Greetings from Lindsey, the full time RV living Corgi! I can’t believe how fast 2019 has gone! It seems like I just turned fifteen years old, but since then another six months have already gone by. Some would say that in human years I am over one hundred years old. I feel like it too!
Right now I am down in South Texas enjoying the beach. Hanging out around the water is my favorite thing. I have lived in many places in the United States, but I have spent most of my time in the high mountain region of the west and on the beaches in the Southeast. I think I am more of a water girl. I love watching the ocean and listening to the waves. They lull me to sleep! Well, that does not take much these days. LOL
Since my last post about our late summer activities, we have spent most of our time stationary at the NRVTA in Athens, TX where Mom and Dad teach people how to run a small business from their RV and how to be RV inspectors.
I would say the best activity while at the South Texas coast is the beach, but there are some other attractions to visit. Recently, Mom, Dad, Winston and I got to go to the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi. It’s the home of the USS Lexington Museum. I could not board the ship because they don’t allow pets. Plus, based on what Mom and Dad told me, there were just too many stairs to climb and descend. But, Dad told me all about what they saw. They took a lot of pictures too.
From what I heard it was really cool! From the outside, the ship looks huge! It has many decks. Also, from the outside, you can see all the plans that are sitting on the deck. They had everything from propeller warplanes to more recent jet aircraft. The deck of the carrier is 120,000 square feet. Dad said it was fun to just walk around the deck, look at the planes, and see just how far off the water the flight deck is.
The USS Lexington Museum is located inside the USS Lexington aircraft carrier. The ship is parked just offshore and joined to land by a long concrete bridge that takes you to the aircraft hanger deck. You can either walk to the ship or take a tram. Once inside the aircraft carrier, you pay the admission fee and also pay for a four dollar parking token. The parking area is across the street on North Shoreline Blvd and from the walkway bridge. You need the token to get out of the parking area when you are finished touring the USS Lexington Museum.
Mom and Dad said after they paid the entry fee of $14.95 each, they were given a map of the ship that allowed them to visit five separate areas of the ship. We were there for five hours so there is lots to see. Mom and Dad were worried about us so they did not spend as much time as they could have. There are television monitors throughout the ship that allow you to view information on many areas of interest regarding the ship, its operation, the history of naval operations, and life aboard an aircraft carrier.
The cool thing is they have a new feature that allows you to use your smartphone and a QR Reader App to scan the codes that are located at many of the exhibits. These smartphone tours give more information about the real stories of the LEX, her people, and her treasures.
Mom and Dad said they also saw a 3-D movie that was twenty-five minutes long that details naval operations. Dad said he really liked the clips of being launched from and landing on the aircraft carrier deck. The movie runs on the hour in the movie theater that is inside the ship on the hanger deck. Dad said it looked like it seated hundreds of people.
While we were there it was a pretty quiet day. The only group that showed up was a few buses of kids on a school field trip. Other than that Mom and Dad said they had the ship to themselves and were even able to sit on the bridge, all alone. No other visitors were around.
As I mentioned earlier, there are five self-guided tours. They each begin and end on the hangar deck. Dad said he and Mom were able to move at their own pace so they would not miss anything. They said some things they spent a lot of time looking at while others not so much. They did say that since the USS Lexington aircraft carrier is a former US Navy vessel, the ship has steep stairways, low overhangs, and some hazards to look out for. You do have to watch your head and where you step.
Dad said that he observed that the ceilings on the upper and lower decks, from the hangar deck, seemed really low. There were times he needed to squat a little bit in order to not hit his head on the services running along with the ceiling. He also thought that perhaps the navy crew of the forties were of a smaller stature given the uniforms and apparel that was displayed. Dad said he thought being shorter was a definite advantage for being a good naval aviator.
When you board the ship you get a map that shows the self-guided tours. You can start with the Flight Deck, then the Foc’sle, the Gallery Deck, The Lower Decks, and the Hangar Deck which is the first place you see when you board the USS Lexington Museum. Here’s a picture of the USS Lexington Museum map showing what you can see while at the ship.
Mom and Dad said they did all five tours and watched the 3-D movie at the Mega Theater, at the front of the ship, on the Hangar Deck. All that added up to the five hours that I mentioned earlier. I was glad they did not spend much more time than that because Winston and I were ready to go.
There are other things you can do on the USS Lexington that Mom and Dad did not try. Maybe on their next trip when they have more time. There is a flight simulator that accommodates fifteen people. You are launched off the flight deck, go attack targets, and return safely to land on the flight deck. That is an additional five dollars. Dad said it looks pretty realistic as he has been in a flight simulator before. From the outside you can see all the pistons that move the simulator around to give the feeling of flight.
There is also a Pearl Harbor exhibit that Mom and Dad saw while on one of the guided tours. But since they know the story very well they did not stay to watch the film montage that details the story of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is a state-of-the-art multi-media exhibit, on Tour Route 2 in the ship’s foc’sle. Dad said that the little bit that they watched was presented in realistic animations and actual footage.
For the real adventurous folks, they have something called Lockdown on the LEX. They have two missions to choose from. They involve either finding a bomb and defusing it or locating missing people who are lost in the depths of the ship.
From what Mom and Dad said it seems like visiting the USS Lexington is something to definitely do while in the area. There is a website for the USS Lexington aircraft carrier and the USS Lexington Museum.
Well, it’s time to get back to watching the ocean waves and catching a nap. After all this writing I am exhausted! Thanks for stopping by! Please be sure to leave a comment, or ask a doggy related question, if you would like my input on what it’s like to be a full time RV living Corgi.
Here’s a little parting humor from the ship!
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