March 30, 2007. The weather was great and a day trip was in order. Many of the New Jersey Museums were not open in March so we luckily found the Battleship New Jersey open for business. We parked the car in the Camden parking garage and could have walked to the ship, but along came the Battleship shuttle van, so we took it.
The first thing we noticed was the ship's immense size. (888 ft long - 109 ft wide).
We bought our tickets and elected to have the self tour. There was a red line painted on the deck for the self tour and it was easy to follow. There were "you are here signs" throughout the ship to give us a sense of location.
The anchor chain, the sixteen inch guns and other armaments gave scale to the grand size of things.
As expected, the Admiral and the junior officers had very nice accommodations.
The "captain's chair" with an excellent view of the forward area of the ship and the ocean. If under attack, the key players could be secure in the wheel house that was protected by seriously thick steel.
We met one of the crew and he asked us if we wanted our photo together and we took him up on his kind offer.
An area was set aside to honor those who contributed to the ship, the welfare of the men and the welfare of the country.
The bakery, the mess kitchen and the mess hall for the enlisted men.
End of the tour and many fond memories will stay with us.
Having had a wonderful tour, we started thinking about dinner so we crossed the Ben Franklin Bridge and headed north to New Hope, PA. We had an excellent dinner right along the Delaware River, and the ducks enjoyed our visit too.
