 |
| Your Humble Scribe, Roberto, and The Missus Herself Yes, Roberto is wielding wooden swords ... OAFS Photo |
"Ships?" says I, "I thought there was but the one."
"No Grandpa, there are four ships!"
And sure enough, there were. There's a WWII US submarine, the USS Torsk. There's a Coast Guard cutter, USCGC 37, launched as the USCGC Roger B. Taney. Then there's a lightship, the LS-116 Chesapeake, a ship which I'd read about long ago, and had forgotten, seeing her tied up at the pier brought some of those memories back, a very cool ship. Last, and certainly not least, there is the USS Constellation. Not one of the original six frigates, though she looks like a frigate to me, officially she's a sloop-of-war. She was the last sail only ship commissioned by the Navy. She is really, really cool.
 |
| The sail of USS Torsk OAFS Photo |
 |
| Roberto and Tuttle pursuing a photo-op The Chesapeake Lightship is in the background OAFS Photo |
 |
| Nothing pleases the Sarge more than walking an old-timey gundeck. OAFS Photo |
 |
| Old ship, new skyline - the Baltimore Inner Harbor is pretty awesome OAFS Photo |
 |
| Peeking into the Cap'n's cabin OAFS Photo |
Unfortunately The Nuke was out of town most of the week, only managing to get home late in the evening on Roberto's birthday. To make up for her missing the trip to the ships, we went to the National Aquarium on the Saturday after Roberto's birthday. Got to see sharks, dolphins, even saw a sloth! It too is a very cool place. Well, except for the rain forest exhibit, hot and humid as one might expect. (Hey, it's a TROPICAL rain forest, innit?)
 |
| Just missed a dolphin, there were at least three of 'em frolicking. I was so enthralled I forgot I had a camera until the last minute. OAFS Photo |
 |
| The obligatory photo in the megalodon's mouth! That's Roberto (left) and his brother Finnegan (right) OAFS Photo |
With The Nuke out of town, and his in-laws visiting (that would be us), Tuttle wanted to make sure we ate well. I mean the lad can cook and cook well (master of the grill) but The Nuke is a very talented chef. Rather than having Tuttle slaving over a hot grill after working all day, we went out to eat, a lot. Which, I might add, I really enjoy doing.
One afternoon we went to this place -
 |
| OAFS Photo |
Anyhoo, the food there ain't bad, at least mine was quite tasty. The Missus Herself is a sharp critic of restaurants, if the food is simply "okay" in her view, she will not sing its praises. I tell you, if a restauranteur wanted high praise, The Missus Herself is far more critical than Michelin, they should ask her.
I believe she has three ratings for restaurant food: "not good," "okay," and "not bad." The latter being high praise indeed. She does have one rating which is seldom used, I've heard her use it twice. Once for the lobster rolls at Chelo's and again for the fajitas at the Hard Rock Café, both meals are superb. The Missus Herself rated those as "really good." Twice I've heard her rate a meal that way. Twice!
So that's what I did for part of my summer vacation, summer ain't over yet, not sure if I will be traveling again before the summer ends, but ya never know. I'm no globe trotter like juvat and his clan, but I get around. More so than I used to, I mean, I've got the time now, don't I?
Ciao!
I remember the gun decks of the Constellation. I had to walk carefully as not to knock my head on the low beams. Folks were a tad shorter back then I suspect. Your Misses looked comfortable enough in there.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see they cleaned up the Inner Harbor as I recall less safety and more Mc D style trash there a few years ago when I was visiting. Also, far less crowded than my last visit.
Maybe someday I'll spot you and yours at Mystic.
Michael the anonymous.
I did not need to duck, further below was a different story!
DeleteLooks like all had a very enjoyable day there Sarge, that gundeck....can imagine cannonballs flying through those openings (shudder). Much to see down at the harbor, that lightship looks interesting.
ReplyDeleteWorse yet was balls hitting the wood and blasting splinters everywhere. Splinters as thick as a man's wrist and a yard long!
DeleteI never thought of Baltimore as a place to vacation. The times I have been there were for business at places in the city you did not want to be outdoors after dark.
ReplyDeleteA big effort was made to clean up the Inner Harbor. It's also nearby where the Orioles and the Ravens play.
DeleteSarge,
ReplyDeleteLooks like you and yours had fun. Great pictures also (but we’ve come to expect that)!
Now….Back in the saddle!
juvat
Much fun, though I am rehabilitating my right knee at the moment, I'm getting too old to be climbing all over a ship. Particularly the ladders!
DeleteSarge, similar to the ships we visited last November in San Diego at the harbor. Delightful exhibits and a beautiful backdrop.
ReplyDeleteYoung boys with wooden swords. This is The Way.
Note his stance, he's studying taekwondo.
DeleteGreat report, and a fine reward it was for your literary efforts.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Constellation gun deck is pretty impressive, as was the lower (and it really is "lower") deck. They've done a good job on preservation, and they use a lot of volunteers on all the ships, who are to be thanked for their contributions, as well as the necessary cash contributed by visitors.
Inner Harbor itself is not the dangerous no-go zone like so much of the city, but be careful anyway.
Ever been to the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, VA? Totally amazing place, and decidedly skewed to the non-military side of maritime history. In addition to all the traditional displacement hull stuff, they have some sort of full size blasphemous hydrofoil catamaran racing "boat" which is totally incomprehensible as to who, what, why or how the darn thing is classed as a boat instead of alien space craft. The actual full original turret of USS Monitor is there, after decades of conservation, along with a full size replica of the whole ship (exterior) as well as some interior spaces.
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel is a mighty impressive structure to get there from the Eastern Shore (Sarge's secret Valhalla).
Colonial Williamsburg is just up the road from Newport News, and well worth a couple of days, especially for youngsters just starting to learn about and appreciate our great country's history. Lots of stuff targeting youthful visitors, as well as more mature citizens. Maybe next birthday?
JB
I've been to a number of those places, not the Mariner's Museum but as it has bits of the Monitor, it's now on the list to visit. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel? I've been through it a number of times, flown over it a couple of times, and was underway over it on the water aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. Stopped and ate at the restaurant once as well. I love that drive!
DeleteGet him into the SCA! Armor! Rattan swords! Full contact combat! Dancing! (Hey! You try Galliards and Branle de la Guerre in full armour!). Always had trouble getting the new guys convinced that dancing was s Manly Art.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a productive of fun weekend.
Restaurant food. That's why we rarely go out to eat. Paying high priced for mediocre food just isn't worth it. Exceptions are Indian and Oriental foods because of the spices or thermal requirements. Having 87 spices that I use one pinch two times a year doesn't make sense. And the only way to get the proper heat for many Oriental preparations is either a high BTU propane burner ot lump charcoal in a starter chimney.
The Asian food we've got covered at home. (Go figure!) I go to restaurants for specific dishes, mostly seafood which we don't want to do at home. We avoid mediocre restaurants.
DeleteUnfortunately, most restaurants around here, even the supposedly really good ones, are, at best, mediocre. Unless you're talking half a month's food budget for 2 meals.
DeleteIt's true that some towns have better restaurants, we're blessed to have quite a few good ones in the area.
DeleteI've been happy with many diners. Not gourmet stuff, but for "comfort food" they seem to do a pretty good job- usually pretty reasonable price and always enough to feed two (or more) people, even hungry people. Also a different clientele- working stiffs and older folks, not ostentatious yuppies, lawyers or politicians. Breakfast type stuff is hard to mess up, and they usually do a good job with that. Lunch or dinner stuff is probably at least at the Cracker Barrel level of "okay" but sometimes surprisingly good. If you don't see any place else you really want to go to, consider a diner. Many seem to be run by folks with Greek heritage.
DeleteThe fictional Jack Reacher character loves diners....
JB
You'd think that Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California would have lots of premium eateries. Unfortunately, while many have great reputations, it's built on one or two high end specialties, and name recognition. Other than the signature dish the food is "Eh!"
DeleteJB - We scored twice on our vacation to Virginia this summer, two awesome diners which my granddaughter picked out!
DeleteJoe - Yeah, I mean it's wine country, what goes well with wine, good food!
DeleteYour pictures are great!! Nice and sharp. Looks like it was a lovely day to tourist around and see things!
ReplyDeleteLooking at the cannon...look at all the different types (thicknesses) of rope they have securing those cannon down...can you imagine them rocketing backwards when fired...so the sailors were not only dodging the shrapnel from the enemies cannonballs, but also their own guns as they were fired. Talk about the fog of war!! Lot of smoke when one cannon is fired off, never mind several...
Suz
Yes, cannons are to be taken seriously. Many an unwary sailor had a foot crushed by those cannon. Don't stand in front of 'em and don't stand behind 'em!
DeleteYou missed a bet if you didn't make it to the old Round House. I think Roberto would have loved that. DC
ReplyDeleteWhoa! I didn't know about that, looks really cool. Well, we do get down there rather a lot so there's always next time!
DeleteThe CGC Taney was at Pearl Harbor 7 Dec 1941, they tell you about it at boot camp.
ReplyDeleteYes, she was there for the battle but she was tied up to a pier in Honolulu harbor. She did participate in the battle though she wasn't exactly at Pearl. She had her guns manned and ready within four minutes and she did fire at at least three groups of Japanese aircraft.
DeleteA proud veteran!