USS Lexington

 Well, we've been here for a couple weeks and haven't done much except drive around so we figured its time to see some of the local sights. About 10 minutes down the beach is the USS Lexington museum.

The Lexington is a WW2 aircraft carrier, built in 1943 and was the last one to be taken out of service about 20 years ago. It was called the blue ghost because of its colour and the fact it was declared sunk 3 times by the Japanese. This is the hanger deck, one floor down from the flight deck and was where planes were stored and repaired. There is that much room again behind me.

 Anytime I can fly in a plane and shoot guns is a good day.

Apparently I shouldn't have done that.

 After I was let out with a warning, I decided to give an anti aircraft gun a try. This has an optical sight and actually moves so I ended up trying to shoot people who were sitting down the beach in a cafe. Good thing I didn't have any ammo.

This is where the captain ran the ship. He didn't even get a wheel to turn, that was left to more lowly sailors. To my left was the flight deck and straight ahead was the pointy part (bow).

 This is the aforementioned bow. I was sitting behind the upper row of glass windows in the last picture. All of the different types of planes which flew off the Lexington are located here on the deck. They range from WW2 planes to this Apache helicopter.

They shouldn't have left this one running, I almost got sucked into the engine. Fortunately I weight more than I appear to. This was the most challenging plane to land on the carrier because it flew at over 1400 MPH and landed way faster than most. The F4F was used in Vietnam mostly.

 You may find it hard to spot but in the centre left in the picture is a Japanese flag. During the battle of Leyte Gulf a Kamikaze Zero hit the island where the flag is, killing over 20 and injuring over 200. 12 of the dead were pilots who couldn't take off so went up there to watch the fighting. This carrier suffered the most damage of any carrier which didn't sink. 

It is an amazing thing to see. We spent hours walking through the different levels and areas of the ship. Over 2600 people worked here and hundreds died during its various battles. The size of the sleeping areas, the galleys(eating areas) and the heads(washrooms) are huge. Notice how I picked up some sailing lingo. 

After a day of wandering the nooks and crannies of the Lexington, we walked about 100 feet down the beach for refreshments. Notice how close the ship is. When we found out the Margaritas were $1.00 apiece we stayed a little longer than planned. Seafood appetizers were $2.00 off so we had some of them as well. I think we'll be back; we just won't bother with the ship next time.

The building in the centre is where we stopped for a break. Behind that is the bridge to Corpus Christie and the grey building to the left is the Corpus Christie Aquarium. I think we'll go there soon; probably when we get a craving for Margaritas and sea food. Its only another 200 feet down the beach. What a great spot. Too bad we weren't camped right here.