not2sharp
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Jun 29, 1999
- Messages
- 20,448
Many years ago, back when kids were allow to have an imagination and still talked to each other. We often spent our days pointing our fingers at each other as we played cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, or army men. There were no computers back then, and no internet, even the zombie meme was still
decades away. But, long before that, before the big world wars, organized crime or even the American West, the kids would often imagine themselves to be chivalrous knights or adventurers. Who wouldn’t dream of setting out like Jim Hawkins on a high seas adventure in search of pirates loot? Let there be plenty rum and parrots, or was that rummy parrots?
We have grown up, grown jaded and no longer have such dreams. For sure a few lucky ones like Mel Fisher had some success in finding treasure, but that was a long time ago and lately we have only had spoofs like Disney’s Pirates franchise. It’s been a long time since someone uncovered King Tut, and the world today seems more attuned to Giraldo Rivera and his goofy search for Al Capones loot.
So I wanted to share a true story of lost treasures found, although unfortunately finders don‘t always get to be keepers. In the mid 60s I was an excited toddler on the way to the airport, I knew my first flight would take place that day and it was a start to my African safari and I couldn’t wait to go lion hunting. I remember the day clearly and surely would have been the first person to board if my parents hadn’t held me back to clear our boarding paperwork. It was a clear day and we took off to the North under blue skies. I couldn’t help but look out the window as my world shrank beneath me, and soon we were over the ocean. The crew then announced that we were over international waters which brought joy to all of my fellow passengers; I couldn’t be any happier. I hadn’t even noticed that my father had missed the flight. Within 48 hours I would be knee deep in snow in New York City; it was probably only about 6” of snow but remember I was a toddler. In years to come I would understand that I was a political refugee granted exile in the US after my parents had renounced their citizenship in Cuba and applied for asylum. But, I digress, this was supposed to be a tale about pirate plunder. So let’s get back to that.
It turns out that the reason my father had missed the flight was that he had been drafted by the communist regime. My parents were very young and the bureaucrats had decided that he needed to complete his military obligation before they could allow him to become a treasonous exile. They would keep him for a year, during which he completed basic training before being assigned to a work detail.
His detail was to help refurbish some buildings in old Havana. Some of these dated back to the 16th century and even then were in need of restoration. Sure enough they open up one of the walls only to find a huge treasure hidden behind it. My father could only describe it as a large amount of precious metal and jewels filling the entire width and height of the wall. The work was stopped and the detail was immediately evacuated. By the time they returned the next day the treasure was gone and it never existed.
Just the same, for those of us who still dream of pirate gold it can be comforting to know it can still be out there. It too bad this discovery was looted before it could be documentEd. I am sure it would have made another fascinating chapter in the history of Caribbean Pirates. Oh and yes, my father did eventually rejoin us and we would in time get around to going hunting.
n2s
decades away. But, long before that, before the big world wars, organized crime or even the American West, the kids would often imagine themselves to be chivalrous knights or adventurers. Who wouldn’t dream of setting out like Jim Hawkins on a high seas adventure in search of pirates loot? Let there be plenty rum and parrots, or was that rummy parrots?
We have grown up, grown jaded and no longer have such dreams. For sure a few lucky ones like Mel Fisher had some success in finding treasure, but that was a long time ago and lately we have only had spoofs like Disney’s Pirates franchise. It’s been a long time since someone uncovered King Tut, and the world today seems more attuned to Giraldo Rivera and his goofy search for Al Capones loot.
So I wanted to share a true story of lost treasures found, although unfortunately finders don‘t always get to be keepers. In the mid 60s I was an excited toddler on the way to the airport, I knew my first flight would take place that day and it was a start to my African safari and I couldn’t wait to go lion hunting. I remember the day clearly and surely would have been the first person to board if my parents hadn’t held me back to clear our boarding paperwork. It was a clear day and we took off to the North under blue skies. I couldn’t help but look out the window as my world shrank beneath me, and soon we were over the ocean. The crew then announced that we were over international waters which brought joy to all of my fellow passengers; I couldn’t be any happier. I hadn’t even noticed that my father had missed the flight. Within 48 hours I would be knee deep in snow in New York City; it was probably only about 6” of snow but remember I was a toddler. In years to come I would understand that I was a political refugee granted exile in the US after my parents had renounced their citizenship in Cuba and applied for asylum. But, I digress, this was supposed to be a tale about pirate plunder. So let’s get back to that.
It turns out that the reason my father had missed the flight was that he had been drafted by the communist regime. My parents were very young and the bureaucrats had decided that he needed to complete his military obligation before they could allow him to become a treasonous exile. They would keep him for a year, during which he completed basic training before being assigned to a work detail.
His detail was to help refurbish some buildings in old Havana. Some of these dated back to the 16th century and even then were in need of restoration. Sure enough they open up one of the walls only to find a huge treasure hidden behind it. My father could only describe it as a large amount of precious metal and jewels filling the entire width and height of the wall. The work was stopped and the detail was immediately evacuated. By the time they returned the next day the treasure was gone and it never existed.
Just the same, for those of us who still dream of pirate gold it can be comforting to know it can still be out there. It too bad this discovery was looted before it could be documentEd. I am sure it would have made another fascinating chapter in the history of Caribbean Pirates. Oh and yes, my father did eventually rejoin us and we would in time get around to going hunting.
n2s
Last edited:
