Patriot's Point

On our last day in Charleston, we went to Patriot's Point and soaked in some maritime history. We toured the USS Yorktown, a retired Aircraft Carrier, and got to talk to the boys about some of our adventures in the Navy.

Rick gave the boys a tour of the galley, where his Naval career began, and where we also found a recipe and the ingredients for 10,000 chocolate chip cookies.

I tried to interest them in the dental operatories and the operating room.

Will wanted to know if there was a piano and a TV on board. Interestingly, we found both in the Chief Warrant Officer's Mess.

We took a break for lunch at the Chief's Mess.

When we had had enough of the surface Navy, we walked across the street to the Cold War Era Submarine Memorial and we showed the boys the names of the boats Rick and Grandpa had served on.

I've only really ever been on board submarines before, when my dad's boats would host dependents' cruises. I never went to sea when I was in the Navy. I couldn't get over how big and roomy the aircraft carrier was- there was even an escalator so the pilots could get to the flight deck with all their gear.
Strangely, I couldn't stop humming the 'Top Gun' theme.