5/5 Steven K. 2 years ago on Google
This
was
an
unexpected
stop,
but
we
drove
by
the
pier
and
the
massive
carrier
can't
be
missed
from
a
distance.
Visiting
a
carrier
wasn't
something
that
crossed
my
mind,
but
seeing
it
up
close
and
personal
was
quite
an
experience,
so
I
was
glad
when
everyone
wanted
to
get
tickets
and
go
explore
it.
The
only
downside
is
parking
was
hard
to
find,
we
ended
up
doing
valet
parking
at
nearby
restaurant
since
it
wasn't
that
much
more
than
normal
parking
costs
and
didn't
have
to
find
a
spot.
The
carrier
is
surrounded
by
the
pier
so
you
can
get
great
shots
of
it
from
all
around.
The
left
side
of
the
carrier
(facing
out
from
the
pier)
has
nice
spots
to
get
wide
angle
shots
of
the
carrier
along
with
the
water
views.
You
can
see
quite
a
lot
of
sailboats
here
and
the
occasional
pirate
ship.
But
the
best
experience
is
to
buy
tickets
and
get
on
the
carrier
itself.
We
headed
straight
up
to
the
flight
deck
where
you
can
sit
in
the
cockpits
of
some
of
the
aircraft
and
helicopters.
Some
were
open
to
explore
the
insides
as
well.
Plenty
of
different
aircraft
to
admire
and
the
flight
deck
itself
had
great
views
of
the
surrounding
city
and
waterways.
We
also
headed
down
to
the
below
decks
and
the
front
loop,
those
were
more
interesting
than
I
expected
and
had
some
neat
history
and
interesting
facts.
I
was
a
bit
disappointed
that
large
portions
of
the
ship
were
off
limits
but
I
guess
that
made
sense
to
keep
people
seeing
the
most
interesting
parts
of
the
ship.
They
also
have
a
Cafe
inside,
gift
shop,
3d
flight
simulator
(didn't
try
this
but
looked
fun),
and
retired
navy
officers
that
gave
historic
stories
or
details
about
the
ship.
Hard
to
imagine
such
a
giant
ship
was
all
diesel
powered.
All
in
all,
it
was
a
great
experience
and
many
good
photo
opportunities
throughout
the
ship.
8 people found this review helpful 👍