USS Drum SS-228 Submarine - Gato Class

OK, so you expect submarines to be small.  This is way beyond that.  You really have to be a tiny person to serve aboard one of these subs.

The USS Drum SS 228 is the oldest United States Submarine left in the world.  It was commissioned November 1, 1941.  The sub is only 311 feet long.  She carried 7 officers and 65 enlisted men.  After being inside the sub and walking around, it’s really hard to imagine that many people inside at once.  There were some bot scouts touring it when we were there and it was tight then.  And that was only about 10 extra people inside.

A very interesting tour.  We got to see the torpedo bays, the command center and the engine room.  By the way, I would not want the job in the engine room.  There bunk was in the engine room!  I can only imagine how noisy it was when the engines were running.  Also the torpedo room.  They slept there too!  I guess when space is that limited, you had to make do.

A great tour we would definitely do again if in the area, and we had more time.  We only spent 3 hours here but we could have easily spent more.

Torpedo Bays Inside The USS Drum

David Going Through A Door. Watch Your Head And Knees!

David Walking Through USS Drum

Inside of USS Drum

Tight Squeeze. This Was Not Unusual.

The Entrance To Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama

If you haven’t been to this park, you must go.  What a great park!  There’s so much to see here I have to do multiple blog entries.  I’m sure you won’t mind though.  If you do find yourself in the area, and you plan on stopping, make sure you have at least three hours or more to fully look around.  This is a fully self sufficient memorial park.  That means, no government funds are sent here.  It’s all run by donations and entrance fees, which are very reasonable.  Two bucks for parking, yes motor coaches too, and $12 each for admittance.

This is the final resting place for the USS Alabama Battleship.  Along with various military planes, tanks and the USS Drum SS 228 Submarine, which is the oldest United States Submarine in the world.  But more on them later.

The USS Alabama BB-60 Battleship was commissioned the 16th of August 1942.  She normally carried a crew of 2500 men aboard.  When you take the self guided tour of this ship, it’s hard to believe 2500 men could fit on this ship, let alone work and sleep on board.  The people of this park really do this tour nicely.  When you come aboard the gangway on deck, there are three different tours you can take.  They are all laid out by color and numbers that you can follow along on your paper tour guide in your hands.  So every colored number has a description of what you are looking at and where you are standing.  Nice.

On the top deck they have big band music playing in the background, setting the scene.  When you enter various sections of the ship, they would have veterans (recorded) reading the ships logs or letters home that the crew had written.  Nice touches throughout the ship really made it a nice tour.  Lots of memorabilia around the ship trying to give it a more realistic look.  Kind of like the crew just up and left, leaving everything were it was.

Touring this battleship took us just over an hour.  We could have spent a lot more time, but there was much more to see. Make sure that if you do this tour, sneakers are advisable.  There is also lots of ladders and steps to maneuver, if you like.

On to the next tour…

We Found What David Would Do If He Was In The Navy!

David Down One Level Aboard The USS Alabama. Very Narrow Steps. I Can't Imagine How The Solders Had To Hurry Down The Steps Without Falling.

David Standing On Deck of the USS Alabama Battleship

Inside One Of The Rooms Aboard The USS Alabama

Sleeping Corders. I Don't Know Who You Have To Tick Off To Get Assigned To Sleep Here.

Rows and Rows of Tombs

A popular tour in New Orleans is the St. Louis Cemetery.  There are actually three different sections to the St. Louis Cemetery.  The first one was right outside our rv park.  So we took this opportunity to wander around and see for ourselves what all the hub bub is about.

Wow…what a beautiful place.  There are rows and rows of above ground tombs.  There is a rumor that because New Orleans is below sea level, you can’t be buried under ground.  That is not true.  These people chose to be buried above ground, following the bible verse were Jesus had risen and walked out of his tomb.  I’m not sure why this is only in New Orleans and not other places in the country.  But, there you go.

The cemetery is filled with old and new tombs.  They are still burying people here.  It’s not just old tombs.  However, some tombs look new because they had to be restored thanks to Hurricane Katrina.  The statues are the most interesting.  They seem to overlook the whole cemetery.  On guard.  People come here and pay tribute to various famous New Orleansean people buried here.  There are beads and various stuffed toys and flowers spread across many tombs.

All in all, a nice tour to take.  Whether you just wander around like we did, or take a paid tour, which goes to all three cemeteries.

David Among the Tombs

An Angel Statue Standing Guard In Front Of Tomb

Tributes Scattered Along A Tomb

The City Skyline Behind The Cemetery

The Tallest Statue Overlooking The Cemetery. It Sits On A Tomb.

Did Not Expect Tall Buildings in New Orleans, LA

When you think of New Orleans, what comes to mind?  The history, beautiful architecture, Marti Gras and music.  Well us to.  What we did not expect were tall buildings.  We were picturing what you normally see on tv.  Bourbon Street with it’s crazy shops, bars and music.  Two, maybe three story buildings.  Not this.  When we rounded the final turn on I-10, there they are.  Tall buildings.  Interesting.

Another thing we did not expect.  The smell.  I don’t know if this odor is normal, but for us non-city folk, it was quite pungent.  It smelled like a combination of beer, barf, and horse manure.  Be thankful that the internet does not have smell-a-vision.

All in all, it was a nice place to visit though.  However both David and I feel that there really is no need to go back there.  Been there, done that kind of feeling.  I really would not want to be here during Marti Gras.  I can imagine this town turns into a giant frat party.  Not my idea of fun.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some very beautiful places in town too.  The architecture was magnificent.  The history is all around you.  When you turn some corners, you feel like you could have stepped back in time.  The gas lanterns on the buildings instead of modern lights.  The iron railings surrounding the porches.  The horse and buggy going down the street.  Oops…there’s the horse smell.  Watch were you step at all times.

Not an easy town to drive around in.  I recommend walking.  Tight narrow streets.  Tourists all over the streets.  Popping out into the streets to take pictures.  Guilty, I’ve done that.  If we do find ourselves in the area again, we’d probably stay outside of town.  And tour the plantations around town, and not go into town.  BTW, take a look at the picture below of our rv park we stayed at.  What you don’t see is to the left of us is the I-10 overpass.  However, it’s the only place to stay within walking distance of anything and everything.  Any other rv park was a drive away, no walking.  But that’s what you get when you stay in the city, literally.  As you can see, we are parked right below a billboard.  I looked up and took that as a sign we should buy a lottery ticket.  David disagreed.  I guess we’ll never know what could have been.

The Famous Bourbon Street

Cafe Du Monde. Yes, That Is The Line. No We Did Not Wait.

St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square

Our Lovely Parking Place at the French Quarter RV Park

Houston Space Center

One attraction we wanted to visit was the Houston Space Center.  While the main building is geared towards kids, the tram ride and the tour of the buildings was fun.  There are two different tram rides you can take.  The one we were on took us to the astronaut training facility.  With a lift off just a few weeks away we had a pretty good chance of seeing some astronauts in training.  As luck would have it, we toured the building at lunch time.  Or so way guessed.  There was really no one in the building.  Oh well, there’s always next time.

Despite not seeing anyone training, we still had fun.  Also part of the tram tour is the Saturn Rocket building.  They have the actual Saturn Rocket that was in space, before they retired it, on display.  It’s amazing to see how huge this thing was.  We took tons of pictures.

When you are dropped of at the main building again it’s a good idea to look around.  In the back is all the various space suits that different astronauts wore while on there missions.  David noticed how short the astronauts suits were.  I guess they had to be tiny to be comfortable in the space shuttle.  On the back wall was group photos of all the astronauts that ever went into space.  They also had a space shuttle mock up that you could go into and see the cockpit. Lots of buttons and switches do not even begin to describe it.  And talk about small quarters.  I don’t think I could fit into those seats, let alone a grown man.  No wonder they had to be small.

If you find yourself in the area, the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX is a fun few hours of exploration.

David and Brenda in Front of Rocket

David and a Space Suit

David Next To The Saturn Rocket

David and Another View of the Saturn Rocket

NASA Training Facility. These Are Actual Pods That the Astronauts Train In.

Nature Shots David Took Behind the RV Park

Behind the rv park that we are staying at there’s a waterway that leads out to Clear Lake.  Clear Lake leads out to Galveston Bay.  There are plenty of picture opportunities.  Here’s just a few that David took with his long range lens.  A long range lens is a good idea in situations like this were the birds can scare easily.  Enjoy!

Great big Blue Heron Flying Around Looking for Dinner

White Morph Egret

Nature Shot

White Ibis