Flashback: They Don't Make Them Like They Used To

Flashback post. (Aka, one of the many posts I wanted to do, but the pics were never uploaded or I got distracted.)

Before school started, Carrie and I took our first (and still only) vacation from being parents. We dropped Shaney off with Carrie's parents, went to an amusement park, and WE TOURED A WW2 BATTLESHIP!

(Note: there are videos and other things that need to be uploaded but it's late o'clock and I'm not doing it tonight.)



This excursion was planned fully by my wife, and I owe her for it. As a history buff, I like history books, the history channel, and visiting the odd museum or two, but I'd never heard of the Nauticus exhibit in Norfolk. When my wife revealed our mystery destination to me, my first thought was not "oh, joy." I find seafaring interesting and something I enjoy learning about, but I've been to that type of museum before. I've looked at the shiny object/picture/model, read a caption, and then moved on to the next exhibit when it comes to boats. Thankfully, Nauticus made me a believer.

First, we got in for free! All we had to do was put on a sticker and agree to answer a survey at the end of our walkthrough. The admission price wasn't expensive, but my day noticeably brightened as I donned my sticker-badge.

Second, the museum was fun. It seemed as if it were still in its infancy to me with some space left to fill, but there were some fun things to look at from a military history perspective and then some nice exhibits of marine life and the Chesapeake Bay. I was thrilled whenever I saw something that related my science curriculum. There was a class where an instructor let kids play around with nerf guns and set off a small, controlled explosion too! I left the museum wing feeling like the exhibits would be great for a family or someone who doesn't know a lot about nautical history (military in particular).

Finally, the best part of the trip was the battleship. Walking on it was surreal for me. It was larger and smaller than my imagination had painted it. I've seen all the old war movies. I've read books including dimensions and capacities. I knew in my head what a World War 2 battleship was, but it's an entirely different experience setting foot on one. For that alone, I'd recommend the Nauticus exhibit to any military history buff. There were volunteers walking around some of which were veterans answering questions and talking about life on board.

Here's where I need to upload more pictures and videos. The scale of the ship was immense, but then it seemed small when I looked at quarters and the mess and thought about what it would be like to live on the ship.I'll let the pictures and video do most of the talking for me.