SUNDAY, AUGUST 3: The USS North Carolina is an amazing sight to behold. At the time of her commissioning on April 9, 1941, she was considered the world’s greatest sea weapon. Armed with nine 16-inch/45 caliber guns in three turrets, and twenty 5-inch/38 caliber guns in ten twin mounts, the North Carolina proved a formidable weapons platform. Her wartime complement consisted of 144 commissioned officers and 2,195 enlisted men, including about 100 Marines. During World War II, the North Carolina participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific area of operations and earned 15 battle stars. She was was decommissioned June 27, 1947, and dedicated on April 29, 1962 as the State's memorial to its World War II veterans and the 10,000 North Carolinians who died during the war.
I'll say this much about life in the Navy: Being inside a battleship is exhausting physically (there's a lot of moving around in cramped quarters), and the heat index inside a large metal box (which is basically what a battleship is, albeit a floating one) is equally taxing.
After leaving the USS North Carolina, I decided to visit another ship the following day: The USS Yorktown, a mere 175 miles south. To do so, I ended up driving through Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, which is the midway point between the two. Having never been to Myrtle Beach, I wasn't sure what to expect. From the driver's seat, it looks pretty flashy! (No, I didn't stay in town, so I can't comment on anything else other than the initial look.)
Having decided to stay overnight in Charleston, South Carolina (minutes from the Yorktown), I had to incorporate the trusty TomTom to find a gas station (because apparently late at night, along US-17, between Myrtle Beach and Charleston, is nothing remotely close to civilization). TomTom worked wonders again, locating a gas station that was not only still open, but reachable while the RAV-4 was on fumes. Whew!
MONDAY, AUGUST 4: The USS Yorktown was built in an amazing 16-½ months at Newport News, Virginia. Yorktown was commissioned on April 15, 1943, and participated significantly in the Pacific Offensive that began in late 1943 and ended with the defeat of Japan in 1945. And like the North Carolina, it's a huge monster piece of work! Decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, the Yorktown was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s as an attack carrier, and then eventually became an antisubmarine carrier. Hence, the USS Clamagore (a submarine) is also on-site. The Yorktown was recommissioned too late to participate in the Korean War, but served for many years in the Pacific, including duty in the Vietnam War, in which she earned five battle stars. Late in her career, she served as a recovery ship for the Apollo 8 space mission, was used in the movie Tora! Tora! Tora!. The Yorktown was decommissioned in 1970, and in 1975 became a museum ship.
By the way, what I said yesterday about being inside a battleship being exhausting physically, and that whole "heat index" thing? Yeah, about that ... a submarine is worse. Even more cramped, and when under water (which i was not), the airflow is extremely restricted ...
While at the Yorktown, I spoke to David Traill, who suggested meeting up at NASA the next day and doing a tour together. I was all for that (hey, they have educator discounts!). Onward and upward (or, better, southward) ...
TUESDAY, AUGUST 5: Last day of the 4,000-mile-long trip! Met up with David Traill at NASA. Definitely a great way to wrap up three weeks on the road! From a guided bus tour of the facility to the Shuttle Launch Experience (a one-of-a-kind shuttle launch simulator), a tour of the US Astronaut Hall of Fame, touring the Apollo/Saturn V Center, and even having a sit-down with NASA experts to discuss potential lesson plans and ideas, it was an amazing experience all around!
This wasn't the first time David and I have been to NASA; he's been numerous times for shuttle launches, and this was my third visit. But it was definitely the most educational, and most fun, of my visits. As you can tell from the photos of both myself and David, these space vehicles are amazingly huge! I mean, battleships and destroyers are mammoth vehicles, but we sort of know that in advance; shuttles and other space vehicles are much larger than they seem on television.
After the NASA experience was done, it was time to drive back home, unpack the RAV-4, and sleep in my own bed for the first time in 20 days. Home again, home again, jiggity-jig!
