WEDNESDAY - We were up and out of the Bass Pro Shops parking lot before 8:00AM, a full hour before they open for business and could possibly need the 8 parking spaces we were occupying.
We didn't have far to go before we reached our only stop for the day. A short 7½-miles across Mobile Bay is the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park.
Since 1965 it has been the permanent home for the Historic Battleship. Also the park is home to the USS Drum, a Navy submarine that can also be toured inside. We ran out of time during this visit and will have to save that for next time.
We spent a total of five hours here. The first 2½-hours Tricia toured around the grounds here taking photos while I worked on getting out the previous days blogpost prepared. Then we ate lunch in THE POD before heading up and into the USS Alabama battleship to get a look at the inside.
USS ALABAMA MEMORIAL
The USS Alabama as seen from US-90 and a half mile away.
That's quite the welcome sign they have here.
A closer look at the USS Alabama from the end of the fishing pier.
That's a pretty intimidating view wouldn't you say?
Tricia took these photos while I worked on the blogpost.
One of several WWII tanks on display here.
This B-52 bomber's wingspan is so wide...
...they have to install retractable landing gear on the wingtips.
This Coast Guard plane looked to be in good enough shape to have been flown in here.
The blogpost and lunch are done and we've finally both climbed aboard the battleship.
Here you can see some of the original decking along side the new wood being installed.
This is the ship's Chaplin's quarters and scared the you know what out of Tricia
when she first peeked inside the window.
Here the enlisted men sleep on bunks stacked four high from floor to ceiling.
This is one of the Junior Officer's quarters.
This is the Captain's quarters when they are in port...
...and this is the Captain's quarters when they are at sea.
It's located just outside of the bridge deck.
Inside this heavily armoured chamber is the Battle Bridge
where the Captain can give orders while under enemy engagement.
It's quite a view from the bridge deck...
...but there is still a lot to see up above this level.
This is as high up as they allow you to go on the ship.
The USS Drum will have to wait until our next visit to be explored.
We spent so much time here that we never made it to our campsite destination and had to settle for a Cracker Barrel parking lot in the town of Slidell, LA.
We didn't want to arrive in the dark and try to back into a State Park campsite, so we drove until sunset and found this FREE place to park. It's not all bad, because they open at 7:00AM and I hear they have an excellent breakfast menu.
Would you like to be notified of new blog posts?
