2 out of 3 games.  Somehow I feel there will be a rematch very soon!  Off to bed we went . . . because tomorrow we will be at the museum when they open at 9:00am sharp.

A little about the two we were following today for the Dog Tag Experience . . .
Geri Nyman
Geri Nyman was born an only child on a farm in Emmett, Idaho in 1920.  Her father was a barber who bought and renovated shops around the country.  She went to different schools every single year of her education and graduated from high school at 15 years old.  She dropped out of college after two and a half years and went home.  She had never been up in an airplane, so out of boredom she went to a local flying school, took a lesson, and was soon working in the office.  Before long, she became a flying instructor, moved on to taking hunters into the wilderness, and then graduated to piloting multi-engine planes for smoke jumpers. By the time the WASP were formed in 1942, Geri was a 23 year old with over 2000 hours flying multi-engine aircraft.  It was just the experience the WASP were looking for.  After Pearl Harbor was bombed, Nyman became one of the first 25 WASP- Women Airforce Service Pilots. 

Augustus Hamilton

As a child, Augustus Hamilton had a keen fascination with aviation.  He constructed intricate balsa wood airplane models, climbed onto the roof of the family home, set them afire, launched them into the air, watching as they crashed and burned.  A family hero, he was a strong athlete, excelled in football and received an athletic scholarship to the University of North Carolina.  He enlisted into the US Army Air Forces as a flight cadet the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked, and earned his 2nd Lieutenant bars. On July 14, 1944, 1st Lt. Augustus Hamilton's bags were packed to return to his wife and new born son in the States when he volunteered for one last mission. Hamilton's P-47, named "Mrs. Ham/Lil' Ham III" after his wife and the son he had never met, was on an armed reconnaissance flight with the 366th Fighter Squadron southeast of Argentan, France.  Hamilton was flying top cover for the flight leader, Captain Allan Farrow, who just completed a bombing run on a rail yard, when Hamilton and his wingman were jumped by over 20 Focke Wulf 190 fighters.  Realizing they were outnumbered five to one, Hamilton bought his squadron mates the time they needed to escape into a cloud bank. Lt. Hamilton was last seen diving on a flight of four German Fighters with another four on his tail.  He is believed to have shot down one or two enemy planes before being shot down himself.  

Now here is the 'wow' moment.  It sort of leaves you hanging as to what happened to Geri and Augustus.  You are then instructed to go to the gift shop (go figure) for the final chapter . . .

Geri Nyman

After the war Geri helped her new husband, Van (whom she had met on a troop train) earn his flying license, and they moved to Alaska, where they owned and operated a bush pilot service.  One of the proudest moments in Geri's life was when she and Van, her husband of 69 years, attended the March, 2010 ceremony in Washington D.C. at which the WASP received the Congressional Gold Medal for their service and sacrifices.  She died on December 30, 2011.

Augustus Hamilton

Details of Hamilton's fate remained unknown to his family until 1993, when a French historical preservation organization discovered the crash site and recovered Hamilton's dog tags and pieces of the wreckage.  Today a monument stands at the crash site honoring his ultimate sacrifice.

WOW, we were both left speechless and of course I was teary eyed!  Just amazing and made me want to grab 5 or 10 cards to follow tomorrow.  

***I can not believe I took so few photos today . . . the memories are in our mind and amazing!***