Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates

I have finally found the word I was looking for was Azoth. When I was studying for my ham radio exam there was another word that started me on the quest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azoth

I was thinking that it would be cool to go to Coral Castle. Unfortunately it is 3 hours away from grandma house.

http://www.parascope.com/en/articles/coralCastle.htm

There is a pirate ship at big bear lake how odd.
http://www.big-bear-california.net/Big_Bear_Pirate_Ship.html