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Ben visits Nauticus in Norfolk and the USS Wisconsin! |
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Today Ben traveled with us to Norfolk, VA to see the Nauticus, a maritime and science museum that explores the power of the sea. Part of the museum is the USS Wisconsin, an Iowa class battleship, which is where we started. There were wonderful retired military personnel onboard to answer our questions and tell us how things worked. The gun turrets were particularly impressive. They could hurl shells that weigh as much as a Volkswagen Beetle as far as 28 miles, and if the crew was really good they could do 2 of those per minute per gun! At the bow of the boat we saw the giant anchors. The volunteer there explained that each humongous link weighed 120 pounds! Ben and the boys tried to turn the wheel that raises the anchors, but no luck. Oh well, it was worth a try. As we left, we all made sure to leave our mark on the guest register. We were very impressed!
Inside the museum we were just in time for the Shark Touch, where you could touch a live nurse shark. Ben didn't want any part of that. In fact, he preferred to be inside the shark cage, far from danger, but Mason was brave enough to try it. He said the skin felt like fine grained sand paper - not slimy at all.
From there we found a great place to play...a model of the helm of a ship. Ben sat in the captains chair and gave orders. Daddy took the wheel and tried not to hit anything. The rest of us punched every button, turned every knob, pulled every lever, and generally had a blast. What a great place to play (and learn a thing or two about the sea and the navy).
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