A Geek’s Think

I never got around to mentioning it here, but my orders changed about a month ago. I’m still headed to Mayport, Florida, but to a different ship. Instead of heading to the USS Vicksburg (CG 69), a Cruiser, I’ll be stationed on the USS De Wert (FFG 45), a Frigate. And I’ll be there in two weeks.

It seems like my schooling has taken forever, but here it is, almost over. It’s time to live the life of a Real Sailor and actually set foot on a ship. I’m excited, but a little nervous at the same time. I can’t say that any experience in my life has been comparable to this, so there’s not much I can do to prepare my system for the shock of living on a floating platform with about 200 other men (there are no women aboard frigates).

I’m finally (almost) there. Wow.

The Garibaldi Biscuits have arrived! I’ve been waiting for this day for 10 years… OK, so maybe the event isn’t that big, but I was certainly excited to open the box. My verdict? Sadly, they’re not quite as good as my Raisin Biscuits used to be. While very similar, there are two big differences:

1. They don’t have as many raisins in them, detracting from the sweetness and texture.
2. The biscuit is fairly dry compared to the relatively soft biscuit I remember.

Overall, if the similarity/goodness were rated on a 1-to-10 scale, I’d give the Garibaldi Biscuits a 6 or 7. Not quite there.

Oh, well. The search for my long-lost treat continues.

Yesterday Bill and I decided to head down to Petersburg, Virginia to visit the Civil War battlefield there. It was quite the sight to see. Petersburg was one of the Confederate army’s main supply depots, so the Union army had good reason to want to ‘remove them from the picture.’ So they essentially ‘laid siege’ on them for nearly a year.

The main attractions were the earthworks, big mounds of dirt thrown up to stop bullets and cannonballs. Every Union or Confederate fort or cannon battery was surrounded by them, with dips here and there to stick cannons through. They’re kind of hard to capture in a picture, so just imagine a bunch hills up to 6 feet high with cannons sticking out every so often.

 

Speaking of cannons, here are some examples of Civil War cannons. The biggest of the cannons pictured could lob a 30-pound ball more than 6000 yards.



One of the first sights we saw was The Dictator, a civil war mortar that tossed 13 inch, 225 pound exploding shells up to two miles. During the siege of Petersburg, it sent 218 rounds into the city, causing some damage but overall being of little practical value. The mortar pictured above is a replica; click here for a picture of the original.



This is a picket line, designed to alert the soldiers in the trench when the enemy was coming in.



One of the many trails we walked down.



Step 1. Dig tunnel under Confederate lines
Step 2. Set large explosive to explode underneath them
Step 3. Run out into the crater and take over the battery.
Step 4. Run for your lives when the Confederates take back the position after an hour of fighting.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Siege of Petersburg, visit the Siege of Petersburg page at CivilWarAlbum.com.

When I was a kid, I loved eating these thin biscuits filled with raisins - something like a flattened raisin sandwich. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find them for about 10 years now, even though I’ve looked for them in nearly every supermarket I’ve spent any significant amount of time in. I couldn’t even remember who made them or what they were called. Well, last night I decided to find out what actually happened to my childhood treat. Off to Google!

Turns out my biscuits were called Sunshine Golden Fruit Raisin Biscuits. When Keebler bought out Sunshine, they discontinued the Golden Fruit line, which explains why I haven’t been able to find them. The Wayback Machine even has a copy of one of Keebler’s old product pages describing them. So sad.

Or maybe not! It also turns out that my raisin biscuits were actually a variation of a British biscuit first produced in 1861 called a Garibaldi biscuit. While not produced in the US, Garibaldi biscuits are still sold in England and can be found via various importers such as the British Food Shop or the Vermont Country Store. As Bill and Ted would say, “Excellent!!”

I bought 5 packages.