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ORIGINAL: IdahoNYer

ORIGINAL: btd64

The Constitution can be seen in two ways. For free is the top deck only. For a fee you can tour the whole ship. The tour guides are very well trained....GP

GP - Wasn't the case last week - was able to go down to the gun deck and crew quarters without a fee. There were tours avail but some of the sailors were about in period uniforms providing insights and available for questions for us just wondering around.

That's great. When I was there last, you had to pay....GP

I grew up in Boston as well - but haven't been to these museums in decades. Fall river was really a treat. I think the only other PT boat around is in New Orleans ( they have 2 as well - one stationary and one a runner).

And for the aquarium - the New England Aquarium in Boston is the best I have ever been to....I like marine life. They used to have a seal that could speak. Any time a female came by he would say 'take it off, take it off, take it off' Not very PC today but very funny. Cannot remember the seal's name - might have to look it up.

Great pics! Thanks for sharing! [:)]

Great photos. Went to sub school in 1970 and had a best friend that lived in Groton. Been to Mystic and the aquarium

If you get back to the area, the USS Albacore (cold war era experimental submarine) is located in Portsmouth, NH.

As part of a Boy Scout trip with my son, we got to spend the night at Battleship Cove in Fall River. We slept on bunks in the Massachusetts and others slept on the Joe Kennedy. You get free reign after the park closes for the night, although after dark you have to stay inside. The bunk room we slept in on the Massachusetts was the same room that was damaged from shore battery fire during the Casablanca landings.

Mike

ORIGINAL: Panther Bait

If you get back to the area, the USS Albacore (cold war era experimental submarine) is located in Portsmouth, NH.

Mike

I use to live 20 minutes from there. Visited the sub on a couple of trips to downtown Portsmouth for some seafood....GP

Well, perhaps not a true "ship" museum, but I had the opportunity to visit the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL on my last business trip. Have always wanted to visit, and it did not disappoint!

Highly recommend for any forum member! Great selection of planes from naval aviation history, from its modest beginnings to present day - all in great shape!

Highlights for me are pictured below:

Top Row
- An F4F-3! Seen plenty of FM series and even an F4F at various places, but never an F4F-3!
- I can't remember ever seeing a Vindicator before!

Middle Row
- a gorgeous Coronado! Never seen one anywhere. They also have a cut-away PBY which was pretty neat showing the interior.
- A Buccaneer!

Bottom Row
- My favorite in the entire museum. An SBD-2, B#2106. This plane was at Pearl on Dec 7th, at Coral Sea, and at Midway taking part on the strike against Hiryu. What an historic piece!

I only had about 2hrs, and didn't see everything, focusing my time on the WWII exhibits.

A must see if you have the chance!

Saw a TV show (Mighty Planes, perhaps) that featured a Coronado that was being used for fighting forest fires. Apparently at the time it had the largest water capacity of any firefighting aircraft. Chemical was added to the water to make fire retardant spray when it dropped.

Very nice to see these planes.
Very surprised to see a Brewster survived!

Thank you very much!