We just got back from vacationing at Folly Beach, South Carolina. We wanted to visit Patriot's Point Naval and Maritime Museum, near Charleston. Patriot's Point is home to the USS Yorktown, an aircraft carrier, which is on display so that you can walk through it. It was commissioned in 1943. You can go all over the ship, from walking through the hangar deck, to sitting in the captain's chair, exploring the engine room at the very bottom, to strolling across the main deck where the planes take off and land! It was quite an experience! I never imagined it would be so big!
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| The USS Yorktown |
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We were able to sit in one of the planes in the hangar
deck of the Yorktown. Ethan is sitting in the plane. |
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| Poppy imagining what it would have been like! |
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| One of the planes on the main deck. |
Also located at Patriot's Point is the USS Clamagore, a submarine commissioned in 1945. Talk about cramped quarters! It's amazing to think that people spend months at a time in such a small space (and under water too!)
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Savannah sitting at one of the tables in the mess hall of the submarine.
This area was used to feed about 70 men! |
We also visited Fort Moultrie while we were there. Built in 1776, this fort saw action all the way through WWII until it was finally turned over to the National Park Service in 1960. Fort Moultrie was also the site of the beginning of the Civil War when the Confederates (Fort Moultrie) fired on Fort Sumter.
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| Gram and Pop at Fort Moultrie |
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From left to right: Dad, Mom, Ethan, Kelsey,
Jordan, Noah and Savannah at Fort Moultrie |
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| Ft. Moultrie |
And, of course, you can't visit the ocean without getting in, no matter what month it is, right? So we spent three days at the beach! The water was just a little cool, but we all had a blast! Mom even went in the water once!
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Noah on top of the giant sea turtle that
we built! We had fun watching people's
reactions as they passed by it! One
little boy even stopped to pet it! |
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| Ethan on top of the turtle. |
We saw hundreds of dolphins! They would swim within 30 feet of us.
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| Ethan getting buried! |
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| On the flight deck of the USS Yorktown |
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| Another on the flight deck... |
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Looking out from the hangar deck,
we saw a dolphin swim right beside the boat! |
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Very interesting. Great photos too. While I was in Norfolk, VA I had the opportunity to tour the USS Enterprise, built in 1961 and still active. I also toured the USS Constitution, built in the 1700s. Finally, I toured a WWII submarine, you are right, tight quarters and very cramped. They were all interesting but made me appreciate being a Soldier and keeping my feet on the ground.
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