Wednesday the 24th of July 2019 - Charleston SC (USA)

View from the cabin (USS Yorktown on left across bay)

Today we're in Charleston, South Carolina.

Temperature is quite pleasant - but a little overcast.

USS Yorktown

The tour today is going to a Naval Museum called Patriot's Point.

The museum includes a WW2 aircraft carried called the USS Yorktown, along with a destroyer and a submarine.

We arrived just after opening so it was quiet - we first walked through an exhibit that included Vietnam war era equipment including helicopters, tanks, etc and a re-creation of a fire base from that war.  The sound-effects/etc were quite well done.

We then moved onto the USS Yorktown - this was very impressive, I've never been aboard an aircraft carrier - it had a selection of WW2 vintage aircraft, along with some more modern planes.  The Yorktown was responsible for picking up both Mercury and Apollo astronauts, and they had mock-ups of the various capsules.

Dave in the pilots briefing room

Very tight quarters on these ships - and lots and lots of stairs!

Interestingly enough you can hire out the aircraft carrier for events (ie: weddings/conferences/etc) - and they even host scout groups and leadership seminars.