I remember you saying you were a Merchant Marine, so here are some pics of the Port of Wilmington, NC. I was super impressed. Those cranes are soooo huge. Almost made me sick thinking of being up there. 
And here is where they used to make the Liberty ships, made of concrete. 
Ever been to the port of Miami? Awesome! I’d go thru there in my sailboat and I would feel like an ant next to those huge cranes.
Very cool. Container cranes are very big indeed. They’ll run you down too if you’re not paying attention. Haven’t been to Miami, but have been to Port Everglades/Fort Lauderdale. Jacksonville has a huge container facility too. I’ve been to Tampa also, but that was on a tanker. I was on a Liberty Ship briefly (Jeremiah O’Brien) when it was on its way back to San Francisco after the D-day anniversary. The other remaining one (John Brown) is near here in Baltimore. It takes Chesepeake cruises a few times a year. Thanks for the pics. I have lots and lots of them from various adventures…
Your welcome. On our last day there the container ships were getting loaded up. I felt like a kid again. Wide eyed with amazement. I’ll look through my pics and post up a pic of an old shipyard that was abandoned in the late 1920’s. They just left the tugs there. All of them have rotted away, just leaving the boilers, but there is still one stuck on the banks of the Cape Fear, half rotted but still holding on to life.
I recently discovered a couple groups on facebook for current and former cruise ship employees. It’s been a blast reconnecting with old friends and seeing pictures from ships and ports I used to visit. Is there something similar for merchant marines Zander?
Being a Merchant Marine sounds so romantic. Sailing the seas, seeing the world. And then you see where the work takes place and how much work it really is. MM’s have earned my respect, that’s for sure.
There probably is, Mark, though I don’t use facebook. I’ve seen websites from time to time that guys try to find old shipmates, but they are for the real oldtimers mostly. Cstokes, It does have its perks, but it has drawbacks too. Romance…yeah, that and a lot of other emotions. The romance is what allures us in, I guess. I’d say its more of the pursuit of a type freedom which is hard to describe, its a freedom that’s essentially an illusion, though. The paradox is that we chase it knowing that its an illusion. This guy: Tom Lewis seems to get the words right. Look under the albums and see if you can listen to the track “Sirensong”. Edit: just listened. Its only a sample. Very weak, it only plays the first verse. To hear the lyrics that mean anything, you’ll have to buy it.
Also… the end of the rainbow however rewarding is not as attractive as where you could be if you saw yourself in the end of the rainbow. Which IS in actuality were you ARE. You just can’t see it (the rainbow). Hint: the pot of gold is covered.
Is that just another way of saying the grass is always greener on the other side?
We always want what the other guy has got and… he also wants what other guys got!
I was snuffing pakalolo earlier. I think I was saying that the pot of gold just needs to be uncovered and not necessarily ran after…paradoxically.
Juxta, that is 100% true! Do you know the story of the “Acres of Diamonds”?
I have now, thank you very much. Back to the topic…all hail the merchant marines who without we would have no use for our euphemistic diamonds nor would we have the butloads of snuff we enjoy so much.