NOAA Scientists Film Shark Swallowed Whole during Deep-Sea Feeding Frenzy

Scuba Diving Refresher and a New Dive Buddy

Scuba Diving was still on my brain so for a couple of weeks so it was time to take action. 

First, I needed someone to dive with so I needed to recruit a new dive buddy.  My wife is a nose breather and nose breathing and SCUBA aren't a good fit. So I spoke to my two kids that are still living at home.  Christian was a no go but Zach was all in.  Step one complete.

The next step was to find a place to take a refresher class for me and to get Zach open water certified.   One cool thing about Oklahoma City is that there are several excellent dive shops in the metro area.  If you ever wonder about Scuba Diving then don't hesitate to stop in and check out how easy it is to take a class and get certified.  Just like that we were enrolled in a class and over the next two weekends I completed my refresher course and Zach was a newly certified PADI OW Diver.

USS Alabama.....a worthy stop if you are driving to the panhandle of Florida.

We made this trip over Memorial Day and there was no way we were going to pass up the opportunity to see this piece of history Covid-19 or not.

Going below deck made me have a new respect for the sailors who lost their lives on ships like this at Pearl Harbor and the many battles after that.  New found respect for sailors who are often overlooked if they are not a part of the SEAL teams.

USS Alabama - Wood Deck with patches.

Twin 40 MM Anti-Aircraft Guns

A view from the highest point you can access.

This picture doesn't do justice to how big the ship is.  Allow a couple of hours to do it right.

Kingfisher Scout Plane

SR-71 Recon Plane

Sky Raider Attack Plane

The Scuba Diver Awakens Within

Destin, Fl was the first place I ever went diving in salt water.  My friend and I went out on a boat called the Fantasea and we dove on a man made reef.  We didn't have a camera so I only have the vague memory from 20+ years ago. Even the dive shop that we used is a thing of the past as a condo now stands on that location.

Okaloosa Island, FL Between Destin and Ft. Walton FL

 One of the things I did remember was the white sand beaches of the Florida Panhandle.  I have always wanted to return there but never had.  That is until a spur of the moment trip that was spawned by a Memorial Day weather forecast of days of rain in Oklahoma. 

On a whim my wife and I decided to take a road trip to escape the rain and the building cabin fever from the Covid-19 isolation.  Ill advised? Maybe! Well, Probably!  Nevertheless we decided to hit the road. We drove halfway and stopped for the night but we were on the beach by 2 PM the next day and it was awesome.  In fact, we had two awesome days on the beach.  The waves were perfect for boogie boards.  The third day the beaches were more or less closed because of more southern storms causing the surf to be a bit more angry. 

Nevertheless we still had fun. We thought we would go parasailing or rent jet skis for the day but unfortunately the seas were too rough and no one was going out or renting jet skis.  So we wandered shops and I set out to get a scuba shirt to commemorate my dive decades ago.  

I wandered into a dive shop and started looking around and immediately regret hit me.  I thought to myself what kind of loser drives all the way to Florida and doesn't go SCUBA diving.  Ok, to be fair to myself I hadn't dove in over 18 years and I didn't even know where my C-card was.  So I cut myself a break.

What did happen was that the desire to dive again began to rise within and for the next two day travelling home I had diving on the brain.   I will never go to Florida again and not go diving.

Lessons learned from a trip during a pandemic.  

1.  I love travelling with my wife.  We are committed to do more.
2. Spending two days on the beach is perfect for beating the Covid-19 blues.
3. Spending two days on the beach is an awesome way to recharge your batteries.
4. Going out in a pandemic makes you wonder if you are crazy.   
5. Never, ever, ever go to Florida with out going diving.