Friday, April 2, – USS Yorktown and New Friends

 

We also posted Thursday, so go back to see.

Today we toured USS Yorktown at Patriots Point on the north side of Charleston Harbor.  Keeping guard at the entrance was this coyote.

The USS Yorktown (CV10) also known as the “Fighting Lady” was the 10th aircraft carrier in the Navy.  She was named for the Yorktown CV5 which was lost in the battle of Midway in 1942 .  She served from 1943 until being decommissioned in 1970. 

 

 

In 1968 she also recovered the Apollo 8 astronauts.

Here are some pictures of the flight deck:

 

Here are some interior shots:

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I think this was Speedy’s bunk

The Yorktown was home to 3500 sailors and I think there were at least that many kids on the ship today.  We did not think things would be so crowded but with spring break and Easter we were wrong.  We will remember for the future.

We spent about 2 hours on the self guided tour.  Admission also includes entrance to the submarine USS Clamagore and the destroyer USS Laffey.  The destroyer was in dry dock somewhere.  After climbing up and down numerous companionways on the aircraft carrier and dodging thousands if not millions of children we took a pass on the sub. 

We stopped for some BBQ at Bessengers .   We had passed it several times on our way to and from Charleston and it looked like a good place to try.  It was a bit disappointing.   We split an order of onion rings.  You only got 4 rings but they were the size of donuts…. but all greasy breading with only a small onion ring inside.  We had BBQ chicken which was okay and the corn bread was okay but nothing stood out except those giant inedible onion rings.

We then went home for a rest and to take care of the dogs.  We are trying some new dog food and they are keeping Jesse very busy with the dog bags if you know what I mean.

We had a great treat planned for later this afternoon.  We were going to meet Laurie and Odel.   We have read their blog and have mutual friends but had never met.

We went to their camp ground which was only a few minutes from ours.  We sat outside enjoying some wine, snacks, and great conversation, so great you would have thought we had known Odel and Laurie for years.  This has to be the greatest benefit of this lifestyle. After a bit the no seeums and other flying biting things chased us inside their motor home, Scoopy, where we continued to get to know each other.  Hours seemed like minutes and before we knew it we were a couple of hours late feeding the boys.  (They have short memories and have now forgiven us).  So with hugs we parted ways knowing we will meet again some where down the road.

We returned home, fed the boys, and spent the rest of the evening relaxing with the computers and TV.

Hope your day was as good as ours.

Don’t forget to look at Thursdays entry.