Vacation recap and USS Yorktown

Picking up from our last entry, after enjoying Southern Front on Saturday the 21st, we decamped early on Sunday morning to board a cruise ship bound for Bermuda.  Alas, the hurricane forced a change in itinerary and we wound up in the Bahamas, but any time spent on the ocean with Mrs. Tin Man is vacation enough.

If you can, keep the folks affected by the recent storms in your thoughts and help if you are able.  Most of us are tourists passing through the region, but the locals in both the Bahamas and Bermuda make their lives there.

We had a great time, did some snorkeling, played a lot of our new favorite card game (Dutch Blitz), and took a long-needed break.  I did pick up a copy of Travel Battles at the convention and brought it along, but of course, I did not have any glue with me so it stayed on the shelf the whole trip.

After returning to Charleston, we visited Patriot's Point and the USS Yorktown.  I have probably been there a dozen times in my life, and my wife and I had been together 4 times.  Except for every time we went, it was chaperoning 50 of our closest 8th-grade friends when she took her class every year.  She is taking the year off from teaching, so we thought it would be great to go and actually get to see what we wanted to see without worrying about kids falling off of the flight deck.

We spent our time going through the Vietnam exhibit (that I had never seen) and the Yorktown, as we usually wind up on the Laffy and Clagamore.  Here are a few snaps...

The new engine room exhibit is really nice on the Yorktown, and it is probably my favorite part of the ship.  We clocked it and we walked 3+ miles just onboard the ship.

Next time, I will unveil the new project I am working on, why I am already abandoning the 6 x 6 challenge after 2 games, and how I plan to execute on this plan to bring a new game to the regional convention circuit.

Until then, good gaming!

Mrs. Tin Man and I at the Vietnam exhibit.  It is around 2 acres and is laid out like a riverine base.  The exhibits are great and they have several helicopters and armored vehicles, including a helicopter you can walk in to.  There is a great simulation of a night attack during Tet, and a good number of artifacts on display,

 This is on the Yorktown's hanger deck.  I have ALWAYS wanted to sit in this thing since I first came here when I was 12, but there is always a line.  It is a TF-9F Cougar Trainer.  The Cougar is literally a Navy F-9 Panther from the Korean War, but with swept wings instead of straight.  I managed to wedge myself in, I am, errr, considerably bulkier than a 22-year-old fighter pilot in the 1950's.  the original seat has been replaced, but it is eye-opening to see how cramped the cockpit is and to see the level of complexity operating one of these jets.  I have Korean War aircraft in my lead pile but will resist the temptation to start on them, for now.