Life is Beachy! Part Three

On our last day in Corpus, we woke up early and got ready to go to the USS Lexington. We thought the kids would enjoy being on a huge ship, especially one with jets parked on the flight deck.

Off we go to check it out!

 The anchor is HUGE!

Poor Zoe was being blinded by the sun while Mommy took her picture.

 Look at that propeller!

 

 There is a Japanese flag on the side of the ship (near the top in this photo), marking the place where a Kamikaze pilot caused some damage.

It's kind of pricey, admission-wise, but once you're inside there are a million things to see. The only problem is, most of these things are only accessible via small "stairways" that resemble ladders. You have to be willing to climb and trip over things a lot to really get the full experience. It's amazing to think about the people that had to live there, or on any military ship, actually. I don't think I could do it. I know I couldn't do it.

Hee hee.

Too cute to resist.

There are lots of plane cockpits and other things to play with, and the kids enjoying climbing in and out while we were snapping pictures.

"You mean I can mess with all this stuff and no one will get mad? Wow!"

Ethan liked pretending to fly the plane.

I think Zoe was having fun, because she got mad at me when I was trying to take her picture.

Granddad and Ethan.

Good thing it wasn't on.

Nathan enjoyed looking at all the engines on display.

My Dad is really interested in history, and I think he has a great time whenever he gets to go on the ship.

 History? No, thanks.

Anna just wanted to eat her seatbelt.

We had a good time looking around at different things, but I was anxious to get the boys and Zoe up on the flight deck to see all the planes.

Granddad and Zoe, checking everything out.

Boom.

View from the ship.

Our hotel, seen from the flight deck.

Yeah, those are all jellyfish. Yikes!

This is why Sarah does not go in the ocean.

We wandered around a little bit, going up to the bridge and "driving the ship," but I had to head back down to where Grammy was waiting with Anna. There was no stroller access to most of the areas, and it was pretty much impossible to carry her up and down all those stairways, so we just hung around in the main part of the ship.

Grammy got some drinks and snacks, and we found a nice, breezy spot to relax and rehydrate. I also found a super appropriate place for my boys. The brig!

Anna was so good while we were there. I did have to feed her once to make her happy, but the rest of the time, she was smiling and chattering. I think she enjoyed it!

Granddad and Nathan decided to go on some of the self-guided tours below and see all the different areas of the ship. I think Nathan really wanted to check out the engine room. He didn't want to take the camera, so I have no pictures, but I've seen it before, so it wasn't a huge deal.

Once we had sufficiently explored, we piled back into our vehicles and headed home. It was a good trip, and everyone had fun. Goodbye, Corpus! See you next year, perhaps?