Say Good-Bye Cruisin' Together

Saturday, June 29, 2013

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA PART 1

I'm a little behind on the blog because we were out and about enjoying the sites in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina. We took the launch across the Cooper River to Patriots Point where the U.S.S. Yorktown Aircraft Carrier, the U.S.S. Laffey Destroyer and the U.S.S. Clamagore Submarine located. All three are World War II vintage and we spent several hours on a self-guided tour of each. I personally did not go into the Clamagore Submarine -- I did tour one in Baltimore a number of years ago and was nearly a basket case till I was able to get out and see the light of day. I took photos of the Captain entering and exiting and a few photos of the outside of the Sub.

After a little rest, we caught the Charleston Trolley which is free to the public and has several routes all through the town. The downtown streets are quite narrow and are shared by the trolleys, cars and the bike taxis. Based on several recommendations by friends, including John and Edna, we had dinner at Hyman's Seafood Restaurant on Meeting Street. We ordered a sort of tapas style dinner -- small servings of many things -- and enjoyed each one very much. The food is excellent, the atmosphere delightful and everyone is courteous, efficient and friendly. The owner spoke to each table personally and we enjoyed that, as well.

We decided to walk back to the Charleston Maritime Center Marina in a light rain. I thought it was rather romantic, but Mr. Wonderful wanted to get back asap so he dragged me along with him. The rain stopped and the sun came out shortly before we boarded Say Good-Bye so we were treated to a beautiful rainbow.

Following are photos of the U.S.S. Yorktown:

U.S.S. Yorktown commissioned April 15, 1943

On the flight deck

U.S.S. Yorktown Bridge

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Tail hook

Cdr. James B. Stockdale was a highly decorated war hero who flew over 150 missions and was a POW in Vietnam for 8 years. He retired as a Vice Admiral in the Navy. He was Ross Perot's Vice Presidential running mate. He died in 2005.

Statistic cards by Air Group

Legend referring to statistic cards

Captain's Bridge

View of flight deck from bridge

Steep stairs

Engine room

This Dixie Cup hat belonged to Seaman Law who served on the USS Yorktown -- it was found in a California thrift shop

Officers' Mess

Paddles used for landing planes -- flag has 48 stars

This equipment operates the torpedo elevator

Readied torpedoes are raised to the deck in this elevator

Torpedo

Hangar

We had lunch in the mess hall

Santa Fe Salads and lemonade for lunch

Chapel

Anatomy of a torpedo

Torpedoes are suspended while the crew assembles them

Photo of torpedo assembly

Info about the Torpedo Workshop

Torpedo gang

Game tables and lockers

The galley serves 4 meals daily: breakfast, lunch, dinner and midnight rations called "midrats" to a crew of 380 officers and 3,088 enlisted men and an air group of 90 planes.