On the road for work this week. Today I wound up in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina. I had some time before dinner to explore a bit and look what I found just down the road from my hotel -- an aircraft carrier!
I love my ships and gigantic vehicles, so I was powerless to resist. I had to go aboard...
The Yorktown was commissioned in 1943 and saw plenty of action in the Pacific theater and earned 11 "battle stars" for service in World War II. Now she's a museum, tied up on Patriot's Point here in Charleston. 888 feet long, she also served in Viet Nam and in 1968 recovered the Apollo 8 astronauts when their capsule splashed down. Look! There it is...
Here's the Ready Room, where pilots get briefed by the CAG...
Incredibly, I discovered they actually let you up on the flight deck...!
Pilots love to decorate their planes, especially down South...
The flight deck is crawling with Vipers -- I mean, planes.
Those jokers even let me up on the Bridge! Don't they know me?!?
"Tell Starbuck to watch her six..."
Pretty awe-inspiring. They were closing down for the day and I felt like I'd stood on living history. As I came down the gangway I decided to go check out this old submarine that was tied up alongside the Yorktown.
The USS Clamagore, commissioned just before the end of World War II.
As I gazing longingly at it, one of the guides comes up and says to me, "Hey, I'm just about to lock her down, do you want to go check it out? I have to make sure it's clear anyway..."
Yes, I got to have my own solo speed tour of the sub as the only visitor!!! Unbelievable!
The forward torpedo room!
The Officer's Mess...
Tight quarters!
What a treat! I can't believe my good luck!
Whew! After all that combat, I'm ready to put my feet up!
When I woke up this morning, I had no idea I'd end up on the deck of an aircraft carrier and inside a sub before the day was through. Some days are just full of surprises!
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I got to tour a carrier once; the Carl Vinson. I still can't believe how huge those things are!
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