Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Patriots Point, Naval & Maritime Museum

Okay, I've finally gotten time to post some more of our vacation pictures. Things have been really crazy around here with school work, baseball and the hubby having hernia surgery... but I think things are starting to slow down (I'm trying to be optimistic!)

Anyway back to our vacation... while at the beach we decided to take a day trip to Charleston to tour the aircraft carrier and the submarine at Patriots Point.



This is a really huge bridge that we were not suppose to cross, but at the time we didn't know that.



Our mistake did allow for a couple of cool photos.



Here is a shot of the bridge from Patriots point... once we got there.



Here she is... Aircraft Carrier, USS YORKTOWN... "The Fighting Lady"



Yorktown Played a significant role in the Pacific offensive which began in late 1943 and ended with the defeat of Japan in 1945. The 888-foot Yorktown displace 27,100 tons during World War II and carried a crew of 380 officers, 3,088 enlisted men, and an air group of 90 planes. In the 1950's, she was modified with the addition of an angled deck for jets, which increased her displacement to 41,000, and then she was converted to an antisubmarine carrier. She served in the Vietnam War in the 1960's and in 1968 recovered the Apollo 8 astronauts, the first men to reach the vicinity of the Moon. The Yorktown was relocated to Charleston and dedicated as a museum in 1975. (info. from museum brochure)



We all were able to climb into the cockpit of the TF-9 "Cougar" plane.





I know this is random... but, man I just couldn't resist adding this picture into the mix... I'm in love all over again!!!



Man, this museum sure does have a lot of handsome visitors...



A picture of all of us...



And one of just The Hubby and me...



Okay, okay, back to the museum... here we are on top of the aircraft carrier. Look at those clouds... aren't they amazing? (I did not alter this picture in anyway.)



This is kinda random too, only not as cute... This was on the floor (deck) of the aircraft carrier. I like it, well because I looks like a cross, its rustic looking and I thought I could print, frame and hang it some where in the house. What do you think? Maybe, when I have free time (there goes that optimism again!) it will be my next DIY project.



We liked this plane because it looks like a big ol' smiley face!



I really like this picture...



After we toured the aircraft carrier we went to the USS CLAMAGORE submarine. I was a little nervous about getting on the submarine because of not doing well in tight spaces. So I prayed and asked the Lord to help me be okay with it so that I could enjoy this with my boys... and He provided. But, boy was it tight and stuffy in there. They had fans (I'm guessing) set up to create a draft through the sub so it wasn't too bad. Best of all there was nobody on the sub with us. I know I could not have handled a crowd in that small of a space! Just take a look at how little the doorways are...



This was some control room. It was very narrow in there. This may have been the room that had a loud humming noise in it. We read a sign that said when the sub was in operation the humming would have been 10 times louder than what we were hearing. The temperature would have been around 120 degrees. I-NEVER-WOULD-HAVE-MADE-IT!!!



Another view of the doorways and all the STUFF surrounding you.



Here we climbed up one of the hatches... doesn't look too bad does it? WELL-YOU-DIDN'T-TRY-CLIMBING-IT!!! Don't let the smile of Joshua's face fool you. And yes, I did climb up there but we won't show that picture!



This picture is a little blurry, but still cute.



Yahoo!..I'm finally getting off this thing!... Ahem, I mean is it the end already? Darn, too bad.



Well, we come to the end of this days adventure. After looking through the gift shop we gathered for one more picture. Look at those tired eyes!



But not too tired for a goofy picture.



This ended up being a great trip together. I would recommend taking the time to visit there if you are ever near Charleston. I promise it won't be so long this time in between post. I still have one more post from our vacation that I still want to add. Also this week we have baseball games and karate belt tests coming up so I hope to get lots of great pictures.

2 comments:

Nick Tompkins said...

I work at Patriots Point and just wanted to drop you a line to tell you how much I enjoyed your photos and commentary on your trip - sure looks and sounds like you all had a great time. Nice photos too! Thanks for the kinds words and please come visit us again if you return to the Lowcountry!
-NT

The Ryals said...

Thanks for the comments. We really had a great time.