When I select to object and try to put the object to path ... none of the menu items are enabled. Is there a secret key stroke to enable the menus?

If you mean convert Object to path, that is in the Path>Object to path menu.

I know that, however, try as I might, the menu items are all greyed (grayed) out, thus not enabled. How can we can enable the functionality.

If the systems was upgraded from a previous version of Inkscape, I'd reset the preferences and relaunch. https://inkscape.org/forums/questions/getting-back-to-square-one-and-starting-over-its-easy/

Did that .... here is what I see when I want to wrap text around a circle. None of the menu options are enabled.

Menu: Text>Put on Path

http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Text-Path.html

Tried that too... no workee :( I am also trying the video tutorials, none of them work.

I tried a fresh new project that worked. Not sure why opening an existing svg does not work the same

Feel free to share an example Inkscape SVG file that has the issue.