10/31/2012 Frankenstorm

FRANKENSTORM PASSES: EGO ALLEY ANNAPOLIS OVER TOPS ITS BANKS

Hurricane Isaac on its final approach to New Orleans

 We had to evacuate our home in advance of Hurricane Isaac in September and when we returned we had to endure about seven days without power and we are still repairing the minor damage to our house, where we never fully finished the repairs from Katrina. Yet a news event completely missed by the national media that we just received from on scene by E-mail is causing more pain than our own property damage. EGO ALLEY IN ANNAPOLIS OVER TOPPED ITS BANKS DURING THE STORM.  THE FLEET RESERVE CLUB MAY HAVE WATER DAMAGE.  This may not seem like a truly notable event in a storm that killed a half dozen people or more, turned thousands homeless, shattered communities, and will cost the already strapped U.S. Treasury billions of dollars. But this is a story of a different kind of "homelessness" that affects people even thousands of miles away and physically untouched by the events. There are probably many such stories involving other occupational communities that know no geographic boundaries, as well as local community gathering spots. This is a part of the massive destruction that the mind can absorb.                                                                
      

EGO ALLEY, ANNAPOLIS LOOKING TOWARDS THE CAPITOL DOME FROM THE VICINITY OF THE FLEET RESERVE CLUB

 The over topping of EGO Alley is always bad news for the shops and restaurants located along Dock Street. But for the FLEET RESERVE CLUB sitting right on the water's edge it probably means water in the club! That means temporary closure, clean up and repairs. The FLEET RESERVE CLUB is the main watering hole for many of us old boatswain's mates. The damage to the soul of even a temporary closure or loss of artifacts is too painful to imagine. Picture a bunch of old lions that have utilized the same watering hole for sixty years, then it goes dry!  The pain reaches across the nation. not limited to just Annapolis. The Fleet Reserve Club is part of a larger naval psyche, a place of the heart that goes with members and patrons, including Midshipmen long after one leaves the area. With closings over the last several years in Pensacola, and San Diego of vintage naval watering holes, "THE FLEET" as it is often simply called ,stands alone as a cross generational ultra traditional naval watering hole, eatery, and gathering place. Its like wilderness, the naval soul needs to know it is there even if it is a thousand miles away. Let us hope that "the Fleet" is up and running and once again serving area sailors active , retired , and veteran in a day or two and not weeks. THE FLEET BY GAWD MUST AND SHALL BE PRESERVED!