On Bicentennial Day, Anne Marie and I returned from Cartegena, Colombia to LA. We changed planes in Miami. We were sitting in a bar at the Miami Airport when I was paged. It was our friend Bernie in Houston. He said "You have a two hour layover in Houston. Get off the plane and I'll meet you at your gate with a pitcher of daiquiris." (You could still do that pre 9-11.) We got turned around and left our blowgun, which I bartered with a Yagua Indian chief for on the Peruvian Amazon, in the bar. I rushed back to get it, passed security, and said "Oh, this is a blowgun." They heard "gun" and freaked out. Anne Marie grabbed it and said "It's a blowthing. Here, hold it." Situation resolved.

 

That's quite an adventure!

 

Travelling with my shotgun on a plane in post-9/11 world is somewhat interesting, but workers are used to it and it doesn't come onboard with me.

The only thing I remember about the bicentennial was some work being done on the Statue of Liberty and commemorative quarters, I think. I guess as a 13-year old I wasn't paying much attention.