"Lets get a boat that big"

Thats what Denise said when she saw the battleship Wisconsin, which we toured yesterday in downtown Norfolk.  Of course its a big boat, 887'3" long. 

It is located at the Nauticus Naval Musem, which also includes the extensive history of Naval history in the Hampton Roads area.
The 90 minute guided tour allows access to only some of the upper decks and we got an idea what it might be like on one of these massive ships.  The Wisconsin was commissioned in 1945 and saw extensive action over the years, including WWII, Korea and Desert Storm.  It was brought out of moth balls in the late 80's and was outfitted with Tomahawk missles and fired the first one to start Desert Storm.   As you can see below, Denise took this pretty seriously.

While on the outside deck, we spotted another bronze statue.  This one was called the Lone Sailor, representing all sailors who have served and was located in a little park next to the Wisconsisn.

The smaller monuments behind the sailor represent several naval ships that were commissioned at the Newport News shipyard and were damaged or sunk either in combat or in accidents over the years.

To be consistent, there had to be a kiss from Denise, but this guy is about 8 feet tall, making it a little harder to really plant one.

Budget Rental Car brought us to a grocery store near the marina and we picked up a few things and the grocery store brought us back to the marina.  These are really nice services that are provided for the many boaters that come through here.   We're prepaing to leave and resume boat cruising and will head to the Chesapeake Bay.  As we pass through downtown Norfolk we will pass mile marker 0, which marks the beginning of the ICW.  While this is only 12 miles away, there are several bridges that will need opening and one lock to pass through and as these usually only open on the hour, I expect this 12 miles may take awhile.  Over the past two weeks, Tranquility has been in a covered slip at the Atlantic Yacht Basin marina.

More sight seeing is on the agenda as we are planning to leave the Chesapeake at the Potomac River and cruise to Washington DC,  planning to get there this Friday.