Where There's Cannon, There's Fun!

Another Mitch Davis original: "Where there's cannon, there's fun!".  This ties in to my previous post of "You never know, 'til you go". If I see a cannon, I apply the saying and go check it out. I love history and visiting museums and historical sites. One day on vacation I came up with this quote as my family visited one of these sites. I do want to say that I know being on the business end of a cannon would not be fun and I do not want to make light of war or the destruction that cannon can cause. With my interest in history, I just equate the presence of a cannon as a sign that it sits at an interesting historical site and that is where the fun comes in. I have enjoyed visiting Civil War battlefields such as Pea Ridge in Arkansas, Vicksburg in Mississippi and Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. As you would expect, all of the sites displayed a lot of cannon. I visited Gettysburg as part of a leadership training in which we went out on the field of battle and discussed the leadership aspects of  the decisions made during the battle. It was the best leadership training I ever had in my 33 year career. Speaking of the Civil War, my wife, son and I went to our first ever reenactment about a year ago. I loved it, my wife and son not so much. It really brought the history to life. It was a small battle but they had numerous cannon on both sides. When they started firing they were incredibly loud and smoke covered the area like fog. I can't imagine the chaos those things would bring in a real battle or to a large battle like Gettysburg where you had hundreds going off.

I have visited numerous historical forts in San Juan and other Caribbean islands. Some of these are very old and date back to the 1400's or earlier. All of course, have a cannon or two. You will also find a cannon sitting along a boardwalk on a beach, old army forts in the U.S., museums, military bases, city parks, etc.  Oh, I almost forgot about pirates. Pirate ships always had a cannon or two and anytime you can see anything pirate related, you can be sure you can have fun. All of these are great places to visit and enjoy, thus lending credibility to my famous saying. 

My wife and I took a sunset cruise on a pirate sailboat a few years ago in Florida. We had a great time just relaxing and taking in the sites. As we pulled out of the port, the crewman warned us that they were about to fire off a cannon. Cannon! What fun! They pulled out this tiny 2 foot long cannon and loaded in a blank shotgun shell. They pulled the ignition cord and that thing exploded with noise that echoed through the area. They laughed and said they fire it every time they go out and the local diners along the water love it. Again, "where there's cannon, there's fun". I enjoy historical sites and if I can get a photo of myself next to a cannon it just adds to the experience. 

So, whatever you do in retirement, find those things that you really enjoy and do them when you can. Balance is also needed in your retirement. My wife supports my interest in some things that she isn't too interested in such as historical sites, car shows, metal detecting, home depot, etc. On the flip side, I support her in things she may enjoy. To make it work well, we both support the other's interests and hobbies. On vacation, we go to a historical fort and then do some shopping and dining so we both get to enjoy the day. That balance is needed in any relationship in your life and at any time in your life including retirement. It may be more important in retirement due to the added hours you are together once those old work hours are now free time. 

What interest do you or your spouse have that is fully supported by the other? Any good suggestions on how you balance this and other things in your retirement?

Well, now it is time to get back to planning our trip to the Carolinas and Georgia in May. We plan to visit the Biltmore Estate and the cities of Charleston and Savannah.  I've already found the cannon stop on the trip. Fort Sumter here we come!