Golf Driver (okay, so that’s going to be a bad pun)

Good day one and all. Glad tidings of joy from across the pond, in the good ol’ US of A.

This week has been a brilliant week for me. ‘Even better than hand gun shooting?’ I hear you cry. Of course not, but I have still had an absolute hoot this week. The weekend was also full of surprisingly good fun.

On Tuesday, the staff finally got out on our first staff trip of the year. I’m in America, 5 and a half thousand miles away from home, with 30 Americans. What would you do for a typical American night out? That’s right… CRAZY (miniature) GOLF!

Not all of the staff could leave of course, people still have activities to run, and the camp to look after. So about 30 of us packed into a convoy of cars, bound for the Pine Creek Miniature Golf Course in New Jersey. The course claims to be the biggest in America, and has two 18 hole mini-golf courses.

I had a good time. Although many of my American friends are now convinced that we don’t have Golf in the UK, as I managed to really suck (that’s an Americanism) at the game. I’m sorry Britain, I have shamed us in the art of crazy golf.

But my Tuesday night did not end there. When we got back to camp, at around 10.30pm, several staff members were feeling ‘thirsty’. So we decided to go to a local… how can I put this subtly… beverage retailer. But better than this, was the fact that the most amazing man alive (Tod Warner is the only man I know that can slam a revolving door) let me drive his car.
The Amazing-Mobile - Todd Warner's (the only man that can beat both rock and scissors in a game of rock paper scissors) 3 litre Honda.

That’s right, I was allowed to drive a 3 litre Honda Accord (and it went like poo poo of a shovel). Tod (who’s calendar goes from April 2nd to March 31st – no one fool’s Todd Warner) has a great car. Not only because it is powerful, fast, and well kitted out, but it has a manual gear box!!! Only Todd Warner (who selects one lucky child every year on his birthday to be hurled into the sun) could drive a manual in the US.

We arrived at the bar, and the bar maid asked to see our idea. As Des of course, I was not going to drink anything more than coke, but in the US, many places don’t let under age youths in after 11. Furthermore, the age limit over here is 21. Oh dear, I hear you say (as I am only 20). So I handed over my British driving license, she gave it a confused look, and I told here that it was UK. She smiled at me, and carried on. As Pat Toye has said some weeks previously when he read my license ‘Oh excellent! It’s written in British’.

But why is Todd Warner (who never sleeps, he waits…) so amazing. Well this is the story. On a trip somewhere, he single handed paddled across a lake, during a thunderstorm, in an aluminium canoe. (Okay, so maybe he’s mad.) He did this to get to an island to save three kids. He then paddled back with three unconscious kids, whilst performing CPR as needed. On dry land, he then carried all three (including CPR) to safety. Two of the three kids lived.

And that kids, is why Todd Warner (who is so amazing, he can win noughts and crosses [tic-tac-toe for US citizens] in one move) is so amazing.

But it turns out, that some of that amazing is rubbing off on me. Although I am only the (Assistant) Sailing Director, I believe I may have helped influence the following: Last week nobody signed up to take Sailing merit badge, yet 4 people achieved the badge (persuasion); Despite the fact that the merit badge programme has a maximum of 6 Scouts each week, our current average is 6.83 Scouts taking the badge per week. I know, my boss does a good job…

So, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) salute their flag just like the NTC salute the Union Flag. Now, as an Assistant Scoutmaster, I have a BSA uniform, but every other day, I wear my NTC uniform. When I’m wearing this uniform, I try and enter the parade field subtly, by coming around behind the Troops, and join the end of the staff line. This Friday, the normal parade marshal (Joe) wanted to Bugle, and we were short of people to give orders.

Anyways, I turn up, and Asst. Camp Director says ‘Hey Andy! You’re Parade Marshal.’ Okay… So I did. Although I am a little out of practice though. I was actually a little nervous giving orders to 500 American Scouts. That would be another tick in the book then…

Lastly, this weekend, I travelled through three states (Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland) to go to the St. Michael’s Bay area of the Chesapeake Bay. It was a beautiful fishing town, and walking around the marina of the harbour reminded me very much of trips to Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight on beautiful summer evenings (although apparently, since I left, Blighty hasn’t had many of them…). Crab-Fest 2007: (from left to right) Bill Mischke [Camp Director], Tom Leitz [Asst. Camp Director], and me [Asst. Sailing Director, Commissioner].

I should point out, that the area is ludicrously expensive to live in (the Vice President of the US lives there), and we were staying at the Camp Director’s holiday home with him, and his wife. The other Asst. Camp Director, Tom, drove us down there. Our main reason for visiting was to go to ‘Crab-Fest’. Basically an all you can eat crab eating event. I’m not a great fan of seafood, but they had other stuff there, and I was happy. Until know, I could have said that I have never had crabs, but now I shall have to live on in shame that I had this STD. Oh no, sorry, I mean I have eaten Chesapeake Blue Crab.

They may have fooled the Britsh 200 years ago, but apparenty we still managed to invade!

St. Michaels is known well for being the town that fooled the British. When we tried to invade, they hung lanterns in the trees above, so that the Royal Navy, shot over the town. Well, my response is that it just goes to show how deathly accurate our Navy was, that the down was vertually undamaged.

Well, I am doing marvellously. I suppose we should start a count down to my illustrious return to the UK. From Tuesday at 0600, it will be less than three week, until I am once again in the British Empire! I hope all is well back home, and that the Montacat and the world heritage site Ford Escort that is Ernie is doing well.

If you think that this blog was cra-b, why not leave a comment and tell me.

If you think that this blog was back to it’s normal drive and determination, why not leave a comment and tell me.

Quote of the Week: [Okay, so rarely do I say something stupid enough to get here, but I admit, it was me] ‘So, which cost more: the blue crabs, or the red ones’ said a bemused Andy as he looked at a cooked Blue Crab. I know, I’m a dumb ass.