"PIRAZ PIRATS" Reunion
The 1st annual Pirats Reunion was held in San Antonio, TX April 7-10, 2005. The reunion was at the Holiday Inn Express, 534 S. St. Mary's St., San Antonio. The hotel was located very near the famous San Antonio Riverwalk and very close to the Alamo.
We had a good turn out for the first Pirat Reunion. Thursday evening was spent renewing old friendships and swapping sea stories about our days in the Gulf, as well as some of the great liberty we had.
Friday morning saw us off to one of three winery tours of the day, the Sisters Creek Winery. This winery is situated in a former 1885 cotton gin near in Sisterdale, TX. A great tour of the winery and tasting led to a few cases being purchased.
Lunch was enjoyed in old Luckenbach, Texas. This tiny hill country hamlet where “Everybody’s Somebody” was established as a Trading Post in 1849 making it one of the oldest settlements in Gillespie County. We had some great BBQ as well as drinks served from the bar/saloon in the backend of the General Store and Post Office. After lunch we took in two more wineries around Fredericksburg, Texas before calling it a day. The bus couldn't hold any more wine.
Saturday we took a boat ride around the Riverwalk Canal and then proceeded to The Alamo. Our tour of the Alamo was self guided but very interesting for those of us who had never been there. We also happened on a reenlistment ceremony of a second class petty officer from VP-48 taking place in front of the Alamo. Most of us congratulated him, and then told him he should have talked to us first! In the afternoon most of us retired to the Riverwalk Mall where we discovered Hooters and set up camp for the remainder of the day. We had an opportunity to talk to a group of young sailors attending Master at Arms training at Lackland AFB before going to their first duty station in Florida where they will be replacing the Marines currently standing security watches. We ended the day with a group dinner at a great Mexican restaurant in the old market area.
Sunday saw everybody breaking up and heading their separate ways for home. Most of the people we polled liked the idea of having next year's reunion in Charleston, SC.
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Jim Plummer (RD1) and John McQuire (GMG2) in hospitality room. |
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Dick Hallowell (RD1), Bob Moe (DS1) and Jim Storey (QM3).
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Don Woods (RD2) and his new bride Donna. |
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Dave and Uli Ortmayer (RD1) with Bob Moe. |
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Bob Moe, Ben Dopp (RD3) and Jim Storey. |
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Two Cruiser Association vets welcoming us to San Antonio, with Steve Karolyi (RD3) in the middle. |
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Some of the gang in front of the Cruiser Sailors banner. |
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Group in front of Luckenbach Post Office. |
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Back row: Jim Plummer, Jim Storey, Dick Hallowell, Ben Dopp. Gary White, Dave Ortmayer, Don Woods and Uli Ortmayer. Front row: John McQuire, Jin Jyu Heili, Kay White, Donna Woods, Bob Moe and Rich Dexter. Kneeling: Jim Finch, Bob Heili and Steve Karolyi. Prior to boarding boat for canal ride. |
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Back row: RD3 Steve Karolyi, LTJG Bill Cooper, RD3 Don Guth, STG3 Gary White, RD1 Jim Plummer and RD1 Dick Hallowell. 2nd row: RD1 Dave Ortmeyer, ET2 Bob Heili, GMG2 John McQuire, QM3 Jim Storey and RD3 Ben Dopp. Front row: RD2 Jim Finch, RD1 Rich Dexter, DS1 Bob Moe, and RD2 Don Woods. |
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Dave & Uli Ortmeyer, Don & Donna Woods, Don & Gina Guth and Gary & Kay White. |
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This guy's grandfather was on DD-364. |
