Gulf Shores is by far the best travel destination for all kinds of reasons. Not only do you have the beach that is mainly the reason that most people go to Gulf Shores. But if you have people in your family that aren’t really hip on the water. Then you try and find some other things to do. So for instance in my family, we seem to find that we chose our travel destinations where they have battleships, forts, or lighthouses. That has been the case for the last 5 trips that we have been on.
Gulf Shores has been absolutely the best. When we went down two years ago, we didn’t see half of what we wanted to see. We did go up to Mobile to see the USS Alabama Battleship, Memorial Park. Then we went over to Dauphin Island and went thru the Fort Gaines Memorial. Just riding the ferry over to Dauphin Island made the whole trip. I have always seen them in movies but never got to see one in person let alone get on one. The things that we didn’t get to see were the Fort Morgan Historic Site or the Pensacola National Naval Aviation Museum which houses the Blue Angels.
My husband loves looking at all of the pieces of equipment that are at the museum. He loves going to the USS Alabama Museum. That has been all he has talked about for the last two weeks. In fact, we still have a week left before we leave to go back down there.
Things that are at the USS Alabama Memorial Museum:
- USS Alabama Battleship: It started its adventure in World War II in 1943 and retired in May 1962. Then place in the museum in Mobile Alabama in 1965. The battleship can hold 2500 crew members. Some fun facts about the battleship. The battleship earned 9 battle stars, has a nickname of “the Mighty A”, and the battleship was used in the film USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage.
- USS Drum Submarine: The submarine is the oldest submarine on public display and it holds 72 crewmates. Some fun facts about the submarine. The submarine earned 12 battle stars, sank 15 ships, and sank 80,580 tons of enemy shipping.
- Aircraft Pavilion: Some of the aircraft that are there are; the HO-4S that was used in the Coast Guard. Some of the aircraft that were used in the Cold War are the A-12 Blackbird and the F-16 Fighting Falcon. They also have a flight simulator.
- Tanks & Artillery: They have several ironic that were in World War II, the Korean, and the Vietnam Wars. They have an M-26 Pershing Tank, and an M-4 Sherman Tank just to name a few. They also have various artillery pieces on display also.
Other Military attractions that I will have to inform you about at a later time. So make sure you keep checking back for more information!
The Forts are really neat also. You get to walk thru and see where they would sleep and eat their meals. You can also see where they housed their weapons and you can actually see some of the casings that were fired into the fort. They are sticking out of the walls. If you have never been to a fort, it is a must-see.
So on this trip, we are hoping to get to go to the Naval Museum in Pensacola. Just the fact that they house the Blue Angels is enough of a reason for me to go. I have always that they were so cool. You can actually see them practice on the beaches in Gulf Shores. But we haven’t ever seen them when we are down there.
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