Recently we seemed to be on a bit of a military theme for our day trips so we thought we might as well continue this and head into Mobile and check out the USS Alabama. This battleship is easily seen as you cross the Mobile Bay on I-10 into town. It is not too far of a drive from our campgrounds but we did make a quick stop at a highly favorited geocache along the way. We tend to do that often in our travels and as we have found out, it often takes us to something scenic, unique, beautiful or strange. This time we were brought to a small concrete domed building. It is open (at least when we stopped) and you are permitted to check it out. The log book for the cache is just the visitor log that each visitor would sign. Apparently it was built as a hurricane shelter built by Henry Stuart in the 1920's. "The Poet of Tolstoy Park" is a book about the life of this eccentric person. Doubt we will read the book, but the building was very interesting.
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| Tolstoy Park |
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| Interior of the Building |
The USS Alabama is in Memorial Park that has numerous planes, tanks and other displays. The parking is only $2 per car and allows you to check out all the outside displays. To actually get into the Alabama, a submarine, and an aircraft hangar, you head into the visitor's center to get tickets. We managed to score senior discounts since the cutoff is only 55. At $13 per person it turned out to be one of the more interesting places we have toured.
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| Dramatic Shot of USS Alabama |
When we read about the visit, they mention tours and in my mind I was envisioning a guide leading groups of people around the ship, describing what we are seeing, and telling people to stay behind some line painted on the floor. The reality was quite different. A volunteer greets you as you board the ship and points to the ship map on the wall. There are three self guided tours - red, green and yellow - and within each tour are 20 or more numbered stops with colored arrows pointing the direction to the nest stop. The printed out tour guide helps explain what you are seeing in case it isn't obvious or the sign at the stop doesn't help.
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| Sleeping Quarters |
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| A Trough for the Toilets Isn't a Pleasant Thought |
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| One of the Kitchen for the 2500 Aboard |
Obviously the ship is huge and typically had 2500 men aboard, and there were many fascinating things to see. What completely surprised me was the fact that there were many areas which I would have assumed should have been off limits but were accessible to the general public.
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| Which Valve Should I Turn? |
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| Some of the Controls for the 16" Guns |
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| Obviously the 16" Shells were BIG! |
Even up on the outer deck, you were allowed to climb into the area where the men would work to fire the guns. One 16" gun station with its 3 guns required 140 men to operate! If you were a bit of a contortionist, you could see how one of the 5" guns worked. And almost all the 40mm guns were accessible. It seemed like the only thing missing was live ammo!
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| Near the Bow Looking Aft |
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| BIG Guns |
After having a bit of lunch, we came back to check out the hangar and the dozen or so planes. Since we have done a lot of planes recently, we breezed thru this area and headed to the submarine. The USS Drum is no longer in the water but still fully accessible. Probably not for a person suffering from claustrophobia! There were many kids there and with the sub being much smaller than the Alabama, it was tough to get into all the areas.
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| Complicated Controls |
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| The Engine Controls |
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| Torpedo Controls and Hatches |
Apparently you can stay aboard the Alabama overnight. Not sure of the details and it may have only been for scouts and there leaders, but there were hundreds of kids with sleeping bags and pillows waiting to head down into their quarters for the night. I bet that place would have been great to do as a kid.
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| A Line of Overnighters Waiting to Enter |
We walked around the rest of the park and check out a tank or two. Again the place was crawling with kids. In this case literally since apparently some of the tanks were specifically left accessible just for that.
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| A Tank Without Kids |
All in all this was an incredible stop. If you are ever in the area, it is well worth the visit. There is even enough room in the parking area for a motorhome if need be.
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