USSVI Convention

Doc, Chiefs Stone and Clear, and the excellent waitstaff at Hooters!

Getting directions from one of the locals!

Tall ship at the pier

  The United States Submarine Veterans Inc. convention is my 1st convention of any kind. The only previous exposure I had to conventions was watching the Loyal Order of Water Buffalo's antics on the Flintstones! As the saying goes, life does have a way of imitating art. After stowing our gear, Doc and I wander down to the 3rd floor where the convention is in full swing. I seems to me that Doc knows nearly half the attendees! In particular I am introduced to Chiefs Ray Stone and John Clear. I think their pictures are located in the dictionary next to the word "gregarious" or perhaps "extrovert".

View from our room at the Marriott

Getting warmed up at Hooters with Ralph Luther

Chief Clear hands me a card that invites me to Hooters at 20:000 hrs. (8 pm  for you civilians) and states the first beer of the evening is on him! I'm liking this convention thing! I wander around the vendor area sizing up what treasures I want to purchase and drag back home. Time for a quick nap before heading off to Hooters and dinner with Doc and fellow biker Ralph Luther. The convention site was well scouted out as the Oceanside Marriott is a short walk thru a garage and over a catwalk to the waterside complex that contains an Outback, Joe's Crab Shack, and Hooters! No driving, no getting wet, no hassles! After dinner with Ralph, Chiefs Clear and Stone arrive and the party moves out to the patio at the waters edge. Our Hooter's girl is a good sport and soon the beer, wings, cigars, and sea-stories start flying around the table. It had been thirty years since I heard sailors going at it with their ribald jokes, colorful language, and outlandish stretches of the imagination! I was having a ball and consuming my share of draft Yuengling. The tales went on until closing time (00:30) and although our core group of 6 grew to 10 for about an hour, we had managed to consume 22 pitchers of beer! Really? 
  Wednesday dawns bright and clear. I am up early and hungry as all get out. I walk across the street around 7 am for breakfast at a small family owned diner. After chowing down on some biscuits and gravy, I wander over to the waterfront to check out the local sculptures and a tall ship. My shipmate Ron Harter calls me and I join him and Lisa back at the diner for more coffee. We catch up on other shipmates, where our careers have taken us , and just general stuff. Ron had an issue with his bike that needed addressing and we parted ways. I spent the rest of the day wandering around the convention talking to other sailors and waiting for the 3 pm meeting that was to be the first national meeting of the Silent Service Motorcycle Club.  I've been to perhaps thousands of meetings in my time and they all flow about the same. Lots of enthusiasm, some good ideas, some bad, some impatience, and some planning for the future. Our founder, Bob Opple, tells us that we are the second largest base within the USSVI after only 2 1/2 years in existence! Quite the accomplishment for a bunch of "Bubblehead Bikers"! There is another repeat performance at Hooters scheduled for this night, but Doc and I choose a more relaxing dinner at Outbacks with another friend of Doc's. After all, we have a poker run to do tomorrow with the SSMC and want to be our sharpest for the group ride!