In the Navy...

No, I am not dead. Just got back from vacation in Virginia Beach. One of my favorite memories from my childhood was coming to the Norfolk Naval Base (which is in the Virginia Beach area) and touring the base and all of the ships. So I thought it might be fun to tour everything again and see all the 'Navy' stuff. Unfortunately in the post 9/11 world a lot has changed. No longer can you actually go on the ships and they really only allow photographs from a good 200 yards away. So it would have been a big letdown if not for one little factor:

That's right. Aircraft Carriers. And not just any Aircraft Carriers:

The granddaddy of all Aircraft Carriers, the USS Enterprise! Now I have more than just a passing interest in the Navy mostly due to the influences of Star Trek, so this was a real treat for me, especially because she is due to be decommissioned in 2013. Also in attendance along the Norfolk shores was the newly commissioned USS New York (the same class of ship as the USS San Antonio above) which was partially built using some of the steel from the World Trade Center. If you have never seen ships like these in person let me just tell you they are massive; so much larger than you probably think they are. Even though we didn't get to board them or even get out of the bus and look it was still amazing to see all of these in person. Eat your hearts out Star Trek fans.