21 Jun - LeJeune Memorial Gardens, Walton's Distillery, Shelling on the Beach

 

Tropical Storm Claudette was anti-climactic here, thankfully.  We took the appropriate precautions and ended up with heavy rain but the winds did not materialize here.  The Atlantic is still all stirred up, though.  Doreen slipped out to the beach this morning for a walk during low tide and she came back with some shells, sea glass and a few shark teeth.  Momma happy!!

After she returned we headed out Camp LeJeune's main gate a ways to the LeJeune Memorial Gardens.  They have established a wonderful memorial area that includes a 9/11 memorial, a Beirut memorial, a Vietnam Veteran's memorial and a Montford Point Marine memorial.  They have future plans for a Corpsmen memorial and a Museum of the Marine.

As we entered the Memorial Garden, we crossed the French Bridge and were in awe of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial to our right.  If you have been to Washington DC and have seen the national Vietnam Memorial wall there, this is just as overwhelming.  They have created a wall of glass with the names of those missing in action, prisoners of  war or killed in action.  

The clear glass curved wall is etched with the names.  Beautiful.

As we walked the perimeter, I fixed a few flags that had fallen over in the weather.

The dome was finished in 2014 and under it is a fountain.  The words of Taps are inscribed on the dome and we paused and reflected before continuing our tour.  As we finished, other families gathered and parents tried to help their children understand. 

Not far was the Montford Point Marine Memorial, which was opened in 2016 and is dedicated to all Montford Point Marines.  During World War II the first Black Marines were allowed to join - they had to "fight for the right to fight for their country".  Segregation was still a factor so they were forced to train at a segregated base now named Camp Johnson in honor of one of their own. Unfortunately no official records exist of all of the names of those Black, they created a wall of over 20,000 stars that represents each of them and their contribution to the war.  

The next memorial we visited was the Beirut Memorial, which is a tribute to the 273 Marines that gave the ultimate sacrifice on October 23, 1983 when a truck bomb destroyed the Marine barracks in Beirut Lebanon. I was serving at that time and I remember the event. They say that was really the start of our war on terror. On this memorial are the names of each Marine who was there in a peacekeeping roll and gave the ultimate sacrifice, and the words “They Came In Peace” reflects that.

Our last stop was at the 9/11 Memorial, which features a large I-beam from the twin towers. It was presented "to the first troops to those who invaded Iraq from the police and firefighters of New York." Annually during a Patriot Day Observance those brave soles who lost their lives during the 9/11 terrorist attack are remembered as are those who continue to fight the Global War on Terror.  Pieces of the twin towers have been distributed to memorials throughout the United States and there may very well be one in your community.  We have one in Ankeny IA.  

If you are ever in this area, if you don't see anything else, I would highly recommend you stop here at the LeJeune Memorial Gardens..

From here we travelled a bit further west to the Walton's Distillery.  They are a small, local distillery that produced several different products and the tour and tasting were free, so heck yeah.  Let's go!

As we entered the tasting room it was like walking into a museum.  They had a lot of pictures and paraphernalia on display including a couple old "stills" and merchandise 

A tour was in progress so we actually did our tasting first.  Walton's distills alcohol - moonshine if you will, and then they process it into some great beverages.  You can purchase authentic moonshine or flavored "shine" such as peach, colada, apple pie, salted caramel, They also age their "shine" and create corn whiskey, bourbon whiskey and premium select moonshine.  Their ingredients are obtained locally and they import their barrels from Missouri.  Doreen's favorite was apple pie and peach.  I preferred the premium select and the bourbon.

It was time for our tour and we walked out of the nicely air conditioned tasting room into the sweltering heat of the distilling room.  

Ingredients are mixed

First distilling

Multiple steps of further distilling

Bottling

Labeling

They had a batch of moonshine going and the pot was really cooking.  The BTU's being produced made an already hot and muggy room almost unbearable.   

The gas-powered heater

Moonshine coming out the tube after being cooled by water

The moonshine is filtered through a cheese cloth and then it heads to the aging facility

We walked to another building where that moonshine that is going to be aged and flavored is processed.

Liquor aging in the barrels.  

Leakage is addressed with wax.  Evaporation causes a tremendous loss of product.  A 55 gallon barrel may end losing 20 gallons over the life of the aging.  

The inside of a barrel.  You can see the charring that gives it flavor and color,

We purchased some of their flavored moonshine, some bourbon and a few other things and then headed back to the base.  As we approached Onslow Beach, before we got the the bridge we were stopped in a very long line of vehicles.  Now that is strange!  Soon a security forces Marine passed by us and told us the bridge was stuck - OPEN!  That means no one leave the beach and no one enters the beach, including the camp ground.  And, oh by the way, estimated repair is three hours!  Great!  Luckily we pottied Liberty good before we left, so we headed back to the main base and had lunch at the exchange.  The repairs did not take as long as planned so we made our way back to the campground and hung out here tonight.

Tomorrow we plan to do some shopping in town, and then Wednesday we have ferry tickets to drive up and see a lighthouse an hour north.