Visiting the USS Iowa

We finally had the chance to go visit the Battleship USS Iowa.  Well, I guess we had a lot of chances but somehow we always ended up doing something else!  But first... lunch!  We found the Arts and Crafts warehouse again where we joined in on some of the Chinese New Year celebrations this year. Thankfully there was one Italian food truck by the brewery:

We could have taken the free trolley but opted to drive the car over.  Well, we now know that parking isn't free! But there she is... WOW!!!

But first, a photo op with the fancy Hummer:

Did you know the entire ship is now powered by electricity??? Impressive!

Time to board the ship!

Check out those guns!!?

Don't mess with the "Big Stick"! This was the nickname given to the ship during the 1980s Cold War (in reference to President Teddy Roosevelt's advise "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.").

The boys were busy looking for posters of Victory a.k.a Vicky the Dog.  It belonged to Navy Captain John L McCrea, who logged over 205,000 miles on the ship. Vicky was given full military honors when he finally left the ship. It definitely kept the boys busy:

The HUGE container ship going by distracted us for a few minutes:

Watch out for those "knee knockers"!  When we boarded the ship, the volunteer (a veteran) wanted to make sure we didn't trip and fall over when entering/exiting the ship. Ha!

Oh, and because Bobby was in the military - they announced his name when Bobby stepped onto the bow of the ship. How cool is that!  And speaking also of veterans, I thought this was the coolest part of the tour - meeting a ex-member of the ship!!!

I'm not sure how to address Mr. Rouse but at 94 years young, it was amazing how he made himself available to answer questions on the ship. He said he started on the ship when he was 18 years old and went through 12 naval battles on the helm.  AMAZING!!!

In the meantime, thank goodness for the yellow arrows on the floor of the ship.  There were so many entry ways!

Hmm... not exactly sure what this Big Metal Mushroom was all about:

This particular hallway was really deceiving - almost like there was a mirror at the end of it.  But there were at least 7-8 "knee knockers" here!

Who knew it would take 14 people just to operate the twin mount!

Here's a view of it from the outside:

We got up pretty high on some parts of the ship.  Some of the stairs were a bit steep and my legs did get a little bit wobbly. Ha ha!

Charlie is trying to catch a peek of the San Pedro harbor on the opposite side:

Crazy to think the battles were won in this very room!

Best view in the house:

Can you imagine sitting here and watching those turrets fire??!  YIKES!!!

Maybe it was THIS LOUD???! :-D

And here's the helm - where we steer this massive ship!

It is SO protected within this thick, massive wall!

Here are some of the sleeping quarters:

Told you these steps were steep!  Oh, there is a 2-hr tour that you can go on that will show other parts of the ship that we didn't see this time. I may have to come back and do that!  Unfortunately, it is only for kids 10-years and older:

Here is the menu in the dining area. By the way, the menu item for Midrats at 2300-0100 is the leftovers from dinner.  Too funny!!!

This is just one of the kitchens.  There were several others and also a full-on bakery:

Amazing how complicated the inside of this door looked:

There were lots of photos and history in the ship including this photo showing an aviator literally risking life and limb flying fragile cloth and wood aircraft off the battleship decks.  Crazy people!!!

And the 900-lb Iowa bell that was installed on board the ship when it was commissioned in 1943 finally came "home" on Feb 22, 2018.  It had been on display at the Iowa State Capitol for the last 25 years:

One last pic!

Okay, wait... just one more:

And I guess it just wasn't quite enough yet.  The boys all wanted to get on the flight simulator:

What a fun day!!!  It only took us almost a year to come visit.  Another one off the bucket list! :-)