i surprised my husband today by taking him for a tour of the battleship NJ. neither of us have ever been, but i knew of his interest in battleships as a piece of history, and although not overly interested myself, i was open to checking it out too.
i had a deal for 2 self-guided audio tours, so we hooked ourselves up and boarded the massive ship. the tour started at the bow and then right up to a door that led inside via a narrow ladder. first we saw living quarters, even being able to try out the bunks ourselves, noticed passages with live switches still (!), and then moved into the dining hall. the tour looped us outside and back in several times, always by use of small ladders, and we found ourselves squeezing into spaces and ducking our heads, watching our feet especially. i have no idea how people could live on these ships, let alone run this way and that during battle! this particular battleship had been through WWII, the korean war, and the vietnam war. there was a museum near the end of the tour (where hubbie set off one of the fake alarms) and we also saw a chapel, barber shop, print shop, dry cleaners, laundry room, and even the brig, which had 3 cells! i was amazed by the size of the cafeteria and other places inside.
we happened to be on the tour the same day as a beer fest, so many of the exits were blocked off. when we were searching for a permitted exit, i started feeling claustrophobic. how could people do it? i don't think i could have. i had a newfound respect for our navy and many, many sailors at sea.
overall, it was an interesting visit and not a bad way to spend a saturday afternoon.
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