Today I took a tour.

It was a tour that required a Picture ID, a Social Security Number, a City of Birth, a very special Hardhat (complete with logo) and Safety Glasses.

If I told you where I went I’d have to kill you. But it was a Shipyard. On the Virginia Peninsula. Where they build Aircraft Carriers and such.

And I did see them building an aircraft carrier.

I can’t tell you how cool it was to stand on the edge of the drydock and look down.

And down.

And ever further down.

And there were still several stories to go before it was complete.

And while we were there, we saw the beginnings of the replica of the little cheesebox on a raft (which is so very why we were there.)

OK – it was just the raft part, and only a small part – but hey! It was pretty phenomenal nonetheless.

Sabbaticals for research are a nice thing – but being with your friends is even better. I got to see Sara and Jeef and Mary Helen and Justin, and Kimberly and my uber-boss Dave today, along with the inimitable JBH and the most wondrous Nancy Lee on the tour. Then I spent an absolutely glorious hour with Karen and then more fun with Sara and Lyles and Jeanne and Dave which rounded out the day. The snow started piling up as we were talking and made a perfect frame for the scene.

I can’t wait to go back.

There’s some medicine that doesn’t come in bottles – it comes in words and smiles and sights and sounds and acres of steel and ship and water.

But going back to the museum for the day was also bittersweet – as one of the bestest things there isn’t there anymore.

But I know where she lives…and I have a key…

Woof!