Columbia (CL 56) - Naval Cruise Book

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baseball games played on one Held at one time-all these may be forgotten, but never to fade is the memory of the beauty of that spectacle, a hundred foamy geysers spraying cold, fragrant beer to the winds. All hands sported happy glows at the end of the day g some were sunburned. The thing about Bermuda that we enjoyed most of all was the liberty. And the most in- teresting sport was the search for pubs not out of bounds. The trip to shore from the COLUM- BIA was nearly an hours' cruise by APC, but no one really cared. Cameras sprouted from the life lines. Hordes of navy men stormed ashore and swooped down on glove and per- fume counters, buying American made goods at only twice the price. Sightseers, exercise fiends, and just plain crazy men rented bicycles and pumped furiously off in all directions, dumbfounding the local citizens by pedalling uphill. Even the mad dogs stayed inside. Horse drawn carriages were enjoyed by those with little respect for their money and by those thirty-eight who were not up to handling a bicycle for some reason or another. For long-distance travel there was the Toonerville Trolley, the three- car railroad guaranteed only to make it from St. George to Somerset before Summer did set. A favored few even managed to procure jeeps and free rides with the SP's. There were very few motor driven vehicles, but those few were intent on downing as many pedestrians as pos- sible to make up for it. They even had a neat trick of sticking to the wrong side of the road, where our boys were pedalling in the opposite direction. There was plenty to see and do in Bermuda. The weather alone was enough to keep all of us contented, aside from swimming at Coral Beach, goggling at the Aquarium, Devil's Hole, and Crystal Cave, window shopping in Hamil- ton, dancing and cavorting in general at the Bel- mont, and gawking at grown men in shorts. The Bermuda gals, few as they were, added pleasantly to the surroundings. Among the best remembered activities of our stay were the

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sea was much easler Early the thlrd mornmg when we got tOpS1dS agaln Bermuda was there a blue green hump m the Chstanee As we ap proaehed the 1sland became greener and whxte roofs appeared The water was a turquo1se color We all stood gogghng at the green and gold troplc splendor of thxs lush l1ttle coral rsland set away by rtself 1n the Atlantre Ocean A dapper pllot 1n flannels and yachtmg cap met us at the approaches to the harbor hopped aboard and dlrected us through a str1ng of coral reefs and 1nto the Bay w1th ease The clean wate1 the thxek green fohage the wh1te sand and the wh1te coral bu1ld1ngs looked llke a mov1e set from Hollywood topped off w1th Br1t1sh flags It was all rnueh too good to waste Shlp s wolk classes and dulls could go to the devll the order of the clay was for l1be1ty and 1ecreat1on an order wrth whlch the entlre shrp s company cornphed wlthout the shghtest s1gn of a struggle A rcereanon party for the standby sect1on was formed of dungaree clad non watch stand ers who had a thlrst for beer baseball and bath Reereauon commenced when the party was herded mto a whaleboat taken ashore to the Naval statlon p1led mto covered trucks cal ted off to the falthest gate and dumped out s1de From there lt was an easy walk to the sw1mm1ng a la mode the four hour h1ke to the beach Just over the h1ll and the three or four thzrty :even ' ' I J 7 l I ' I 1 v l - 5 . , . . . 3 . . . n I A 7 . J I Y . . V X . ing. . V . . , 7 Y l , J l ' l Q . 1 ' 1 9 3 - , - , - 1: A D A ' J ' ' , , ' ' ' recreation field. Looking back on it all, the . . . ,,. . ,, . . 3 K

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festivities at several small cocktail parties and at the Ofhcers' Club, but it all distilled down to the most spectacular orgy in the history of the cruise, well seasoned with the presence of Xavier Cugat, his blonde companion, the ex- ploits of our own father of the C 8: R Depart- ment, and a few other odds and ends. Jeeps pulled disappearing acts on all sides only to reappear in unexpected places with unexpected cargoes. There weren't nearly enough femin- ine companions, but no one was in a condition to care. Somehow everyone managed to return to the ship, and somehow the ship managed to return to New England, with one evaporator brewing fresh water, and the other, Bromo- Seltzer. Putting away our bottles of suntan lotion, swimming trunks, hangovers, and the British pennies hoarded to use in the half-dollar slot machines, we reluctantly left our vacationland paradise and proceeded to make our way lei- surely up to the great Northland. Skivvie shirts were again in demand, and shirts once open at the collar were covered by foul weather jackets. Best-seller aboard the Columbia was no longer Tourist Guide to Bermuda! And so it came to pass that in about two days we were anchored in Casco Bay, Maine. Just fifteen minutes from Portland by Picket Boat, and just forty-five minutes by Motor Launch. But in spite of the fact that some of the boys swore they couldn,t get into town without a Vvxww 'M lNNT'Kxv-ye-'N as c L as af1,'-- I . s. -2 , Q 'aw 'lf' C ,ti- s '- 1 mv I' 71. I I