June 16, 2016
Battleship
During our first 10 miles heading to Wilmington we were treated to some creamy smooth brand new pavement with an excellent bike lane on River Road.
Wilmington has a busy working port on the Cape Fear river. The port is serviced by numerous rail lines and we must have crossed a dozen sets of railroad tracks in Wilmington.
Our first destination of the day was the battleship North Carolina which rests on a muddy flat across the river from downtown Wilmington.
We left our bikes at a water taxi stop along the Wilmington river walk and took the taxi over to the battleship.
The ship does not have guides or docents but the self guided tour covers most areas of the ship and there are numerous explanatory signs explaining the function of different sections of the ship. The galley and bakery was particularly interesting because they had recipes for big batches of food. The bread recipe included 2 1/2 buckets of water. The pie crust recipe called for 60 lbs of lard.
Personal recollections from former crew members were posted throughout the ship. Those recollections gave the most insight into what it must have been like to serve on the ship. It was interesting to see how some technology like the computers used to aim the big guns has changed beyond recognition while other technology like the baking ovens or cloths dryers has not changed much at all.
Viktoriya was looking for a mail box to mail a postcard to her Mom and found it on the battleship.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
It was lunch time when we finished the battleship tour so we ate lunch in Wilmington at an Indian restaurant.
Viktoriya found a new scratching post for our cats.
By the time we finished lunch and started biking it was seriously hot. It remained hot until we reached the beach at Surf City at around 5:00.
We passed a family of Canadian geese demonstrating the correct way to cross a road. The Mom lead the way, followed by 4 kids in a line with the Dad bringing up the rear. This was in contrast to a family of turkeys we encountered yesterday. The mother turkey had crossed the road but her chicks were stuck on the other side by a line of traffic. The Mom was frantically yelling (in Turkish) for the chicks to stay where they were. Once the line of traffic passed she dashed across the road and led her chicks into the woods.
The last leg of the ride along the beach was quite nice due to cooler temperatures, low traffic and an excellent bike lane.
The view over our final bridge of the day leaving Topsail Island was spectacular.
For dinner we walked to a Food Lion and bought ingredients for Greek salad, a loaf of bread, some fruit (cantaloupe, cherries, kiwis), drinks and a box of Klondike bars. We ate by the hotel pool, serenaded by a chorus of frogs and harassed by mosquitoes.
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 0 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |