First Ride Of The Year......

[Detn8er]

With my dear old gray haired Fathers health failing of late he has been doing a lot of reminiscing. He asked me a while back if I remembered our trip to see the Battleship in Wilmington NC. As it turns out I do remember just a bit of it....I was 4 years old. That was 51 years ago. My biggest memory was of sitting in the Captains chair on the bridge.
So today for my first ride of the year I busted out for the Battleship......What an awesome piece of machinery and history it is. I took a boatload of photos so I could show them to my Father. I called him when I got home and told him where I had been today and he said he wished he could have gone with me.....(Idotoo).
It was 30 degrees when I left and stayed that way most of the way to Wilmington....398 miles ridden and childhood memories revived.
Link is for the Battleship.
http://www.battleshipnc.com/

The Chair.....I remembered it as black.





   

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Cool post Mark     All we did was ride country backroads in the freezin' cold.

[Bigwolf]

Nice photos.  Thanks for posting.

I got a small ride in today but my camera lens fogged up so no proof pics here.  Was a crisp 36 degrees for my ride.

[3fan4life]

The USS North Carolina is very interesting.



I like touring museums and old ships.


Patriot's Point is well worth the trip also:



http://www.patriotspoint.org/

[old2soon]

U S S Yorktown C V S 10. Spent 2 years of my life on her. Detn8er I'm SURE your Dad will enjoy your photos. Glad you got a ride in. Cold and wet and close to freezing here!  RIDE SAFE.

[BobB]

All I can say is, I would hate to be manning that anti-aircraft station when those 16" guns went off...

[Felonious Thump]

Loved the sound of the 16's on the Jersey from a few miles away. Would not want to be by them, WOW what a gun. 

[Detn8er]

The guns are ginormous and pictures do not do them justice. My father did indeed enjoy the pictures and it brought back a lot of memories for him. He said that most all of the mooring lines had small turtles climbing almost to the ship the day we were there.....I didn't see any turtles. 
I also noticed that the old girl is not floating....She probably was in the past but time has her surrounded by mud. The water next to her skin is at best 2 feet deep. It's time for a restoration and they are actively seeking donations. When you pay to enter they ask if you want to donate 2 dollars to the fund. Admission for me was 16.98 tax included and I told the young girl to keep the entire 20 dollars. Well worth it in my opinion. We should not let our history rust away.

[old2soon]

On the Yorktown our big guns were 5" 38s. I stood directly behind and a little above one on a live fire exercise. Upon discharge of that gun my insides jellied and poured out my toes!  AND I was a hell of a LOT younger then.  I've only ever seen movies of those 16" rifles going off. RIDE SAFE.