Troop 290’s Trip to Patriots Point
On Friday, November 7th, Ocracoke's Boy Scout Troop 290 departed from the ferry docks at 1:30 p.m. and headed to Cedar Island, North Carolina. After, the long 2 hours and 15 minute ferry ride they had a hour and a half car ride to Fishers Landing at the Croatan National Forest. This was our first destination of the 5 day long trip.
When they arrived at Fishers Landing the troop was in a hurry to set up their tents and collect firewood because the sun was going down. Once all their tents were set up and the firewood was collected, the expert fire builders Brandon O’Neal and Hunter O’Neal set up the fire. Next, the troop ate goulash and garlic bread; this tasty meal was cooked by our troop leader Jason Wells. After the troop ate and cleaned their dishes they were free to explore Fishers Landing. The next morning, the troop ate bacon and muffins which were donated by the Ocracoke Coffee Co.
The next morning, the troop packed up their tents, got their gear into the trailer, hit the road once again and drove to Cheraw State Park in South Carolina. The troop had a little trouble finding where to camp in the Cheraw State Park, but once they did they set up their tents quickly and gathered firewood. After everything was set up and the fire was burning, Denny Widener got some of the troop and taught them how to set a snare. After, they set up the first snare they had to set up a snare by themselves. Once, they got the snares set up they headed back to camp. The troops proceeded to gather around the campfire and some of the camp leaders told stories about their childhood adventures. Later that night the troop got to enjoy s'mores, which is a very important part of Boy Scout trips. The next morning, the scouts that set the snares went back to go and check them, even though the snares were unsuccessful it was a great learning experience for the troop.
They left Cheraw State Park at 10:00 a.m. the next morning and headed to Mt.Pleasant, South Carolina, which is the home of the U.S.S. Yorktown. Patriots Point has a the U.S.S. Yorktown (Aircraft Carrier), U.S.S. Laffey (Destroyer), U.S.S. Clamagore (Submarine), and a Vietnam support base reenactment. The first night at Patriots Point they unloaded their gear and headed onto the U.S.S. Yorktown. When the troop got onto the ship they learned the rules about the ship and headed to their berthing quarters (bunking area). Once they got all our bunks arranged they were free to explore the ship. The troop had to be back at their bunks at 9:00 p.m. to get ready for the fire drill. The troop got to explore the ship’s many floors which went down 28 feet from the hangar deck, they could go all the way to the engine room which is at the very bottom of the ship. They also got to explore the Vietnam reenactment, there you could go onto some of the helicopters and imagine what it would be like to live in one of those camps. Later that night, the troop enjoyed BBQ sandwiches, and they talked about the activities they were going to do Monday.
The next morning, the troop had to wake up at 8:00 a.m. to go and eat breakfast. The troop ate sausage, eggs and cinnamon rolls. Next the two groups went to their activities. The first group went to the flight simulator while the other group went to the climbing wall. Both of these activities were great and the troop loved them. After their first activities they got to go and explore the U.S.S. Laffey and the U.S.S. Clamagore, they explored them until it was time to go and eat lunch.
Next, the whole troop went and had a class on oceanography. At this class, they learned about salt contents in the mouth of the Cooper River which is what the U.S.S. Yorktown is in. They also took a quiz after one of the lessons, where the teacher showed slides of plankton and the troop had to guess what the plankton grew up to be. Jason guessed on many of the slides sea anemone and got it wrong many times also. They also saw some marine life in the oceanography class such as a sheepshead, pinfish, horseshoe crab, and a oyster toad.
After the oceanography class the troop separated back into their groups and went to their next class. The first group went to rock climbing while the other group went to the flight simulator. The rock climbing wall was a lot more challenging than it looked. While most of the troops made it all the way to the top of the wall some of the troops did not complete this task. The flight simulator helped the learn the basic skills of becoming a pilot. To top off all of these fun activities the troop also received merit badges for the aviation and oceanography classes. When all their activities were finished they got to enjoy themselves again and explore the ship some more. After exploring for a few hours they went to eat dinner. The scouts had to go to bed early because they had to wake up at 6:00 a.m. the next morning.
The troop woke up to a bugle which was playing the reveille. The troop got up and ate one last breakfast on the ship. After they had breakfast they headed to the bus. The troop had a long 7 hour drive and a 2 hour ferry ride to finish their last trip of the fall.
Many thanks to the scout leaders and chaperones Jason Wells, Luke Harrington, Christopher Salerno, Ernie Doshier and Denny Widener.
Kyle Tillett is a sophomore at Ocracoke School, and a member of the Ocracoke Dolphins Cross Country team, as well as Boy Scout in Troop 290.
Ocracoke Boy Scout Troop 290 is comprised of middle school and high school students. Twenty-five of them went on the trip: Kyle Tillett, Dylan Sutton, Dylan Esham, James Paul, Perry Austin, Mason Fuller, Kevin Perez, Reese Gaskins, Juan Morales, Eldon Robinson, Ethan O'Neal, Alan Doshier, Cole Gilbert, Parker Gaskill, Colby Austin, Darvin Contreras, John Brodisch, Christian Trejo, Brandon O'Neal, Cody Pinter, Maclain Kalna, Carson O'Neal, Hunter O'Neal, David Styron, and Dalton Kalna. Five more boys are also troop members: Hunter Belch, Alston Belch, Spencer Gaskins, Jordi Perez, and Liam Caswell.
