My friend Kate has been wanting to go to the Florida Aquarium in Tampa, so she found 40% off coupons and we planned a day trip to go up there when our husbands were both home on a Saturday. While I was looking up reviews of the aquarium I read a few comments that said "if you go to the aquarium make sure you take the time to go to the WWII ship that is parked in the bay behind, too." So...we headed up to Tampa and went to the aquarium. It wasn't super cool, and I don't think I'd recommend going, to be honest. It was incredibly small, really crowded, and didn't have things I would expect an aquarium to have (especially in Florida!).
These lemurs were all crowded on top of each other in their tree. Apparently that's what lemurs do?
Anyway, so we finished at the aquarium before lunch, and since we'd driven all the way up to Tampa we needed to find something else to do. I mentioned the WWII ship (SS American Victory - served in WWII, Korean War and Vietnam War), and our friend Josh thought it would be worth walking behind the museum to go look at it. When we got back there, I really wanted to take a tour (I'm a history nerd!), but I wasn't sure if anyone else really wanted to, and I didn't want to make them all do it just because I wanted to. Luckily Josh voiced that he really wanted to do it, and then Andy said he wanted to also, so we decided to go. The guy at the front said people usually spend "1.5-2 hours"...and he was right! I didn't feel like we dawdled - and it didn't feel like we were on there for that long, but when we got done it had been a little over 2 hours. Kate had decided not to go with us because her toddler was grumpy, and she wasn't thrilled that it took us so long. Oops!
Prepare for a photo overload. The ship was SO COOL. This is before we went on, at the back of the ship. Behind them is the propeller poking out of the water, because apparently the bay is only 14 feet deep right here.
This is Skyler at the front of the boat pretending to shoot the machine gun. It was weird to see cannons like this with machine gun mounts right beside them.
Andy and Colby sitting by the cannon also.
When we asked the front desk guy where all we were allowed to go (it was a self-guided tour), he told us "you can go anywhere that doesn't say KEEP OUT." So...we found this little door that said something about being a fire station, and it was open and it didn't say keep out...so even though it was really dark (my camera flash makes it look much lighter than it actually was), and the ladder looked a little iffy, Andy climbed down.
After he checked it out (it was a couple of dark storage rooms and he had to use his camera flashlight to see), we convinced the kids to go down, too.
This ship is actually still a working ship (they take it out in the bay for memorial cruises sometimes), so the engine room was undergoing a humidification process, but they still let us go in, as long as we kept the door shut. Ally was not excited about going in at first because the catwalk was pretty high up above the actual engine and machinery, and since the floor is see-through, she thought she would fall. It took some convincing to get her to step inside.
The bunk rooms actually seemed kind of bigger than what I was picturing, but I still can't imagine living here for months at a time with 3 other people in the same room!
Here's Ally preparing to shoot the cannon at the back of the ship.
The telegraph room was fun to see...
...and the "attack instructions" were still hanging on the walls at various places.
This speed thing reminded us of what you see in the movies.
The lifeboat was so rickety, and you could see where it had been patched a few times already.
Most of the ladders going up the outside poles had wooden beams across the bottoms so it was clear you weren't supposed to climb up, but this one going to the crow's nest did not, so Andy and Josh took turns climbing up there. It was REALLY tall. This pole goes up from the top deck of the ship, so I would guess they were probably about 100 (or more) feet up in the air. That's like 10 stories. I can see how that would be a bit daunting. Andy got about 2/3 of the way up and looked around and said, "Did you take the picture yet?" I said "No, you're not to the top!" Later I realized he wasn't super excited about going up to the top, but he did it!
Here's Colby pretending to drive the ship.
The fridge still had super old food in it, which was really cool to see.
Overall, if anyone is ever in Tampa and has a few hours to spare, and any interest in history at all, I recommend going here. It was really cool, and really made you think about what life was like for these young men who served in the war.
On the way home we crossed the Sunshine bridge again, which the kids love because it is HUGE! It's built tall enough for ships to go underneath, so though you can't really tell from these pictures (because they are far away) it is really tall.
