The Smiths: USS Lexington

For Isaac's birthday, we drove down to Corpus Christi to see the USS Lexington aircraft carrier. It was nicknamed the "Blue Ghost" during WWII because it was mistakenly reported as sunk (by Tokyo Rose) on not one, but four different occasions. Isaac, of course, already knew all about it. He was in heaven.

Here are a few photographs of the USS Lexington in action during WWII. What an incredible time in history.

Chart room on board USS Lexington as the ship maneuvers into enemy waters during a strike on the Gilbert and Marshall Islands. December 1943.

The kids just went nuts as we drove up over the bridge and spotted the aircraft carrier for the first time. It was a rainy morning. But by the time we actually got there, the sun had come out - bright and hot!

Before heading on board, we ate lunch.

The boys played a little checkers.

And off we went.

Antiaircraft guns. I love Isaac's face - he really gets into this.

Isaac is the gunman here - giving all three of his pilots flight instructions.

It was hot. hot. hot. We drank gallons of water.

Luckily there was a nice sea breeze.

We could watch the oil ships moving in and out of port.

As well as the offshore oil rigs.

Eliza, the fearless fighter pilot.

The girls couldn't really go anywhere with steep ladders (which was most of the ship). So they did a lot of waiting around while the boys were exploring. We got very creative with the free maps of the USS Lexington. The guy at the entrance finally gave Eliza a whole stack of them to play with.

We did haul the stroller up to the flight deck though. It was windy. And awesome.

This is Isaac's favorite picture. He is piloting a Sea Cobra helicopter. I love the quote on the side - "Don't bother running. You'll only die tired."