OT: Belated Weekend Report

[Brian Krashpad]

I know, it's almost the weekend already and I'm just now posting a report from last weekend. Got busy at work. You've probably seen on TV shows how well-to-do attorneys holiday (or maybe you are one and know first-hand). Now you can see how poor lawyers do.

Last week El Krashpadito (Jack, 11) and I drove up to Charleston SC, and did an "indoor" camp-out at Patriots Point. That's a place where they have 4 decommissioned US Naval vessels: the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, the submarine USS Clamagore, detroyer USS Laffey, and the Coast Guard cutter USS Ingham.

We went with Jack's former Cub Scout pack (he's in Boy Scouts now, but this "big trip" was planned/booked while he was still in the pack). We slept in sailors' berths aboard the USS Yorktown. I forgot to take a pic of them but here's a stock shot from the Patriots Point website to give you an idea:



The first night (Friday) we had orientation, toured a little of the ship (the superstructure was closed off for the night though, and the flight deck off-limits after dark), did an evacuation drill, and watched "Tora! Tora! Tora!" in the onboard theatre.

The next day we went out to Ft. Sumter by boat. For you non-US peeps, that's where the first shots of the War Between the States were fired, after South Carolina seceded from the Union. The commander of the Federal army troops in Charleston was one Robertson, who had his troops stationed ashore (technically on an island, but on one connected to shore by a bridge) at a naval battery called Ft. Moultrie. On secession he retreated out into the harbor to the easier defended Ft. Sumter, a fort that had been built on a man-made island placed on a sandbar in the middle of the entrance to the harbor. After a long bombardment, the Federals surrendered and were allowed to be evacuated by the US Navy, which had unsuccessfully attempted to resupply the garrison.

Afer touring Ft. Sumter, we returned to Patriots Point and toured the other ships. We had a couple hours to kill before dinner aboard the Yorktown (we ate in the Chief Petty Officers' Mess), so we drove around Mt. Pleasant, the town on our side of the bay (Charleston was on the opposite side). We went to a guitar store, and since I had a packing malfunction (I'd only packed one t-shirt, having seen one of Jack's in our bag and thought it mine) we stopped at a Goodwill Store and I bought a t-shirt. We also hit the jackpot on videotapes while there-- they were selling 'em for $1 apiece. We got 8: Men In Black, The Matrix, Independence Day, Animal House, Being John Malkovich (had never seen it), Galaxy Quest, and, for Mrs. Krashpad, The Full Monty and Bridget Jones' Diary. We continued our drive, out to Sullivan's Island and Ft. Moultrie, getting to tour the batteries there just before it closed.

After dinner we toured a bit more of the ship, including the engine rooms and the brig. There was nobody else down there and it was more than a little spooky. Up on the hanger deck some retired military group was having a big, cordoned-off party behind some movable curtain screens. It struck me as beyond odd hearing a DJ play a song by the Doors for that lot. Sunday morning we had breakfast in the CPO's mess again, and drove back down to Florida.

Anyhow, it was a great weekend. Perfect weather and cool things to do.

Now, on to the pics!

USS Yorktown:



Jack with guns ashore, smoothbore cannon:



40 mm modern (the bridge in the background connects Mt. Pleasant to Charleston):



Tons more pics to come! Questions and comments encouraged!

[Brian Krashpad]

Welcome/Debriefing on hangar deck:



Jack in WWII fighter on hangar deck:




Flight deck:

[Robert****]

Sounds like a good trip! Thanks for sharing. What planes are those?

[Brian Krashpad]

A/A guns on flight deck fore of superstucture:




Jack and friends on smoothbore cannon ashore:

[Brian Krashpad]

Submarine (iirc this was sunk but recovered and restored):



Officers' Quarters ruins, Ft. Sumter:



Jack w/souvenirs at Ft. Sumter:



View of Charleston harbor from atop Ft. Sumter:

[Brian Krashpad]

US Flag taken down from Ft. Sumter:



Palmetto Guard Flag raised over Ft. Sumter:



Ft. Sumter from the water:



Flags over Ft. Sumter:

[Brian Krashpad]

Sounds like a good trip! Thanks for sharing. What planes are those?

Gosh, I'm not very good on my aviation history.

I think the one on the flight deck with the double tail fins is an F-14 Tomcat. The one where Jack is standing taken closer, is an A-7 Corsair II. The blue WWII one in the debriefing shot on the hangar deck is a Vought F-4 Corsair. Not sure what the one Jack is sitting in was.

If we have any naval aviators or aviation buffs I'd be happy for any corrections.

[Brian Krashpad]

Jack in the Captain's portside docking chair:



Me in the Captain's Bridge Chair:



Jack in the Captain's Bridge Chair:



Jack on the bridge:

[SuperSwede]

I think the one on the flight deck with the double tail fins is an F-14 Tomcat.

F/A 18 Hornet

[Brian Krashpad]

F/A 18 Hornet

Thanks, that was my other guess, but they're all just guesses.

Skol.

[SuperSwede]

Btw Brian, thanks for the history lesson!

[Tim]

Thanks Brian. It brought back memories of my son's troop and our weekend trips and camping. You got some good memories there to relish for years to come. Thanks for sharing them.

[Brian Krashpad]

Btw Brian, thanks for the history lesson!

Haha, thanks! I was a history major in undergaduate school (though oddly enough my area of specialization was the European Middle Ages-- BRING OUT YER DEAD!) but when I was in junior high school (now hereabouts called "middle school") I was a HUGE US Civil War buff.

By quirk of fate I was born in the city of Memphis, in Tennessee, one of the former states of the Confederacy. This made me the lone "Rebel" in a family of "Yankees."

Which possibly explains a lot. :

By another odd quirk of fate, my wife, whom I met and married down here in Florida (a long ways from Tennessee) was also born in Memphis.

[sunvalleylaw]

That is great! When I was a kid in scouts, and my Dad was Naval reserve in Puget Sound area, we toured ships many times. The Constellation was a big one (literally). My wife and I visited Charleston in '96 for an ABA young lawyer's conference and absolutely loved it! For a west coast kid where buildings built 100 years ago are about as old as it gets almost, the history there was amazing to me. You guys look like you were having a great time!

[Brian Krashpad]

That is great! When I was a kid in scouts, and my Dad was Naval reserve in Puget Sound area, we toured ships many times. The Constellation was a big one (literally). My wife and I visited Charleston in '96 for an ABA young lawyer's conference and absolutely loved it! For a west coast kid where buildings built 100 years ago are about as old as it gets almost, the history there was amazing to me. You guys look like you were having a great time!

It really was wonderful. When we were driving around Saturday afternoon we just kept saying to each other how perfect the weekend was. Jack even enjoyed me dragging him into the music store (besides just wanting to gawk at gear, I was hoping they'd have a t-shirt I could buy) and seeing me jawing with the staff about gear (by the way, if anyone needs a clean red Epi Dot for $250 USD, I know where to find one). Oddly, finding all those cool videos for a dollar apiece was a highlight too. Some of those (Men In Black and The Matrix especially) are Jack's faves.

Plus the replacement t-shirt I got is pretty cool. It's some sort of team jersey that appears to have never been used. It says "Brewers" on the front in silvery letters, in script like the Milwaukee baseball team, and has the number 16 on the back. When we were back on the carrier after we took a shower and I put the new shirt on, someone (from another of the camping groups) asked me if I was from Milwaukee, since my shirt said "Brewers."

I said no, but I sure did like beer.

:

[Tone2TheBone]

Wow things come to life when you have high speed internet at home (for me at least - being able to load web pages quickly). GREAT PHOTOS B. I seldom get to see some of these great posts w/ pics and I really enjoyed these. I can relate to them as I was also a cub, and boy scout. That experience will live with them forever.

Webelos rawk!!! (we need a scout icon here Robert)

[Brian Krashpad]

Can't see anything in this video, but it's still funny.

<embed width="448" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://smg.photobucket.com/flash/player.swf?file=http://vidmg.photobucket.com/albums/v26/BrianKrashpad/HPIM0590.flv"></embed>

Hmm, not embedding right, but here's the link:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t=HPIM0590.flv

[Brian Krashpad]

Jack JOOD:



"Conrtol Your Children" sign:



Jack with USS Laffey Kills:



USS Ingham:



USS Yorktown from aft:



Yorktown hangar deck: