travel

Patriots Point and USS Yorktown (Mount Pleasant, SC)

October 14, 2020 /

I decided to start my travel posts recapping our trip with our last excursion. This was the only activity I had not planned in our vacation budget (which we totally went over, more on that later) but I thought the boys would really enjoy it which they did. If you visit Charleston and enjoy history, I would definitely take the time to visit Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum. It is just accross the Arthur Ravenel Bridge which takes you from Charleston to Mount Pleasant and was only 10 minutes from our hotel. We ended up spending close to 4 and half hours here including a break for lunch on the battleship.

Your ticket includes the USS Yorktown, USS Laffey, the Vietnam experience Exhibit, and the Medal of Honor Museum. The submarine and the Apollo 8 exhibit were closed because of safety. being very small closed in spaces. The USS Yorktown was the 10th aircraft carrier to serve in the US navy. It participated in the pacific offensive in late 1943 to 1945. It was decommisionned in 1970 after being used as an anti submarine aircraft carrier  off Vietnam and recovering the Apollo 8 astronaut and capsule.

If you are concerned about Covid measures, there were hand sanitizing stations in many areas, masks were required and there were several restrooms on the USS Yorktown too. The air was sanitized by UV light air purifiers in the climate controlled areas.

We spent the most time on the battleship where you get to go on the top deck as well as all of the levels of the ship down to the boiler room. There were planes displayed on deck. There is also the Medal of Honor museum on this ship which I found really interesting.

It sure was amazing to think of 3500 people living and working on this ship and puts into perspective the amount of space we have in our homes and workplace.

I ended up carrying my youngest on my back with all of the stairs and just couldn’t imagine running through the hallways and up and down stairs as part of my daily routine.

The USS Laffey is the most decorated destroyer from the WW2 era.The combat information center exhibit was really interesting with 2 hologram men going through the motions of how information was gathered and was procedures were followed when the ship encountered submarines during the Cold War.

The Vietnam exhibit brings to life a support and artillery base. It has 3 vietnam heliopters on display, a mess hall, ambulance, observation tower and more. I took to the time to speak with my 6 year old and 9 year old about veterans and PTSD as well as trauma causef by going to war and coming back. We did not watch any of the videos with them as I wasn’t sure how age appropriate they would be.

I grew up watching movies and shows about the Vietnam war. Fiction versus a taste of reality here. There was also an indoor eshibition which recapped the history of how the conflict started.

I have been always interested in learning about history. We definitely spent more time studying French history in high school therefore learning more about World War 1 and 2 (being in France) but I did take 2 American history classes in college and really enjoyed them! None of our history is perfect but hopefully we can learn from our past.

This visit made me want to revisit my history books. I have forgotten a lot of what I have learned in class and recently only have read historical fiction and few related to the last century. Do you enjoy visiting historical sites or museums when you travel? Which era fascinates or interests you the most? Growing up the French revolution definitely was of interest to me as well as the Vietnam war and World War 1.

A bientôt!

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