Our Trip to the Ship

A few weeks ago we Baptized our baby girl. During this trip we took a mini vacation and went to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to see the U.S.S. Kidd.

Matt, his Dad, and I took the kids to explore the battle ship. I had been as a child and have wanted to return with Nathan for some time now. We had a really great time. It was quite hot, and I do recommend going on a day when the weather is mild because the ship does take a while to explore completely. It is a self guided tour,they give you a map that is numbered to show you interesting facts. I found many fascinating things about ship living, they are obvious things when thinking about ship life, but until you experience it you really don't realize it fully. It is very tight living, your bunk was just inches from the bunk above you. The bathroom facilities were very open. Not only were there several entrance and exit doors, the actual toilets were set up on several troughs facing back to back with no stalls at all. I don't think that modesty had any place on the ship. You had to live very modestly also, from what we noticed there was very little storage space for your stuff, it looked like a half of a foot locker and a small cubical space under the bunk closest to the floor. Going up and down stairs was tricky especially with Evelyn, so after a while I just stayed on the outer decks. Navigating the ship during times when there may have been a rush or emergency would have been tragic for someone clumsy like me. The stairs were steep like ladders, and all the doors openings were at least six inches off the ground. The boys really enjoyed seeing all the guns, missiles, and depth charges. It was very interesting to see the huge difference between the state of the officers quarters, and the rest of the crew. My favorite part to visit on the ship had to be when we found the kitchen, it is really hard to tell from some of the pictures, but everything is giant sized, but it is in a space that is probably the size of half of a modern kitchen. If I remember right the sign said they had to cook for more than 300 people within that space. This was a really great day trip that I would highly recommend to anyone that likes to spend time exploring and wandering, likes ships wars or weapons, would like to experience life in another setting, is into history, or studying history. If you are ever in the area or near one of the other many ships that have been turned into museums, they are worth the time to visit. One of the future ships we would like to explore are the Tall ships of the pirate age, now that would be an adventure. On a side note, if you look past my legs in the picture you will notice a circle...It is an open hole. Matt had to grab our adventurous four year old by the feet and pull him back onto the ship before he fell through into the Mississippi River. He "just wanted to see what was down there"... It is never a dull moment with our crew!