Meeting up with a great group of friends.....

This past weekend a group of Moms and I had a Meet & Greet on the St. Petersburg Coast Guard Station Dock... these Moms all live around the country and most have Cadets or Enlisted that work the  "US Coast Guard Tall Ship Eagle".  I was lucky to live here and had only a short drive but these moms had to fly and drive in for the event.

 We all belong to a "Coast Guard Moms" group that provides support to new Coastie Moms who have kids entering Basic Training for the first time. 

 The "Eagle" came into the St. Petersburg, Fl port after a 5 week tour of the Caribbean  Forty-five cadets have called this ship home for the last five weeks. They run the Eagle, along with six permanent crew members and 55 enlisted personnel maintain the ship year-round.  The Cadets  are  studying at the Academy in New London, Ct.
 This beautiful sailing vessel  is a teaching tool for the Academy Cadets and teaches them the skills they will need to complete their studies and become Officers in the US Coast Guard.  My son graduated the Academy a few years back and this gave me the opportunity to see and visit this great ship!
The Eagle was built in Germany in 1936.  It was taken by the US after World War II as a war prize. Below deck is the original plaque. There are several things that are still the originals, including 85% of the wood in the Flag Cabin, the furniture and a sink with the words "auff" and "zu" in German.
For the cadets, it's a great experience to be training on a ship with so much history.

 It was a glorious beautiful hot Florida day and we had such a good time while we waited for this ship to come into port.
The Florida sun was up in full force this day, that's me with the umbrella while my friend Jane looked out with such pride as  the ship came in with her son  on board.

 Was a fun day for us all.

 As everyone knows the "United States Coast Guard" is a branch of the American Military and provides safety and care to our borders both in America and foregin lands when our other 4 military's are at war or working out of the country.  For more information on the "USCG" you can see how they do their jobs on the Weather Channel programs, 

Coast Guard Alaska and Coast Guard Florida. 

Learn more about the Academy Here

 

The "US Coast Guard" makes us proud.
 

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Alphabet Thursday