Battleship Cove Overnight Sleepout
October 3-4, 2009
Cub Pack 303
No Name Patrol
We went down Saturday morning and well the day started off soggy wet. Rain, rain and more rain...it was heavy! We got there early near the 11am mark and it started to come down hard again. But we were in good spirits so we dashed from the parking lot to the welcome center. Most everything got wet except the sleeping bags so we were doing ok based on how much rain we were getting.
We were brought to our sleeping berth on the 1st deck down and found quickly some bunks to stow and dry our gear. Overall the accommodations are sparse but it's all in good fun. We had what we needed, a place to hang our coat and a place to sleep. The bunks are FOUR stacked with little room between bunks. I chose the bottom since it'd be easier to crawl in/out, Gregory grabbed the one above me. He fit fine, and eventually I figured out an easy way in/out.
We were able to start wandering around and explore the exhibits. This place is huge and I know because we never made it below one deck to the aircraft section. We went through the PT exhibits and then the rain slackened a bit so we ventured out to the other boats that are there. By this time the place was crawling with scouts and visitors, I heard that we will be part of 250 scouts/parents bunking for the overnight.
One thing to note that the "ladders" are very steep and there were a few that Gregory just flat out refused to descend. I didn't blame him one bit as I was a bit nervous myself. Let's see steep ladders and slick rain soaked sneakers, hmm. The upper decks of the submarine, destroyer and missile cruiser were great and showed a few different era's of equipment. It was fun to contrast some of the items on display like cameras and boxes of candy. So different than today's.
We weren't able to get to the upper super structure of the battleship but planned to try and go there on Sunday. As it got later we went inside for diner and some other planned activities. Diner was ok just like camp the food is decent and hot. After that Gregory and I relaxed for a bit until the planned movie. They had classes on morse code and knots but he wasn't interested. I could tell he was getting tired as we did a lot of walking. We even went on a quick trip down a few decks to the powder magazine and shell rooms below the forward turrets. Amazing how big things are and how fast it is to get lost. :) We got out alright.
The movies turned out to be cartoons of Donald Duck in the army and kept everyone entertained for an hour or so but it was getting really late. We went back and got ready for bed and crashed near 10:30, at 11:00pm taps was played and the lights were out. Oddly enough I slept well waking only once at 5am. The snoring contests were a draw as at least three men were keeping their side of the battleship up.
At 6:30am, we were awoken by revelry and had to get moving. As we had 1hr till breakfast then we had to vacate the bunks we were sleeping on. Thankfully the night was uneventful for us though I had heard there were some issues that apparently I slept through (oh boy!). Gregory however woke with a sour stomach. I gave him one rolaid but after we arrived at breakfast he needed to make a hasty exit. Thankfully there were no explosions but I could tell he was really hurting. So after we had breakfast it was clear that we were heading home. Which was fine we did a lot there and saw a lot of great things.
I hope at some point we go back and get a chance to see more of all the exhibits. I highly recommend going there with any aged kids even the old cranky ones. :)
-Stephen
Link to Photos! or cut/paste: http://share.ovi.com/album/cphobes.2009Pk303Battle
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